Bible's most well-known book of wisdom, Proverbs.
Let me ask you, how do you read it and interpret it?
For that matter, how do you read and interpret any Old Testament book?
Do you read it the same way as an Orthodox Jew would read it today?
You know, a faithful Jewish person believes that the Old Testament is the Word of God.
But they do not believe that Jesus is the Old Testament's promised Messiah.
They do not believe that the New Testament is the authoritative Word of God.
An Orthodox Jew would read the book of Proverbs to learn lessons on how to live wisely.
How to live a morally good life.
But he or she would not consider how Jesus Christ fits into Proverbs.
Nor would they turn to the New Testament and allow God's Word there shed light on understanding Proverbs.
They wouldn't do that with any Old Testament book.
I want us to understand this morning.
I want us to be real, very clear.
We as Christians must not read Proverbs or any book of the Old Testament as if Jesus had never come.
As if He had never come into this world.
As if He has not come into this world and taught and died on the cross for our sins.
And risen and ascended back into heaven.
And sent His Holy Spirit.
And gave us a fuller explanation of who God is and what God's doing in this world through the New Testament.
In the life and ministry of Jesus.
God reveals Himself and His plan.
His plan of salvation.
His plan for what He's doing in this world period.
He reveals it more clearly and more completely than He did in the Old Testament.
And the Bible explains that.
Look on the screen at Hebrews chapter 1.
The first three verses.
It says,
In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways.
Now that writer is explaining how God has spoken through the Old Testament.
But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.
Whom He appointed heir of all things.
And through whom also He made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God's glory.
And the exact representation of His being.
Sustaining all things by His powerful Word.
The book of Hebrews is a great place to look, to study.
To understand the Old Testament as we should understand it today.
For an example, in the book of Hebrews, you'll find that the Old Testament sacrifices,
the temple, the priesthood, things like this.
They were signs that pointed to Jesus Christ.
They pointed way into the future.
To the coming of Jesus.
And who He was and what He would do.
Hebrews describes these things in the Old Testament as being like shadows.
But the reality is found in Jesus Christ.
Now that Jesus has come.
He's completed His work of providing salvation.
Those signs from the Old Testament are no longer needed.
They have served their purpose.
They now are still the Word of God.
But what they pointed to has come in Jesus.
For an example,
why don't we ever go,
why don't we think we have to go to Jerusalem and worship in the temple?
Why don't we continue to offer animal sacrifices
and observe those dietary laws and rituals that we learn about,
for example, in the book of Leviticus?
The reason being,
those shadows have been replaced by the reality of what God has done in Jesus.
In who He is and in what He did when He came into this world.
Understanding this will help us to see why we must read the Old Testament
in light of God's more complete revelation detailed in the New Testament.
That means we must not leave Jesus out of our study of the Old Testament,
including the book of Proverbs.
You know, Jesus made it clear to both His own disciples and to His enemies
that the Old Testament reveals me.
Jesus told them,
I'm there.
You just haven't read it.
You just haven't understood it.
Let me give you two examples.
Jesus actually condemned His opponents.
Those Jewish leaders who were always trying to trap Him,
out to get Him.
He condemned them for not believing what the Old Testament taught about Him.
Look in John chapter 5.
Jesus said,
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life.
And it is they that bear witness about me.
Jesus was chastising them,
condemning them,
because they failed to see Him in the Old Testament.
Going on in Luke chapter 24,
following His resurrection,
Jesus rebuked two of His own disciples
for their failure to see Him in their Scriptures,
which was the Old Testament.
Look at it.
And He said to them,
O foolish ones,
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into His glory?
And beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures,
I underline that and put it in bold on the screen,
the things concerning Himself.
As we study Proverbs,
it's important that we open that book
and read it, study it, interpret it,
just like any other book of the Bible that we open.
As we read in Proverbs in the weeks to come,
and I don't think I said it in case you're here for the first time,
we're in a study called Becoming Wise.
