WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.879 Good morning, Watermark. How are you? Thank you, Chris and Jen, for reading God's Word for us. 00:00:06.140 --> 00:00:14.740 How are you guys? Good. You're probably wondering to yourself, what on earth has he got in that 00:00:14.740 --> 00:00:22.179 little box of his? Is he carrying around his auntie? Or did his pet die or something, 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:27.960 and he has to have it close to him? Is it his little comfort box? Well, 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:37.439 I'm not going to tell you. What I will do is tell you a story about a little box like that. 00:00:37.579 --> 00:00:45.460 So I knew two guys at school. They were brothers, and they grew up in a Christian family. And one 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:52.000 summer holiday, they were sent away to spend the summer with their grandmother. And she lived in 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:58.079 the countryside. She had a beautiful house and a big garden, but not much else happening there. 00:00:58.140 --> 00:01:03.960 So these two boys, being two very curious little boys, kind of wandered around the house. And what 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:09.319 they found was a little box that looked very similar to this. And on the box was written, 00:01:09.539 --> 00:01:16.620 God's Promise Box. So being two curious little boys, they opened up the box, 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:24.000 and they found little cards with scripture written on them, right? God's promises, all the good stuff, 00:01:24.060 --> 00:01:28.939 right? But being little boys, and they would notice that granny would come along and she'd open up the 00:01:28.939 --> 00:01:34.980 box every morning, read one of the promises, smile, and put them back in the pile, and this and on. 00:01:35.020 --> 00:01:42.640 And then the boys had a great idea. They thought, let's add to that box. So then they started with some of 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:48.299 some of the stuff that would just get granny going, you know, like those who want to live a godly life 00:01:48.299 --> 00:01:54.460 in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And they slipped that one in the box. And they noticed grandma 00:01:54.460 --> 00:01:58.900 didn't smile so much that morning when she read it. And then they thought, let's try it a little bit 00:01:58.900 --> 00:02:08.300 more. So they said, blessed are those who are kind to their grandkids. Put that one in there. And 00:02:08.300 --> 00:02:13.580 granny was so nice to the boys, right? Thought this is fantastic. Let's try it even more. So they took 00:02:13.580 --> 00:02:21.100 another one and they said, gifts given to grandchildren are a great blessing. Granny goes 00:02:21.100 --> 00:02:26.000 to the shop, she comes back and she's got gifts for the boys. And this carries on. The boys just keep 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:32.140 piling in these promises and it gets more and more crazy. And grandmother probably ages and by the end of 00:02:32.139 --> 00:02:40.039 the holiday, she's so happy to get rid of these boys. But the problem with granny is that she didn't, 00:02:40.459 --> 00:02:47.579 she took God's word in little pieces and she cut it up, the nice little bits, and she couldn't 00:02:47.579 --> 00:02:53.619 recognize when something else slipped in there. Or she didn't really like it when maybe some of the more 00:02:53.620 --> 00:03:01.659 challenging stuff slipped in there. So at Watermark, we are, if you're new to us, and we welcome you, 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:08.640 but we are committed to God's word. We study it. We look at whole books of it. We treasure it. 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:15.439 And if you're joining us today, we are in our second week of looking at the book of Proverbs. 00:03:17.020 --> 00:03:22.200 So what I'm going to do now, I'm going to tell you the most important thing I'm going to say today, 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:26.879 right? This is it. So if you're taking notes, this is the one thing that you need to write down. 00:03:27.079 --> 00:03:32.799 I'm giving you the punchline now about the book of Proverbs. This is what you need, and here it is. 00:03:33.500 --> 00:03:45.359 A proverb is a proverb is a proverb. It is not a promise, okay? It is a general truth. It is usually 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:53.260 true, but it is not a promise. We have a proverb in English, right? So it goes, 00:03:53.520 --> 00:04:00.240 too many cooks spoil the broth. There we go. Someone knows. Okay. And that literally just means 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:06.980 if there are too many people involved, things get messed up. Now that's usually true, but it's not 00:04:06.979 --> 00:04:16.219 always true. So Proverbs is kind of looking at life and describing it as it really is. It's not just 00:04:16.219 --> 00:04:22.120 church on a Sunday, but it's looking at life how it really is. It's kind of life in the street, 00:04:22.339 --> 00:04:29.560 life at work, life at school, life at home. It's almost like someone took a GoPro, shoved it on their 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:37.639 head and is walking around the streets of Hong Kong just observing people, just observing life. 00:04:37.720 --> 00:04:43.340 And they come to it and said, this is what it's like, right? And they write these proverbs about 00:04:43.340 --> 00:04:50.740 life. And the most amazing thing about the book of Proverbs for me is that it transcends all time, 00:04:50.740 --> 00:04:57.759 all cultures. It is the same. It was written almost 3,000 years ago, and it was true then. 