WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.439 Okay, so this morning we're going to return for the last time to this passage, this chapter 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:14.560 of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 20. 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:18.320 And I'll stress again, maybe for those who haven't been here, but also for those who 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:25.280 have been here, that this is not, that Proverbs of God are not moral teachings that we try 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:27.679 and follow in order to please God. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:29.640 That's not the point of them. 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:36.200 They're really for us some of the characteristics that should mark our lives if we are already 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:37.840 Christians. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:43.200 It should be some of the characteristics of the Holy Spirit at work transforming our lives. 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:50.280 You know, Romans 12 speaks about being living sacrifices to God, acceptable to God, and 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:52.799 thanksgiving to Him for coming to faith. 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:57.740 And he says, we become living sacrifices by the transforming of our minds. 00:00:57.740 --> 00:01:04.159 So it involves thought, it involves action, it involves changing who we are, that we are 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:08.799 renewed and our minds are changed and we become like Jesus Christ. 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:12.960 It's what we would, you know, what we would call becoming holy. 00:01:12.960 --> 00:01:19.480 We are made holy when we come to faith, but then we become holy also as we become more 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:20.480 like Jesus. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:25.939 And I think holiness has got a kind of bad press and it's seen as sort of a bit ethereal 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:31.920 and a bit mystical and a bit otherworldly and sometimes a bit holier than thou. 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:35.879 You know that, you know, we don't like that there's a bit of self-righteousness about 00:01:35.879 --> 00:01:36.879 it. 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:40.719 It shouldn't be and it isn't like that biblically at all. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:47.280 Holiness is relentlessly practical in the Bible and we find that really Proverbs is a 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:48.280 book of holiness. 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:51.959 It's a book of practical holiness for us to consider. 00:01:51.959 --> 00:01:55.400 And maybe you don't think God cares about some of these little things in your lives, 00:01:55.400 --> 00:02:00.480 but let me assure you He does and He cares about the practical outworking of what it 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:02.000 means to be a Christian. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:08.159 Not so much what we profess and what we think we believe, but in many ways how we live in 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:09.159 our lives. 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:13.280 So we've looked at things in this chapter alone, by the end of today we'll have looked 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:15.120 at 14 things. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:21.400 Seven things to avoid and seven things to attain to. 00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:23.719 So and we've done all the avoidance, okay? 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:28.240 We've done the avoiding things in our lives as people. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:34.800 The Bible gives us things to avoid not to do as a mark of the Holy Spirit working and 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:38.400 as a mark of grace, as a mark of people who rely on Jesus. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:43.960 So we've looked at drunkenness and we've looked at quarreling and laziness and dishonesty 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:49.879 and gossiping and vindictiveness and rash commitments. 00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:52.000 They're not very otherworldly, are they? 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:53.000 They're not very ethereal. 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:54.240 They're very down to earth. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:55.879 They're very practical things. 00:02:55.879 --> 00:03:00.919 They're things that tomorrow you will go out and be challenged by at one level or another. 00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:05.639 And we've seen these seven different things that as Christians we should look to avoid. 00:03:05.639 --> 00:03:09.800 But we've also seen three things to attain to and we're going to look at another four 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:12.439 this morning briefly as we finish this series. 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:19.319 We've looked at the importance of wisdom as a reflection of the opposite of folly. 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:24.919 The wisdom is understanding others, understanding ourselves and understanding life stages. 00:03:24.919 --> 00:03:28.199 We've seen that all in the verses that we've looked at from Proverbs. 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:34.799 So today briefly we're going to look at faithfulness, righteousness, wise talk and good advice. 00:03:34.799 --> 00:03:44.719 These are the last four from this chapter that hopefully practically are aspects, characteristics 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:52.039 of wisdom that you and I need to display as we go out into our day to day lives and reflect, 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:59.039 seek to reflect the grace and the love and the commitment and the power of God transforming 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:00.280 us. 00:04:00.280 --> 00:04:03.280 So the first one is faithfulness. 