We're going to be focusing primarily on the book of Proverbs.
As we open these pages in the book of Proverbs,
we're going to be looking at the meaning of words.
We're going to think about the day in which they were written,
their context that way.
We're going to look at the context,
where they're found,
the Scriptures before them and after them.
But we're also going to look at the big context of the Bible.
The book of Proverbs does not exist in isolation.
The book of Proverbs is a part of the Old and New Testament together,
our Bible.
That means we need to read Proverbs in light of
the person and work of Jesus Christ
as explained in the New Testament.
That's the goal of today's message.
I want us to see how we as Christians
should study Proverbs
in light of God's fuller revelation of Himself
and His plan in Jesus
and in the New Testament witness to Jesus.
I'm going to use some material from a man
by the name of Anthony Salvaggio.
Anthony Salvaggio.
He is a pastor and theologian from New York.
And he has written a little commentary,
not real long,
on the book of Proverbs.
And he pointed out some things about how
Jesus fits into Proverbs
and explained it so well
that I want to share some of it.
I'm adapting it some.
If you've got his book,
you may say,
well, you misrepresented him.
So I'm not going to say,
I'm saying everything he said.
But I am using his material a good bit.
It's a good little study,
what I've read of it,
but this part especially.
If you're interested in further study,
pick it up.
In our first study of Proverbs two weeks ago,
we began in chapter 1, verses 1 through 6.
And we found that the purpose of this book,
the book of Proverbs,
is to make us wise.
We saw in that message
that while Proverbs will certainly teach us
much about wisdom,
and we need it, don't we?
The greatest source of wisdom
is found in Jesus Christ.
And Jesus makes that very clear
in the New Testament.
And we read it last week,
but let me refresh your memory.
Actually, two weeks ago.
Matthew chapter 12.
Jesus said this,
The queen of the south
will arise at the judgment
and with this generation
and condemn it.
For she came from the ends of the earth
to listen to Solomon's wisdom,
and now one greater than Solomon
is here.
Proverbs begins.
These are the Proverbs.
These are the sayings,
the teachings of Solomon.
They're not all from Solomon,
as we saw two weeks ago.
But the book of Proverbs,
we normally associate
the wisdom of Solomon,
the wisest man who ever lived.
And Jesus says,
in himself,
well, look at me.
One greater than Solomon,
one wiser than Solomon,
is here before you.
That's why we need to listen to Jesus
as we study wisdom
wherever in the Bible.
Let's look in more detail now
at what Jesus
and how Jesus
will teach us wisdom.
First,
Jesus taught
that the entire Old Testament
points to him.
Jesus himself taught,
you cannot have a full understanding
of the Old Testament
if you leave me out.
Look at what he said.
I want to read one verse.
It's the same as several verses
we saw a minute ago
or from several verses.
Luke 24, 27.
And beginning with Moses
and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them
and all the scriptures
the things concerning himself.
But then Jesus went on
in that same chapter 24 of Luke
to say this.
It's on the screen.
Then he said to them,
these are my words
that I spoke to you
while I was still with you
that everything written about me
in the law of Moses
and the prophets
and the Psalms
must be fulfilled.
That was his way
of describing
the whole Old Testament.
Then he opened their minds
to understand the scripture.
Understand the scriptures.
That's verse 45 there.
I want you to think about that.
Jesus opened their minds
to understand the scriptures.
Do you know that
while we should,
we must read the Bible
for ourselves.
I mean,
God expects you.
God will never give you knowledge
just out of the blue.
He's not going to just zap you
and make you wise
about the things of God.
God expects us
to open the Bible,
to read it,
to study it,
to think about it.
Just let it sink in.
Try to understand it.
Try to figure it out.
But the only way
that we're ever really going
to understand
what God is saying
and how it applies
to our lives
is if God enables us.
And God will enable us
if we're Christians
through his Holy Spirit
who lives within us.