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:05.579 It was read and studied in 1980, and it was true then. We're reading it today in 2017, 00:05:06.099 --> 00:05:14.980 and its truths and observations are correct. And 20 years time, it's going to be read in 2037, 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:23.800 and it'll still be true because people are the same. Our human nature is the same. No matter what 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:29.319 culture or time you are in, you will see these things worked out. So in the book of Proverbs, 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:37.639 there are about 900 proverbs which talk about life's most important subjects. And we live in a 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:45.939 time and a culture where we like to talk about how things work or what makes things work, but we don't 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:53.040 really discuss the question of why. Why do things work the way they do? And Proverbs tackles that 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:59.460 question. It looks at life and asks these really important questions. And how it does it is it kind 00:05:59.460 --> 00:06:05.620 of holds them up in contrast to each other. So you'll have subjects like pride, and Proverbs will 00:06:05.620 --> 00:06:15.480 contrast that with humility. Love and lust. Wealth and poverty. Work. Leisure. Husbands. Wives. Friends. 00:06:15.480 --> 00:06:26.780 Family. Life. Death. And what we're going to talk about today. Wisdom and foolishness. But this book, 00:06:26.860 --> 00:06:37.020 this book of Proverbs is essentially telling us how we can make the most of life. How we can live the good, 00:06:37.019 --> 00:06:48.199 right life. But it is also a warning to us of how we can waste our lives. This wisdom, right? Chris gave 00:06:48.199 --> 00:06:55.099 us last week the Hebrew word for wisdom. Does anyone remember it? Okay, it sounds like you're sick, 00:06:55.180 --> 00:07:00.120 right? I always find it better if you have flu and you want to speak Hebrew. Chochma. So this chochma, 00:07:00.120 --> 00:07:08.660 this skill, this wisdom will enable us to come to the end of our days and look back, and we will be 00:07:08.660 --> 00:07:17.199 pleased with how life has turned out for us if we apply this chochma, this wisdom to our lives. 00:07:18.300 --> 00:07:23.939 So I really liked it. Leo mentioned Solomon, right? So Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs, 00:07:23.939 --> 00:07:31.180 but he also wrote three other books in the Bible, right? The Great Trilogy. And so the first one he 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:37.819 wrote was called The Song of Songs or The Songs of Solomon. And he's a young man, right? And you can 00:07:37.819 --> 00:07:43.180 tell he's a young man because he's only writing about girls, right? Girls, girls, girls. He doesn't 00:07:43.180 --> 00:07:48.959 even mention God in the book, right? But it's love, it's girls. And then right at the end of his life, 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:55.099 number three in the trilogy is this book called Ecclesiastes. And it's written as an old man, 00:07:55.299 --> 00:07:59.919 and you can tell he's an old man because he says, when the teeth are few and the bones are brittle. 00:08:00.539 --> 00:08:06.339 He's an old man, and he's looking back on his life, and he's trying to find meaning in the life he lived. 00:08:07.419 --> 00:08:14.599 And right in the middle of these two books, he writes the book of Proverbs, which is a middle-aged 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:23.320 man. And it's kind of like a father talking to his son, trying to tell him how to avoid some of the 00:08:23.320 --> 00:08:28.960 mistakes he made, right? I once had a mother walk up to me, and she told me this story. 00:08:29.620 --> 00:08:36.500 She was having an argument with her 15-year-old daughter. And her 15-year-old daughter turned to 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:43.620 her and said, what did you do at my age that makes you mistrust me like you do? Now, that is the most 00:08:43.620 --> 00:08:49.440 scariest thing for a parent to have ever said to them. What did you do at my age that makes you 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:54.460 mistrust me like you do? And that's what the book of Proverbs is like, right? It's like a father 00:08:54.460 --> 00:09:01.220 who's taking a son on a camping trip, and he's going to impart wisdom to him. He's going to teach 00:09:01.220 --> 00:09:06.560 him what he's learned in life. And if you ever want to get a young man's attention, and you want a 00:09:06.560 --> 00:09:13.460 metaphor for teaching him something, you talk about girls, right? They listen. So that's exactly what he 00:09:13.460 --> 00:09:22.400 does here. Solomon takes wisdom, and he's telling his son, wisdom is like a wonderful woman. She is 00:09:22.400 --> 00:09:30.759 a sweetheart. She is beautiful beyond comprehension. She is delicate. She's worth chasing after. Go 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:39.860 after her. Court her. Spend time with her. She is lovely. And then he contrasts that with foolishness. 00:09:39.860 --> 00:09:48.500 And he said, foolishness? Foolishness is like a seductive, flirty woman who just tempts you. She's 00:09:48.500 --> 00:09:56.800 got this lovely, smooth talk, this flirtatious way of just enticing you. It's almost like a predator 00:09:56.800 --> 00:10:08.060 playing with its prey. But you know, all her charms of foolishness will lead to death. She will destroy 00:10:08.059 --> 00:10:18.179 you. It's kind of like looking at a prostitute. And she might look good to you and feel good. 00:10:18.579 --> 00:10:25.479 But it's so short term. Because she will leave you empty. She will leave you barren. 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:36.200 She will leave you to death. And he said, that's wisdom and foolishness put before you. This beautiful 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:43.460 sweetheart. Chase her. Go after her. And this foolishness which will just lead you astray. 