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:08.759 Verse 6 of this Proverb is the standalone verses, the standalone Proverbs. 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:14.959 Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love but a faithful man who can find. 00:04:14.959 --> 00:04:21.519 And this Proverbs reminding us of the importance of faithfulness and also the rarity of faithfulness. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:25.079 And there's a great word there, steadfast, or it's a great two words, that's the one 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:27.240 word in the original, steadfast love. 00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:29.480 It's the great Old Testament word. 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:31.439 It's the brilliant Old Testament word. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:36.319 It's the Old Testament word that the NIV translators left to the very end because they didn't know 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:41.000 how to translate it because it's such a big, wide, deep, strong word and we don't really 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:44.079 have one word that encapsulates it. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:46.480 Steadfast love is a decent attempt, I guess. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:53.519 It's the Hesed word, the word of loyal love, steadfast love, covenant love, the great love 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:59.920 that primarily is reflected in the love of God for His people, which is that outstanding 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:03.319 love that we see in Jesus Christ. 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:11.759 And it shows itself in faithfulness, this stead-faithful love, never giving up love. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:17.360 And faithfulness is the theme here, is a wise thing that we should attain to. 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:21.480 And not many of us should self-proclaim that. 00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:28.039 We shouldn't think we are people naturally in our lives who are great at steadfast love. 00:05:28.039 --> 00:05:33.159 We maybe have a high evaluation of the faithfulness and the friendship that we give to other 00:05:33.160 --> 00:05:36.439 people and our love towards them. 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:43.120 But I wonder if we analyze that friendship we have with our family and the people closest 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:51.000 to us, whether it is sacrificial and steadfast love or whether it's simply really us loving 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:56.280 ourselves at one level because we're looking in the mirror and we love those who are like 00:05:56.280 --> 00:06:02.040 us, we love those who don't demand of us, we love those who we'd attracted to. 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:05.920 And even then sometimes we only love them as long as they're nice to us because that 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:12.319 can sometimes be the level of our love and it's different from the steadfast love. 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:19.040 Romans 12, 3 says a great thing for us, don't think of yourself too highly of yourself. 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:23.600 Can I have that again? 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:28.960 For the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of more highly than 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:32.199 you ought to think but to think with sober judgment each according to the measure of 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:34.519 faith that God has assigned. 00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:39.000 And that's what we find that we don't have too high an opinion of how loving we are to 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:45.199 other people and how great we are as friends and as others because so often we fall short 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:47.279 and we recognize that as Christians. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:53.120 We don't have too high an opinion of ourselves because we understand our relationship to 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:54.319 Jesus Christ. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:07:00.319 And we can say He's the only truly righteous, faithful person. 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:02.040 He's the one who's been faithful. 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:08.600 He exemplifies steadfast, loyal love. 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:15.600 In His atonement for us, we recognize that question, many proclaim His own steadfast 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:20.399 love but a faithful man who can find, well we can find it in Jesus Christ. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:23.120 He is the faithful man. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:26.759 He's the faithful person, pure and selfless. 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:31.519 And the great thing about Proverbs is it drives us to the cross. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:33.360 It's not moralistic. 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:36.000 It's not simply ticking everything and this is how I can live. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:39.720 It drives us to the cross and says, I can't live like this. 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:44.680 I am unfaithful like Jesus Christ is. 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:52.399 Faithfulness is a rare jewel and it is something that we can develop and mature and nurture 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:56.120 as Christians because it's a gift of God. 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:58.679 It is the grace of the gospel. 00:07:58.679 --> 00:08:00.560 It is a character. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:04.799 It's the flavor of grace's faithfulness. 00:08:04.799 --> 00:08:08.479 It's a practical outworking of love. 00:08:08.479 --> 00:08:14.560 As Christians, it makes a huge difference if we know about and practice and recognize 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:18.199 that faithfulness isn't just something that naturally comes from. 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:21.439 It's something we need to work at. 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:25.399 He's being determined and committed not to give up. 00:08:25.399 --> 00:08:29.000 Can I call it a gentle stoicism? 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:33.840 Now we're coming into our own here in Scotland because we're quite good at stoicism. 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:37.639 We're used to rain and wind and cold. 00:08:37.639 --> 00:08:41.480 Any of you who are visiting today from warm parts of the world, you'll not understand 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:42.480 this for us. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:46.320 We've had three weeks of unbroken sun and no rain. 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:47.559 We don't know what to do. 00:08:47.559 --> 00:08:48.559 We don't know which way to turn. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:49.960 We've never had it before. 00:08:49.960 --> 00:08:52.920 It's rare and strange. 00:08:52.920 --> 00:08:53.920 So we're stoic. 00:08:53.920 --> 00:08:57.320 We're used to the wind and the rain and the cold. 00:08:57.320 --> 00:08:58.720 And it makes us stoic. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:02.360 And I often rail against stoicism here in the pulpit. 00:09:02.360 --> 00:09:04.320 But sometimes stoicism is a good thing. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:06.040 It's not a bad thing. 00:09:06.040 --> 00:09:12.720 And it can be good to be stoic in faithfulness and in love with a soft stoicism, shall we 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:13.720 say. 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:17.879 Now, we're in the third week of the World Cup. 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:20.399 And I haven't used it once as an analogy. 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:21.399 How impressive is that? 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:23.439 But I'm going to today. 00:09:23.439 --> 00:09:26.960 So we're into that stage, really great stage of the World Cup. 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:34.200 But I want to expose the failings of somebody at the World Cup and use it as an illustration 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:35.200 here. 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:38.399 Neymar has had a bad week, hasn't he? 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:44.639 He's been the butt of all kinds of memes and all kinds of jokes about his antics when 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:48.080 he's being injured. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:50.919 It's not the right word. 00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:57.279 When someone's tapped him on the ankle and then he goes down and rolls around for many, 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:02.559 many, many cycles looking that he's very, very seriously ill. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:07.759 This last week when he was touched at the edge of the pitch and he went down and I genuinely 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:09.960 thought he'd caught the bubonic plague. 00:10:09.960 --> 00:10:12.639 I actually thought he was going to die on the spot. 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:17.439 He looked so desperately ill and broken. 00:10:17.439 --> 00:10:23.960 Now there was a day in my generation, and maybe people like Ivan will remember this as 00:10:23.960 --> 00:10:29.919 well, when footballers did everything to show they hadn't been injured. 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:32.879 They did everything to show that it wasn't painful. 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:33.879 It wasn't so. 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:35.840 They got up and they went on. 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:42.000 I watched a program last night on BBC Alba, something I don't often do, about Jimmy Johnson, 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:43.960 the great Jinky Johnson for Celtic. 00:10:43.960 --> 00:10:49.720 He was somebody who had great skill and great ability and when he was hacked down again 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:53.240 and again and again he simply didn't roll around. 00:10:53.240 --> 00:11:00.019 The illustration here is that I think we, Neymar reflects a lot of the kind of society 00:11:00.019 --> 00:11:05.759 thinking that we now have as people who are very fragile, who are very easily offended. 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:08.840 Our rights need protected all the time. 00:11:08.840 --> 00:11:13.040 Beyond that we tend to love only those who agree with us, who are nice and who let me 00:11:13.040 --> 00:11:17.000 be what I want to be. 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:22.560 And yet we are called to be faithful to Jesus Christ and to what I would speak of and have 00:11:22.560 --> 00:11:25.519 spoken of a lot as the spiritual disciplines. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:31.840 And that, however unpopular that is and also however counter-cultural it is for us, for 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:36.400 example we are called to love our enemies, however mean they are. 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:41.600 We are to love our brothers and sisters beyond it being easy, beyond it just when they are 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:43.100 nice to us. 00:11:43.100 --> 00:11:49.600 When we are wronged, when we are opposed, when we are treated unfairly, when others are 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:56.240 unfaithful to us, our response is not to roll around before God on the floor and say, 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:02.360 oh the pain Lord, take them away, take these people away from us, strike them down. 