That's what Jesus was telling
his disciples there
about himself.
The English Standard Version,
ESV Study Bible,
has a good note
on verse 45.
Look at it.
They say,
true understanding
of the Scriptures
so that one understands
how all of redemptive history
fits together
is a gift of God.
God has to be the one
to sort of turn the light on
for us to understand
his Word
and to understand
how the New Testament
completes,
fulfills
that which is taught
in the Old Testament.
Let's look now
more specifically
at why we cannot
exclude Jesus
from our study
of wisdom
in Proverbs.
Number two,
Jesus demonstrated wisdom
throughout his earthly life.
I want you to really
pay attention here.
I want you to note
with me
how from childhood,
from childhood,
Jesus Christ
was wise.
He demonstrated it.
He grew in wisdom
as the God-man
that He was.
Jesus revealed wisdom,
His wisdom,
at the beginning
of His life.
Luke chapter 2,
verse 40.
The very first description
of Jesus as a child
says this,
and the child grew
and became strong,
filled with wisdom.
The only things
that we know about
Jesus as an infant,
as a little child,
Matthew 1
and Luke chapter 2.
Luke is telling us here,
after he's told us
about the birth of Jesus,
Luke is doing
sort of a summary statement here.
Jesus still,
this little child,
how He grew,
became strong,
and even then
filled with wisdom.
The next thing Luke tells us
is the only information
we have
from Jesus
as a little child
until He was 30 years old.
That's a big gap,
isn't it?
Jesus as a little child
and then He's 30 years old.
What happened?
Well, we don't know.
And I want to encourage you,
don't waste your money
and time reading a book
that fills in the story
for you
as to what Jesus did,
what was going on
between His childhood
and adulthood.
Nobody knows.
We're not intended to know
because it's not
in God's Word.
But there's one incident.
One thing did happen
that the Scripture tells us about
when Jesus was 12 years old.
He went to the temple.
He sat with the Jewish teachers.
He sat with the scholars of His day.
And He listened to them teach.
He understood what they were talking about.
He asked questions.
And just by, I guess,
the way He sat there,
the way He listened,
and the questions that He asked,
they were just blown away.
They were just so impressed
with the 12-year-old Jesus.
And this is how Luke describes Him.
Luke chapter 2, verse 47.
And all who heard Him
were amazed at His understanding
and His answers.
Smart people.
Jewish scholarly types,
as well as the common people.
all were amazed
at His understanding
and His answers.
Not questions here.
And His answers.
Now Luke goes on
in this same chapter
to conclude this account
of Jesus' early life like this.
Luke 2, 52.
And Jesus increased in wisdom
and in stature
and in favor
with God and man.
man.
Jesus is described
as being wise
as we see Him.
He demonstrates it
as a 12-year-old.
He's described here
as one who was wise
and grew in wisdom
as He grew into adulthood.
Now Jesus also revealed
His wisdom
throughout His public
teaching ministry.
There's many examples
we could turn to.
Jesus' wisdom
was evident
in the way He taught,
the content of His teaching.
Here's an example
from Mark chapter 6
and verse 2.
It says,
And on the Sabbath,
He began to teach
in the synagogue.
And many who heard Him
were astonished,
saying,
Where did this man
get these things?
What is the wisdom
given to Him?
See,
when Jesus came on the scene,
He was unknown.
Or the ones who knew Him,
they knew His parents.
He was not
a well-trained,
formerly trained rabbi.
But they were blown away
with what Jesus taught,
the content of His teaching,
the wisdom
that He displayed.
And then Jesus' wisdom
is also seen
in one of His primary
teaching methods,
the parable.
If you know anything
about the teaching of Jesus,
if you know anything
about Matthew, Mark,
and Luke especially,
Jesus taught many things
about the kingdom of God,
about life,
by telling little stories,
parables.
Now, the Greek word
translated parable
in the New Testament
comes from the Hebrew word
for proverbs
in the Old Testament.