00:10:43.460 --> 00:10:53.160 Chris said it last week. And I have to say it again. Wisdom is not intelligence. Right? You don't go to 00:10:53.160 --> 00:10:59.340 university to get wisdom. Right? It's not intelligence. Because there are some incredibly 00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:09.660 great minds out there who can be incredibly foolish. Right? So I picked this guy, Gary Hart. Anyone know 00:11:09.659 --> 00:11:15.779 Gary Hart? Remember Gary Hart? Good. That's why I picked him. Right? So it's a little bit before our time. 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:22.459 So we wouldn't remember who he is. But I could have picked any number of people. So Gary Hart was an 00:11:22.459 --> 00:11:30.799 American politician. He was also a lawyer, an author, and a college professor. This guy was described 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:39.019 as a genius. He had sharp wit, a mind that worked at a different level. But he was a fool. 00:11:41.479 --> 00:11:51.000 In 1988, he was running for the nomination for the Democratic Party for president. And while he was 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:58.979 running for office, there was a rumor circulating that he was having an affair with a model named Donna Rice. 00:11:58.980 --> 00:12:05.920 And when he was questioned about it, in his arrogance, he denied all allegations. Instead, 00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:12.980 he turned on the media and he challenged them. He said, you know what? Follow me. Follow me. And this 00:12:12.980 --> 00:12:22.420 was his actual quote. He said, you'll be bored. Surprise, surprise, the media followed him. The very next day, 00:12:22.419 --> 00:12:32.099 the very next day, they take photographs of Donna Rice leaving his apartment. That afternoon, 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:41.599 they take photos of very compromised Gary Hart and Donna Rice locked in an embrace on Gary Hart yacht. 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:49.100 The next day, the next day, the pictures were published in the newspaper under the headline, 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:58.420 you'll be bored. He was a fool, right? An absolute fool in his arrogance and his pride, 00:12:58.940 --> 00:13:06.920 but he was a genius. You see, God has designed it that wisdom will come to us, 00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:12.519 passed through our parents, passed through our grandparents, and passed through people more 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:23.179 experienced than us. And the sad truth is, we live at a time where we are living with a wisdom 00:13:23.179 --> 00:13:31.879 deprivation, right? We are deprived of wisdom. There's this great emphasis on getting knowledge, 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:41.179 getting intellect, but not so much on wisdom. And at Watermark, we are committed to loving and serving 00:13:41.179 --> 00:13:48.320 the next generation. It's why we make a big deal of our young adults, of our youth ministry, of our kids 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:54.419 ministry, and why we encourage people, get involved. Get involved. Pass on the wisdom you have learned 00:13:54.419 --> 00:14:00.240 into those generations. There was another professor. This was a wise professor, 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:07.799 a guy by the name of Mark Bauerlein, right? He's an English professor at Emerald University in America. 00:14:07.980 --> 00:14:13.860 And he, one day, picks up an article that's put on his desk, and he reads it, and it says that 00:14:13.860 --> 00:14:23.519 this generation, anyone under the age of 35, anyone under the age of 35 here? Okay. I'm talking to you guys. 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:30.980 He says, anyone under the age of 35, you are the most red generation that's ever walked the planet. 00:14:31.259 --> 00:14:39.879 You read more than any generation before you. And Mark, reading this, shakes his head, because 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:47.899 as a professor at his university, what he's seeing is an absolute decline in academic writing, 00:14:47.899 --> 00:14:54.980 in academic thought. He sees a decline in maturity amongst his students. And then he's reading this 00:14:54.980 --> 00:15:02.120 article about how well-read and wonderful this generation is. So he sets out to do some research. 00:15:02.699 --> 00:15:08.459 And anyway, the culmination of his research is he writes this book called The Dumbest Generation. 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:13.819 Okay. Probably not the best title to give a book to Win Friends, but he calls it The Dumbest Generation, 00:15:13.820 --> 00:15:21.320 how the digital age stupefies young people and jeopardizes our future. And basically, 00:15:21.500 --> 00:15:27.580 his finding goes like this. He said, yes, they live at a time when they have access to all this 00:15:27.580 --> 00:15:36.820 information out there easy, but do they use it for that? Are they Googling the French Revolution? 00:15:38.520 --> 00:15:42.640 And he came to think that they're not. They are spending their time on social media, Facebook, 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:46.659 Twitter bird. I don't know what it is called, right? Those things, right? Snapchat, whatever. 