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:04.079 That is not to be a response. 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:13.080 We are to be faithful, we are to keep on loving for the long haul in family, in work and in 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:14.080 the church. 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:21.200 And Proverbs points this to grace and to the impossibility of the truth of the gospel, 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:22.200 isn't it? 00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:24.200 We can't do it without grace. 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:27.240 We can't be faithful without Jesus Christ in our hearts. 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:33.160 It goes against every fiber of our self-preserving genes. 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:40.639 The way of God, it's rare because it's entirely not what we do by nature and we need to be 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:41.639 born again. 00:12:41.639 --> 00:12:48.600 We need to be born afresh and we need to live life in that way with God's grace and with 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:50.079 the help of the Holy Spirit. 00:12:50.079 --> 00:12:55.360 So you see Calvary is at the very core of Proverbs in the Old Testament and we'll see 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:57.360 that more as we go on. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:00.559 It's never just moralism, moralistic living. 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:02.159 So faithfulness is the first thing. 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:10.199 The second thing that is a mark of wisdom and is the opposite of folly is righteousness, 00:13:10.199 --> 00:13:11.199 which is the next verse. 00:13:11.199 --> 00:13:19.279 They're righteous who walks in his integrity, blessed are his children after him. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:23.719 So faithfulness is the first or the fourth quality we've looked at. 00:13:23.719 --> 00:13:26.079 The fifth one is righteousness. 00:13:26.079 --> 00:13:31.959 And that of course is at the very core of our understanding of wisdom, isn't it? 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:37.720 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and we recognize that as being that 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:41.280 we come to know our need of Jesus. 00:13:41.280 --> 00:13:48.360 So there's righteousness that's both declared when we come to faith and also that's practiced. 00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:55.160 So this verse takes us to the very core of spirituality, of religion, of worship of God 00:13:55.160 --> 00:14:01.200 because it reminds us this recognition of our need to be right before God. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:03.800 That's what righteousness is, right before God. 00:14:03.800 --> 00:14:05.920 So the whole message of the Bible, isn't it? 00:14:05.920 --> 00:14:09.600 That we need, there's only one judge. 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:14.640 There's one judge of your life and he asks you to be perfect. 00:14:14.640 --> 00:14:21.040 We have to be right with him and we can't be right with him in our own strength by coming 00:14:21.040 --> 00:14:24.600 to church, by ticking the boxes of the Proverbs. 00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:26.200 We can't be right. 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:27.200 We know that. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:34.960 We know there's only one way to be right with God, biblically and in our experience, is 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:42.600 through Jesus Christ and His sacrificial, substitutionary atonement on our behalf. 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:50.120 So that we have the God who takes away the guilt of our sin and takes on Himself on the 00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:56.520 cross and who gifts us the right life, the righteous life of Jesus. 00:14:56.519 --> 00:14:57.919 It becomes ours. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:14:59.919 There's a swap. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:02.759 There's a substitution. 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:09.759 Jesus took every step on this earth on our behalf to please God, to live the Proverbs 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:15.879 life, to live the righteous life in our place because we can't do it. 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:22.039 But then He dies on the cross as an unrighteous one who didn't fulfill the Proverbs life because 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:24.600 He's dying in our place. 00:15:24.600 --> 00:15:31.320 He takes our sin, we get His righteousness and as a believer we need to know and recognize 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:35.920 and see that on a daily basis. 00:15:35.920 --> 00:15:42.600 God looks at you today as a believer and He sees the righteous life of Jesus and the perfection 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:44.399 of Jesus covering you. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:48.120 There's lots of references in the Bible to being covered. 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:49.120 There's one or two of them. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:56.399 It's going to go through Romans 13 and verse 14, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make 00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:59.200 no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:04.639 So we put Him on, we are covered by Him and that's really in a sense what living the life 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:05.639 of Proverbs is. 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:07.639 Or there's Job 29, 14. 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:10.360 I agree in the middle of the Old Testament. 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:13.720 I put on righteousness and it clothed me. 