So Jesus taught,
we can say,
by using proverbs.
Just like we see
in the book of Proverbs,
except He demonstrated
and He taught
greater wisdom.
Jesus demonstrated wisdom
throughout His life.
It was an obvious characteristic
that He possessed.
It's who He was.
And it came out
in the things that He did
and the things that He taught.
Jesus is the perfect
proverbs man,
a man of wisdom.
But wisdom is not just evident
in the earthly life
and teaching of Jesus.
Number three,
Jesus embodies wisdom.
This is more,
this is a more difficult concept
to understand,
to grasp hold of,
but the Scripture teaches it.
And so bear with me here.
Let's look,
let's think about this
real carefully.
The Apostle Paul
describes Jesus
this way
in 1 Corinthians 1,
verse 30.
By the way,
Paul describes Jesus
as being the wisdom of God
in various ways
in 1 Corinthians 1
and 2.
But look at this.
Paul writes in,
because of Him,
God,
because of Him,
he's talking about God
in the previous verse.
Because of Him,
because of God,
you are in Christ Jesus
who became to us
wisdom from God.
Jesus is a gift of wisdom.
He embodies it.
Look at what Paul said
in Colossians 2.
He says,
My goal
is that they may be
encouraged in heart
and united in love
so that they may have
the full riches
of complete understanding
in order that they may know
the mystery of God,
namely Christ,
in whom are hidden
all the treasures
of wisdom
and knowledge.
Paul,
in writing
the letter
to the Colossians,
makes much
of the glory
of Jesus Christ.
I mean,
he just points out
the supremacy
of Jesus Christ
in creation.
And a part of what
he's talking about here,
look at it there.
It's still on the screen.
Look at it.
The mystery of God,
namely Christ,
in whom are hidden
all the treasures
of wisdom
and knowledge.
Old Testament scholar,
Tremper Longden,
says that Paul
is teaching us
that Jesus
is the very
incarnation
of wisdom.
That means
he personifies
wisdom.
He embodies
wisdom.
It might help us
to think
along this line.
If you want to see
one of the greatest
demonstrations
or displays
of wisdom
in print,
read the book
of Proverbs.
I mean,
if you really want
to study
a body of material,
you can read it.
Something that's
in print.
Great wisdom.
Then you'd read
the book of Proverbs.
But,
if you want
to see
the greatest
display
of the wisdom
of God
in human form,
look at Jesus.
Jesus,
he modeled it.
He personified it
in just
who he was,
what he taught,
how he taught.
Let's look at
one more reason
for not leaving
Jesus out of our
study of Proverbs.
Jesus is the
ultimate wisdom
God calls us
to choose
to follow
in life.
Jesus is the
ultimate wisdom
that God
calls us
to make
the choice,
make the decision
to follow
in life.
Throughout the
book of Proverbs,
we're going to be
called to choose
the way of wisdom
instead of the
way of foolishness.
Throughout the
book of Proverbs,
the writer's
going to say,
if you want to
live a way
that's wise,
that'll be to
your advantage,
a way that
will make you
or enable you
to live just
the best possible
life,
then you live
this way.
Or you can
live this foolish
way.
It's up to you.
The paths
are laid out
for us.
If you live
this way,
it'll result
in you being
wise,
and it'll be
the best way
you can live.
If you live
this way,
it's a fool's
way,
and it can
kill you,
but it will
certainly hurt
you even
if you live.
Well,
in a similar
way,
we're called
in the New
Testament to
choose the way
of God
instead of
the way
of the world.
The Apostle
Paul explains
it in terms
of choosing
the secret
wisdom of
God,
now revealed
in Jesus,
instead of
the foolishness
offered by
the world.
Look with me
if you would,
1 Corinthians
chapter 2.
But we
impart a secret
and hidden
wisdom of
God,
which God
decreed before
the ages
for our
glory.