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:53.879 That's where they're spending their time. And they're not really reading. What they are reading is, 00:15:54.439 --> 00:16:00.799 where are we meeting on Friday? LOL. Guys, that's not reading, right? That's not reading. But that's 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:06.439 what they're doing. So he kind of goes in and how this is affecting our young adults of the time. But then 00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:13.040 there's this part of the book where he tackles wisdom. I know he's not a Christian, but this is 00:16:13.040 --> 00:16:21.440 what he says. He said, 30 years ago, a 15-year-old would go to school and they would be in a 15-year-old 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:27.580 world. They would have the peer pressure, the talk of 15-year-olds would be with them while they're 00:16:27.580 --> 00:16:32.540 at school. But then they would go home and they would switch off from that 15-year-old world. 00:16:32.539 --> 00:16:37.599 They would sit down with mom and dad and maybe grandma and grandpa at the dinner table, 00:16:37.939 --> 00:16:43.299 and they would be exposed to a different world. They would hear about work, relationships, 00:16:44.059 --> 00:16:49.699 struggles, hardships, politics, war. And even if they didn't participate in that conversation, 00:16:50.059 --> 00:16:56.299 they were hearing about wisdom. He says, the biggest problem is now the same 15-year-old 00:16:56.299 --> 00:17:03.120 today goes to school. They are exposed to a 15-year-old world, 15-year-old peer pressure, 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:10.359 15-year-old talk. And they come home and they're still connected. They're still connected to a 15-year-old 00:17:10.359 --> 00:17:16.599 world through their smartphone, through social media. And unfortunately, their parents are also 00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:24.859 connected to their worlds and not passing on this wisdom. And he nails it, right? He says, 00:17:24.859 --> 00:17:30.859 he sees it, how it's affecting young people, brilliant people, intellectual minds, but no 00:17:30.859 --> 00:17:37.379 wisdom. They lack wisdom. Guys, and as I read it, I just thought, at Watermark, we really need to be 00:17:37.379 --> 00:17:42.779 intentional about this. We need to be so counter-cultural with this. Where the world is 00:17:42.779 --> 00:17:49.959 deprived of wisdom, we want to be overflowing in imparting wisdom to our friends, our family, 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:55.220 our next generation. So I'm going to give you five characteristics of the wise and five 00:17:55.220 --> 00:18:03.400 characteristics of the foolish. Here they go. Number one, a wise person is humble. They realize, 00:18:03.579 --> 00:18:10.000 I am not the center of the universe. I need other people and I like to learn and grow. I need to 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:17.960 learn and grow. They are humble. They recognize that. Number two, they're teachable. They're teachable, 00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:24.360 right? You go to them and you say, hey, I've been reading this book and it's a really good book. I 00:18:24.360 --> 00:18:28.799 think it would suit your situation, what you're going through. And they go, great. I'm looking for 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:34.620 good books to read. Thank you very much. Or I was reading this in the Bible this morning and I really 00:18:34.620 --> 00:18:39.960 think it'll be good for you. And great. I'd love to learn. Tell me what it is. Let me write it down. 00:18:40.019 --> 00:18:45.360 I'll go and check it up. Or, you know, hey, I've just been noticing the way you are with your finances 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:50.339 at the moment. Maybe not the best way. And they're like, hey, teach me. I need to learn. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:58.979 A teachable person is someone who reaches out to someone who is wiser than them in a certain area. 00:19:00.139 --> 00:19:07.079 So there's actually a young couple in Watermark who approached Irina and myself. So I won't tell 00:19:07.079 --> 00:19:11.819 you their real names. I'll just, let's just call them Dan and Soda, right? Not their real names. 00:19:11.819 --> 00:19:18.720 Not their real names. But let's just call them Dan and Soda. So a while ago, they approach 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:23.679 Irina and myself and we've been married nine years. Honey, nine years, right? Okay, that's 00:19:23.679 --> 00:19:27.079 important. We've got to get that right. Okay, we've been married nine years. They approach us and they 00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:31.980 say, look, you know, we've kind of fallen in love and we're thinking about getting married, 00:19:32.500 --> 00:19:37.639 but we don't really know what we're doing. Okay, can we kind of hang out with you guys and 00:19:37.640 --> 00:19:42.259 kind of discuss some of these things? And okay, like you guys are scraping the bottom of the barrel 00:19:42.259 --> 00:19:49.160 here. Don't know why you picked us. But we say yes and we start hanging out together, right? We'd 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:54.759 listen to a sermon and then we'd talk about it over the dinner table. We'd invite them in to our home 00:19:54.759 --> 00:20:00.440 and they'd see the craziness of two kids running around and we would talk about marriage, the things 00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:08.220 that we've learned, some things that we wish we had avoided. And Dan and Soda are just asking great 00:20:08.220 --> 00:20:15.480 questions and I find one of the most amazing blessings was not for them but for us. For Irina 00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:20.920 and myself, we began talking about our marriage, right? And we began reflecting on some of the things 00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:25.360 that we've done well and some of the things that we haven't done so well. So it was a blessing to us 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:32.279 to be able to teach them. And I honestly think Dan and Soda, one day they will be able to bless 00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:37.079 others, right? They would be filled with wisdom, able to do that for another couple. Just don't ask 00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:46.259 them any tips on hairstyles, right? Not the wise in some areas, foolish in others. Okay, so number three, 00:20:46.259 --> 00:20:56.879 a wise person has empathy for others. They realize what they do has an effect on other people. 00:20:57.879 --> 00:21:03.079 What I did there, what I said there, did that make you feel bad? I'm really sorry about that. 00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:09.160 It's not just me, I have empathy for how others feel. If they see suffering, 00:21:09.160 --> 00:21:16.360 it affects them. It bothers them. It's not just don't blink your eyes. They have empathy for what's 00:21:16.360 --> 00:21:27.120 going on around them. Number four, a wise person acts upon wisdom, right? You say to them, do you see 00:21:27.120 --> 00:21:34.180 this in your life? Yes, I do see it. I do see it. A wise person, when wisdom is given to them, they take 00:21:34.180 --> 00:21:40.440 responsibility for it. They go like, this is my relationship with God. I need to take responsibility 00:21:40.440 --> 00:21:46.000 for it. I need to pray. I need to be reading my Bible. I take responsibility for it. This is my 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:52.580 family. These are my kids. I take responsibility for it. And here's the most amazing thing is, as a 00:21:52.580 --> 00:22:00.160 wise person, as you act upon wisdom, Proverbs teaches us, you get wiser still. It's like a snowball, 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:06.900 right? You get wisdom, it gets bigger. Your learning grows. You add to your learning, and wisdom 00:22:06.900 --> 00:22:17.560 grows. And this leads us to point number five. A wise person's life bears fruit. A wise person's life 00:22:17.560 --> 00:22:24.600 bears fruit. Because as they get wisdom, they are not just hearers of it, but they are doers of it. 00:22:24.599 --> 00:22:29.139 They don't just listen to wisdom, but they do wisdom in life. 00:22:32.059 --> 00:22:37.659 And they are people that change. You see them, and a year later, they're different. They're not so 00:22:37.659 --> 00:22:45.419 foolish in certain areas anymore. They are changing. They are growing in wisdom. And it says, wisdom 00:22:45.419 --> 00:22:51.859 rewards you. How you respond to wisdom, wisdom in your life will reward you. Your life will be 00:22:51.859 --> 00:22:58.000 different. You will make changes. There's a wonderful term that I read. It says this. It says, 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:06.039 correction builds connection. So you go to a wise person, and you kind of course correct them. 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:12.119 And what it does is they begin to love you. They say, thank you for that. Thank you for sharing your 00:23:12.119 --> 00:23:18.019 wisdom. Thank you for taking the time to walk with me in this. And it builds a connection. It builds a 00:23:18.019 --> 00:23:26.920 relationship between the two of you. So a wise person's life bears fruit. Their life changes. They change. 00:23:28.500 --> 00:23:38.339 Now, five marks of the foolish. A foolish person is proud. You're wrong. I disagree with you. 00:23:38.339 --> 00:23:49.619 My way is right. They're proud. Number two, a foolish person is unteachable. Hey, I've been reading this 00:23:49.619 --> 00:23:54.720 book, and I think it would really help you. I didn't ask you to give me a book. Why do you read the book? 00:23:56.199 --> 00:24:06.639 Unteachable. Number three, a foolish person is self-centered. I'm the center of the universe. It's all about me. 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:13.360 It's always about me. You, the rest of you, just orbit around me. I'm the center of it. My way is right. 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:19.660 You have no empathy for how other people feel. When you approach them, hey, do you realize what you did 00:24:19.660 --> 00:24:26.800 there, how it made other people feel? What about me? Do you know it made me feel? It's always about them. 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:28.259 They are self-centered. 00:24:28.259 --> 00:24:42.599 Number four, a foolish person scoffs at wisdom. They say, I will decide for myself what is good and evil. 00:24:44.680 --> 00:24:51.799 And what they really do is they want reality to change for them. Like, guys, you're heading for a 00:24:51.799 --> 00:24:59.059 train wreck. No, no, no. That train better move out of the way for me. They're unwilling to make life 00:24:59.059 --> 00:25:11.480 changes. What's worse is Proverbs tells us that if you rebuke a fool, you incur abuse, right? 00:25:12.379 --> 00:25:17.500 They begin to shoot you as the messenger. So you bring them wisdom, and you say, you know, 00:25:17.500 --> 00:25:22.920 I wasn't really great the way you were speaking to your wife the other day, and they turn to you. 00:25:22.940 --> 00:25:27.240 Well, what about you? What about the way you talk to your wife? And they shoot the messenger. 00:25:29.539 --> 00:25:38.240 It's a fool. And above all, number five, a foolish person's life is barren. It doesn't bear fruit. 00:25:40.380 --> 00:25:45.160 It doesn't mean that they're not successful or they can be incredibly wealthy, like as the world 00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:51.060 describes success. But if you look at it, their life is kind of like a hamster on a wheel. They go 00:25:51.060 --> 00:25:57.820 around, they make the same stupid decisions, the same foolish things that they do again and again. 