None of the
rulers of
this age
understood
this,
for if they
had,
they would
not have
crucified the
Lord of
glory.
You know
what that
secret wisdom,
secret knowledge
is that he's
writing about?
It's about
Jesus,
the Son of
God,
the Messiah,
coming into
this world,
but not like in
the Old Testament
they thought he
would,
not like the
Jews thought he
would.
They thought and
hoped he would
come in as a
political leader,
as a military
leader.
In the first
century, the
Jews had this
hope that the
Messiah, when he
comes, he's going
to destroy the
Romans.
He's going to
set us free from
Roman rule.
He's going to
set up a new
earthly Jewish
kingdom, like we
enjoyed under
David and under
Solomon.
But God's plan
was to send his
son, the Messiah,
to save the
world a different
way.
God's plan was to
send Jesus into
the world to die
on the cross, to
pay the penalty for
our sins, so that
through faith in
him, all people
could be liberated
from sin.
All people could
be saved from
death and hell.
All people could
be free, truly,
spiritually, and
eventually, physically,
in a new heaven and
a new earth, eternal
life.
That was the great
mystery.
God was going to
unite all people in
Christ, the suffering
servant of God
through his death
on the cross.
Old Testament
scholars Raymond
Dillard and
Trimter Longman
describe this
connection between
Proverbs and Jesus
like this.
Look at it.
Thus, as Christians
read the book of
Proverbs in the
light of continued
revelation of the
New Testament, they
are confronted with
the same questions as
the ancient Israelites,
but with a different
nuance.
Will we dine with
wisdom or with
folly?
Foolishness.
The wisdom who
beckons us is none
other than Jesus
Christ, while the
folly that attempts
to seduce us is any
created thing that we
put in the place of
the Creator.
If you want to be
wise and live this
way of wisdom, you
will do it by
following Jesus.
What they're saying
is the foolish way is
just choose whatever
else you want to
choose.
Anything other than
Christ.
You can choose to
follow the crowd.
You can choose to
follow money.
You can choose to
follow popularity.
You fill in the
blank.
But in the end, the
way of following
Jesus is the wise
way.
And everything else
eventually will prove
to be the foolish
way.
As we study the
wisdom of Proverbs
over the coming
weeks, we're going
to see what God is
saying in that Old
Testament book.
Proverbs speaks to
us today.
It's relevant for
our lives today.
We're not just going
to stop with what we
see in that book as
if Jesus has not
come.
God has given us an
even greater source of
wisdom that will help
us to better understand
and live according to
the wisdom of
Proverbs.
The source of
wisdom is the person
and work of Jesus
Christ as explained,
as presented in the
New Testament.
Here's what I want us
to understand.
Jesus does more than
just help us to
understand what it
means to be wise.
Jesus can actually
help us if we are
His to live wisely
through His
indwelling Spirit.
When a person
becomes a Christian,
the Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of Christ,
the Spirit of God
comes to live within
us.
And He's the one who
will enable us to
put into practice the
teachings that we
learn, the truth that
we learn about wisdom
in the book of
Proverbs.
If we seek to live
wisely as Proverbs
teaches and the Holy
Spirit enables us,
we will be living more
and more like Jesus.
We will be conforming
more and more to His
likeness, developing His
character, which is
God's goal for us, as
you well know, as we've
studied on other
occasions.
But before we can ever
really live like Jesus,
we've got to have a
relationship with Him.
And I want you to
listen very carefully.
We're about at the end
because this is vitally
important.
Do you truly have a
relationship with Jesus
Christ?
He is your Savior and
Lord of your life.
If you have such a
relationship, you should
be able to point or
point out the way God
has and is changing
you and conforming you
more and more to the
likeness of His Son.
In other words, helping
you to develop Christ-like
character.
Lisa and I went to fall
for Greenville Friday
night.
Ate a lot of junk food,
things that, you know,
not good and healthy for
you, but we enjoyed it.