00:25:57.900 --> 00:26:04.720 And a year later, they are still doing the same pattern, the same thing. And if you kind of scratch 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:11.400 away at the surface, you kind of find that their life is barren. It's empty, right? No real deep 00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:24.700 relationships. So that's wisdom. But there's a problem. There's a problem. If we, for a second, 00:26:24.820 --> 00:26:34.360 we go back to Solomon, right? So like we said, Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs, and Solomon has just 00:26:34.359 --> 00:26:43.139 become king. And God says to him, Solomon, ask me for anything. Ask me for anything. And Solomon says, 00:26:43.259 --> 00:26:50.359 God, give me wisdom. And God is really pleased with his answer, right? And he gives him all the other 00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:55.359 stuff he didn't ask for. He gives him power, and he gives him wealth, and he gives him fame, all the 00:26:55.359 --> 00:27:02.019 other stuff he didn't ask for. But here's what he said to Solomon, right? You can find it in 1 Kings. 00:27:02.019 --> 00:27:09.119 This is what it says. He says, I will give you a wise and discerning heart. And then he stops, 00:27:09.319 --> 00:27:14.420 and there's this two-letter word right there, a really important word. This is the word. 00:27:15.900 --> 00:27:23.200 If. If. And we miss this word. If. If is a conditional, right? It's based on something. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:32.160 So here's the condition. If you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands. 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:39.700 At some point, Solomon's life, he started to neglect these. 00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:47.080 Started to wander off. And Solomon, if you follow his life, he had lots of wisdom for others, 00:27:47.079 --> 00:27:52.659 but very little wisdom for himself. Do you know people like that? Always great. They can give you 00:27:52.659 --> 00:27:59.240 lots of advice, but not so much wisdom for themselves. I mean, here's a guy there. He's 00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:07.399 telling his son about the dangers of chasing after foolish women, and yet he had 700 wives. 00:28:08.059 --> 00:28:13.919 Guys, 700 mothers-in-law. Is that wise? I mean, he's crazy, right? 00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:23.720 So here we go. Solomon, the most wisest person in the Old Testament, right? And he couldn't do it. 00:28:23.800 --> 00:28:29.160 He couldn't even follow what he knew in his head on what he was telling others. He himself 00:28:29.160 --> 00:28:37.480 couldn't do it because Solomon had a heart condition. It wasn't cholesterol. 00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:50.480 It was a heart condition of sin, which is default position is foolishness. Its default position is pride. 00:28:50.640 --> 00:28:59.680 Its default position is self-centeredness. Its default position is I will decide for myself what is good 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:11.920 and evil. We have the same heart condition. And Solomon was missing two vital steps. He had wisdom 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:18.460 for others, not for himself, but he was missing two vital steps. And actually, he knew the first step. 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:26.799 He knew the first step. And the first step, it tells us, if you want to be wise, fear God. 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:35.480 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You will not become wise until you've passed go. 00:29:35.720 --> 00:29:46.500 Until you have passed step number one. Until we understand that God created everything. He is creator God. 00:29:46.599 --> 00:29:53.680 He made the heavens and the earth and that he is good. He is righteous. He is blameless. He is pure. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:30:06.100 But he hates evil. He is an all-seeing judge. There is nothing that I do or think. There's nothing that you do 00:30:06.100 --> 00:30:15.340 or think that he does not see and know about. When we have that realization that God sees every area of 00:30:15.340 --> 00:30:21.299 our heart, of our lives, of our thought life, my goodness, that should put the fear of God into us. 00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:30.140 And when we realize that, we realize, God, I need your wisdom. I need your wisdom. I need your help 00:30:30.140 --> 00:30:35.279 to live a godly life that pleases you. That is the fear of the Lord. 00:30:37.080 --> 00:30:41.740 And so often when I sit down with people who are struggling or who have wandered away, 00:30:42.180 --> 00:30:49.820 I ask them, do you fear the Lord? And you often find out it's the very first thing that goes. 00:30:49.819 --> 00:30:54.879 No one asks them that question, right? But do you fear the Lord? 00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:03.220 When we lose the fear of the Lord, we begin to lose wisdom and it's a slippery slope into foolishness. 00:31:07.019 --> 00:31:08.019 Step number two. 00:31:08.019 --> 00:31:16.779 We need to become a fool in order to become wise. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:22.299 We need to become a fool in order to become wise. And here it is. I'll tell you why. 00:31:23.299 --> 00:31:26.319 Paul writes it in 1 Corinthians. He says this. He says, 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:44.559 The message of the cross. 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:49.700 The message of the cross says you have a sick, sinful heart. 00:31:51.099 --> 00:31:57.740 You are not going to solve it by getting more knowledge, by going to university and getting PhDs. 00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:03.079 There is only one cure for the sickness that is in your heart. 00:32:03.079 --> 00:32:05.960 And that is the cross. 00:32:06.619 --> 00:32:15.179 To look at Jesus Christ who was put on the cross, who takes your sin as a sacrifice before a holy and pure God 00:32:15.179 --> 00:32:17.879 and gives you His righteousness. 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:23.579 Until that happens, we miss everything. 00:32:23.579 --> 00:32:31.179 And that message, that message that we throw ourselves, we don't pull ourselves up by our bootlaces, 00:32:31.319 --> 00:32:35.579 but we throw ourselves on the cross, that message is foolishness. 00:32:37.139 --> 00:32:41.379 It's absolute foolishness to a world who looks at us and says, 00:32:41.519 --> 00:32:43.579 That's crazy. That's absolutely crazy. 00:32:46.299 --> 00:32:48.359 But I'm happy to become a fool. 00:32:48.619 --> 00:32:52.740 I'm happy to become a fool because this is it, right? 00:32:52.740 --> 00:32:57.980 The people who look at that, Paul says they are perishing. 00:32:58.380 --> 00:32:59.420 They are perishing. 00:32:59.720 --> 00:33:01.579 Now, perishing is a very interesting word. 00:33:02.819 --> 00:33:04.700 I can only describe it to you like this. 00:33:04.779 --> 00:33:12.380 Last year, July, August, we went back to South Africa, and it was the middle of winter. 00:33:12.559 --> 00:33:13.299 It was freezing. 00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:16.259 All those notions that Africa is always hot. 00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:16.960 It's not true. 00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:17.539 It's nonsense. 00:33:17.539 --> 00:33:18.640 It was freezing. 00:33:19.599 --> 00:33:22.140 And so anyway, it's really cold. 00:33:22.140 --> 00:33:28.600 We've just come from a hot summer in Hong Kong, and I'm absolutely freezing, and I find in the cupboard a hot water bottle. 00:33:29.820 --> 00:33:31.040 So I think, fantastic. 00:33:31.160 --> 00:33:32.740 My toes are going to be warm tonight. 00:33:33.020 --> 00:33:34.480 I take that hot water bottle. 00:33:34.660 --> 00:33:37.300 I boil the kettle, and I pour it in. 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:42.920 And the water begins just dripping out of this hot water bottle. 00:33:42.920 --> 00:33:47.100 And then I take a look at it, and I notice that it's perished. 00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:48.440 It is perishing. 00:33:48.560 --> 00:33:53.820 It has become useless for what it was designed to do. 00:33:54.620 --> 00:33:56.840 That's what it means to perish, right? 00:33:57.060 --> 00:34:02.600 It has become useless or becoming useless for what it was created to do. 00:34:02.599 --> 00:34:08.960 We are created for a relationship with our Creator. 00:34:09.059 --> 00:34:11.579 We are created to be salt and light. 00:34:11.659 --> 00:34:14.360 We are created to be the wisdom of this world. 00:34:14.360 --> 00:34:18.599 But first, we need the message of the cross. 00:34:18.820 --> 00:34:19.740 We can't lose that. 00:34:19.820 --> 00:34:24.420 When we have the message of the cross, and people don't see it, they will begin to perish. 00:34:25.880 --> 00:34:33.220 They might be incredibly successful in the world's eyes, but they will perish for what they were created to be. 00:34:34.300 --> 00:34:35.420 But this is what it says. 00:34:35.420 --> 00:34:42.840 Now, that is in the present continuous tense. 00:34:43.000 --> 00:34:45.900 It's not, you are saved, job done, the end. 00:34:46.059 --> 00:34:48.059 We are being saved. 00:34:48.180 --> 00:34:52.420 We are being transformed into the image of Christ. 00:34:53.099 --> 00:34:56.599 That cross, that is the power of God to us. 00:34:57.159 --> 00:35:01.280 That is the light switch that gets everything going, which illuminates the room. 00:35:01.619 --> 00:35:04.440 That is the power of God, is that cross. 00:35:04.440 --> 00:35:08.559 And we look back to that cross time and time again. 00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:10.019 And this is what Proverbs says. 00:35:10.260 --> 00:35:15.280 Proverbs says, it says, leave your simple ways, and you will live. 00:35:16.300 --> 00:35:18.420 Walk in the way of insight. 00:35:18.500 --> 00:35:23.200 It's telling us that simplicity of your life, that foolishness of nice. 00:35:23.320 --> 00:35:23.740 Leave it. 00:35:24.240 --> 00:35:25.019 Go to the cross. 00:35:25.420 --> 00:35:28.780 And then you will walk in the way of insight. 00:35:28.780 --> 00:35:34.340 Paul writes to Timothy, and he says this. 00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:39.480 He says, Timothy, the holy scriptures. 00:35:39.740 --> 00:35:43.740 And when he says scriptures, then he's writing, there wasn't the New Testament yet, right? 00:35:43.800 --> 00:35:46.040 So when he says scriptures, he's talking about the Old Testament. 00:35:46.340 --> 00:35:47.820 He's talking about the book of Proverbs. 00:35:47.820 --> 00:35:56.039 He says, the holy scriptures will make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:01.340 And there's actually a lot of scholars that don't really like the book of Proverbs. 00:36:01.600 --> 00:36:06.880 They say it's kind of a waste of time because there's no message of salvation in it. 00:36:07.380 --> 00:36:10.519 But actually, it's packed with the message of salvation. 00:36:10.519 --> 00:36:19.659 In Hebrew and Greek, both Hebrew and Greek, the word salvation is very, very close in meaning to the word recycle. 00:36:20.539 --> 00:36:20.759 Right? 00:36:20.900 --> 00:36:21.300 Recycle. 00:36:21.460 --> 00:36:23.360 God is in the recycling business. 00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:24.119 Did you know that? 00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:26.039 He's in the recycling business. 00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:28.199 He's busy recycling you and me. 00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:29.759 That's his job. 00:36:30.460 --> 00:36:32.719 So it's kind of like there's a plastic bottle. 00:36:32.820 --> 00:36:35.360 You've kind of seen it on the side of the road, squashed down. 00:36:35.639 --> 00:36:38.000 God takes that, the rubbish of the world. 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:46.099 He takes that and he begins to recycle it, make it useful again for what it was created for. 00:36:47.500 --> 00:36:50.199 That's what God is doing in your heart. 