Well, in that sea of
people, we came to one
spot and there were some
individuals there who were
passing out tracts,
religious tracts.
And one person handed one
to Lisa.
He didn't hand one to me.
And I just thought, he must
think Lisa needs it more
than I do.
The little tract said,
are you born again?
Lisa brought it home and I
looked at it when we got
home.
It was an excellent tract.
It asked the question, are
you born again?
And as you opened it up, it
explained from the book of
1 John how a Christian will
live.
Very biblically sound.
If we're Christians, we will
live a certain way.
It will be evident in our
lives that God has put his
spirit in us.
We'll have a desire to love
God, to do his will, to obey
his word.
We'll have a desire to love
one another.
The book of 1 John tells us
it's written to give Christians
assurance of their salvation and
it explains what really will
happen, how a Christian will
think, how a Christian will
feel, how a Christian will
want to live in this world.
Salvation is by the grace of
God through faith in Jesus.
But saving faith is
continuing faith.
Saving faith is not invisible.
James tells us, as we've said
it on Sunday morning even, not
too long ago.
Saving faith is life-altering
faith.
If we truly are believers in
Jesus Christ, it'll be evident
in the way that we live our
lives in our home, where we work,
where you go to school, wherever
you are.
Is such faith, saving faith, life-altering
faith evident in your life?
It really does not matter if you
claim to be a Christian.
I'm a Christian because I prayed a
certain prayer.
You won't ever find anything in the
Bible that tries to offer you any
assurance based on you praying a
prayer.
Or because you walked down an aisle
in a church and spoke to some
pastor.
Or even because you were baptized.
Saving faith will be evident in
your life by the way that you live,
by the way you seek to know and
love and serve God, please Him by
doing His will, love other people and
serve other people truly.
Is saving faith evident in your life?
If it is, thank God because it
itself is a gift from God.
Continue to cooperate with Him and
to obey Him and live for His glory.
Live according to the leadership of
His Spirit.
You have to have that.
But saving faith is really not
evident in your life.
But you want to be right with God
today.
You want to have a real relationship
with Jesus Christ.
I want you to understand that can
happen right now.
If you'll admit to God that you are
a sinner, that you are guilty of sin
against Him and truly repent.
That means change your mind about it.
Turn away from it.
Hate it.
And ask God to deliver you from it.
And as you turn from your sin, you
turn to Jesus Christ.
In faith and trust, you're confident
that when He died on the cross, He
actually died for you to pay the
penalty for your sins.
And if you'll truly call upon Him to
save you as you turn from your sin,
He will.
The Bible says that whoever will call
upon the name of the Lord will be
saved.
God will save you now if you will
humbly, sincerely, wholeheartedly
turn from your sin, put your trust in
Jesus and surrender control of your
life to Him.
He's got to be Lord of all.
Or as that little cliche says, He will
not be Lord at all.
The wisdom of God certainly is revealed
throughout the Bible, especially in the
book of Proverbs.
God is the most powerful
but most powerfully seen and experienced
in the person of Jesus Christ.
Make sure you have a relationship with
Him if you truly want to be wise and have a
relationship with God now and forever.
Let's pray together.
Father, show each person in this room how
they should respond to you and your word
this morning.
Lord, especially make it clear
that salvation is by your grace.
It's undeserved.
It is through faith in Jesus Christ.
But help everyone here to understand that
saving faith,
it continues.
It is evident by the way that we live.
Help everyone here to understand that
if you have saved them, your spirit's in
them and they will know it.
They will know it by looking at their life.
Other people will know it.
Help them to ask questions if they need to.
But right now, dear God, make it clear
how we all should respond to you and to Jesus.
In an attitude of prayer, you respond to the Lord.
If I could help you, pray with you,
talk with you right now, I'll be happy to hear
it at the front.
But the important thing is you respond to the Lord
as He speaks to you right now.
Let's do that.