00:36:50.320 --> 00:36:53.260 And that's what Proverbs is telling us the whole time. 00:36:53.320 --> 00:36:55.139 He's saying, listen, God takes you. 00:36:55.360 --> 00:36:58.500 He transforms you from being a sinner to a saint. 00:36:59.400 --> 00:37:01.340 In Bible terms, justification. 00:37:02.380 --> 00:37:04.119 But then it doesn't stop there, right? 00:37:04.340 --> 00:37:06.539 That's the beginning point of our walk with him. 00:37:06.539 --> 00:37:11.759 Because then he says he moves us from foolishness to wisdom. 00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:14.820 In Bible terms, sanctification. 00:37:16.779 --> 00:37:20.079 You know, a wise person never says, I'm wise. 00:37:20.259 --> 00:37:22.239 If they do, they're not wise, okay? 00:37:22.679 --> 00:37:27.079 They might say, I'm wise in some areas and I'm foolish in others. 00:37:27.079 --> 00:37:28.960 And I need to learn and grow. 00:37:32.059 --> 00:37:37.619 See, Proverbs tells us the sort of life we are saved for. 00:37:38.799 --> 00:37:41.619 It reminds us of the life we're saved from. 00:37:42.940 --> 00:37:47.579 Pride, self-centeredness, defining good and evil for ourselves. 00:37:47.579 --> 00:37:52.460 But it also tells us what kind of life we are saved for. 00:37:52.799 --> 00:37:57.900 And I think sometimes we spend too much time telling everyone what we're saved from. 00:37:58.059 --> 00:38:01.639 And not enough time telling people what we are saved for. 00:38:01.719 --> 00:38:03.980 We are saved for eternal life. 00:38:04.079 --> 00:38:09.799 We are saved for good works in Christ Jesus, which he prepared beforehand for us. 00:38:09.800 --> 00:38:19.720 So we're going to do something a little bit different where we take communion at the end of the service. 00:38:20.800 --> 00:38:22.039 And I think it's fantastic. 00:38:22.260 --> 00:38:30.160 I think it's communion should always be a special time when we look back at the cross, 00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:37.179 that light switch, that power moment, and we are filled with gratitude and awe. 00:38:38.980 --> 00:38:43.659 We always look back to that moment and we give thanks and praise for that moment. 00:38:43.739 --> 00:38:44.839 And that's what we're going to do. 00:38:45.659 --> 00:38:50.379 But I would also like us, as we take communion and while we sit down, 00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:53.779 to ask God, to ask the Holy Spirit, 00:38:54.119 --> 00:38:57.659 show me the areas of my life where I'm foolish. 00:38:57.659 --> 00:39:02.059 Maybe you know the areas of your life where you're foolish. 00:39:02.199 --> 00:39:04.039 And you can say, God, I'm foolish in this area. 00:39:04.399 --> 00:39:05.899 Just help me. 00:39:07.799 --> 00:39:08.440 Help me. 00:39:09.879 --> 00:39:15.299 Maybe it requires the first step of reaching out to someone who you believe is wise in that area, 00:39:15.379 --> 00:39:18.659 which you struggle with, and going to them and saying, can I meet with you? 00:39:19.079 --> 00:39:20.539 I'd love to learn from you. 00:39:20.879 --> 00:39:21.879 I'd love to grow in you. 00:39:21.980 --> 00:39:22.779 So can we do that? 00:39:22.780 --> 00:39:28.980 As we take communion, we're going to reflect on the beauty and the wonder of the cross 00:39:28.980 --> 00:39:32.100 and never lose our gratitude and awe of it. 00:39:32.320 --> 00:39:36.640 But also we're going to ask God, as we walk in the way of insight, 00:39:37.360 --> 00:39:43.320 would you show us which areas of our lives we are foolish in and help us to grow? 00:39:43.320 --> 00:39:56.320 So, you know, if I could have spoken to that little granny who took God's Word 00:39:56.320 --> 00:40:02.160 and cut it up into little pieces, ripped it out of context, and took it in bite sizes, 00:40:02.160 --> 00:40:03.420 I would say to her, you know what? 00:40:03.440 --> 00:40:05.140 You can throw away that box. 00:40:06.080 --> 00:40:09.480 And what I'd love to give her is just something very simple. 00:40:09.480 --> 00:40:18.000 Just giving her a Bible. 00:40:20.380 --> 00:40:21.480 This is what you need. 00:40:21.559 --> 00:40:22.760 You don't need to cut it up. 00:40:22.940 --> 00:40:24.800 You don't need to take it one bite at a time. 00:40:25.039 --> 00:40:26.059 This is what you need. 00:40:28.059 --> 00:40:32.820 Guys, if you are new to Watermark or you haven't been here that long, 00:40:32.820 --> 00:40:35.880 I'd like to tell you something about us as a church. 00:40:35.880 --> 00:40:39.820 We are committed to loving each other. 00:40:39.940 --> 00:40:47.579 We are committed in walking with each other on this path of changing from fools to being wise. 00:40:48.900 --> 00:40:51.640 We're not the most religious people in the world, right? 00:40:52.300 --> 00:40:55.760 But we take Jesus very seriously here. 00:40:56.700 --> 00:40:58.619 And we treasure the Word of God. 00:40:58.619 --> 00:41:04.739 As we kind of move into, I would call it the down season in Hong Kong, summer. 00:41:05.960 --> 00:41:10.359 Guys, this is an opportunity to really read this book. 00:41:10.739 --> 00:41:14.739 Because when we read this book and we ask the Holy Spirit to be our teacher, 00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:17.299 we get to know the author of the book. 00:41:17.400 --> 00:41:21.380 We get to know the God behind the book who reveals Himself to us, 00:41:21.380 --> 00:41:27.739 who shows us what true wisdom is and how He wants to bless us with it. 00:41:29.619 --> 00:41:34.799 But unfortunately, a lot of us, and I include myself in this, we're a bit like Granny. 00:41:35.980 --> 00:41:38.559 And we take it little bite sizes. 00:41:40.940 --> 00:41:43.519 And really what we need to do is feast on this Word 00:41:43.519 --> 00:41:48.199 and treasure the Christ, the Redeemer, behind the whole book. 00:41:48.239 --> 00:41:52.559 And I'll give you 00:41:52.779 --> 00:41:53.519 David Casacchi. 00:41:53.579 --> 00:41:56.000 And mange the pages and is on and out. 00:41:56.639 --> 00:42:01.299 Nowadays, we're trying to keep you away from a constant source of the intent.