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:17.200 My justice was like a robe and a turban. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:22.320 And there's that prophetic sense in which Job recognizes He needs someone who will be 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:25.960 righteous in His place and He can be covered by that. 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:29.680 Ephesians 4, 24. 00:16:29.680 --> 00:16:35.720 And put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:44.520 So there's both this being declared righteous and putting on this righteous life for God. 00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:48.759 And that is practical holiness. 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:53.799 And so this verse speaking about righteousness says, the righteous who walks is entirely 00:16:53.799 --> 00:16:55.639 blessed of his children after him. 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:57.559 So we need to live it. 00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:03.360 So we need to live what has been declared unto us, what has been declared of us. 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:06.160 God in Christ declares us righteous. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:07.160 Perfect. 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:10.119 Forgiven, redeemed, renewed. 00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:11.119 We've got to live that. 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:17.479 And in the Lawsians 3, 12, I think this is my last reference. 00:17:17.479 --> 00:17:18.479 Yeah. 00:17:18.479 --> 00:17:24.039 Put on then, this is a different one, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, all these things 00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:29.559 we've talked about, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:32.159 These are not otherworldly either. 00:17:32.159 --> 00:17:37.959 So we put on righteousness as well as having righteousness declared by God. 00:17:37.959 --> 00:17:39.079 So it's a life. 00:17:39.079 --> 00:17:40.919 We live it. 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:46.200 If we are covered in Christ, then we need to start living like Christ the way He wants 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:47.640 us to. 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:53.680 Christ is not some private health insurance for some future disaster, it's time when 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:56.000 we die. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:57.480 It's about healthy living now. 00:17:57.480 --> 00:17:58.640 It's about new life now. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:04.039 It's about moving from death to life now, so that when we do die, it's simply we're falling 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:05.039 asleep in Jesus. 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:06.519 That's all we're doing. 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:11.920 The sting of death has been removed and we will rise again on the resurrection day of 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:14.039 which Sunday is a reminder. 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:18.839 So we live it and we remind ourselves that it's a walk. 00:18:18.839 --> 00:18:21.480 The righteous who walks in his integrity. 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:24.879 So that's just another word for our day to day living. 00:18:24.879 --> 00:18:28.519 What you will do when you leave here today and tomorrow, it's your walk. 00:18:28.519 --> 00:18:29.960 We talk about that, don't we? 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:31.160 Our walk of life. 00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:36.720 There's a great verse in Isaiah 30, 21, which is, I love this verse and it's a great verse 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:40.480 to remember that God says, this is the way. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:42.000 Walk in it. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:43.000 So we're listening. 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:46.080 We're listening for God's voice to say, to guide us. 00:18:46.080 --> 00:18:47.680 Say, this is the way. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:48.880 We're listening for His word. 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:50.240 We know His word. 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:55.160 We're seeking what Him, we recognize it as a narrow path and as a straight road, but 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:58.040 He is our sat nav. 00:18:58.040 --> 00:18:59.640 He is our guide. 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:02.400 He's to become the voice of our conscience. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:04.280 He is our Lord. 00:19:04.280 --> 00:19:06.520 That's what we understand by the walk of faith. 00:19:06.520 --> 00:19:10.480 It's not saying, oh, 30 years ago I made a confession, a professed, I gave my heart to 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:15.440 Jesus and in all of it, since then I've just been living my own life my own way. 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:21.640 It's a walk that we follow Him and we hear His voice and He said, this is the way. 00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:23.360 Walk in it. 00:19:23.360 --> 00:19:25.600 We're to walk in the Spirit. 00:19:25.600 --> 00:19:26.759 We're to walk worthy. 00:19:26.759 --> 00:19:28.080 We're to walk in the light. 00:19:28.080 --> 00:19:29.400 We're to walk carefully. 00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:30.720 We're to walk in Him. 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:32.080 We're to walk in wisdom. 00:19:32.080 --> 00:19:37.240 These are just some of the references in the New Testament to walking in faith as an illustration 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:39.680 of the path of the Christian. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:46.200 If you've got Bible Gateway and download Bible Gateway, it's a great resource and just type 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:51.360 in walk at the top and it comes up with all the biblical references to walk. 00:19:51.360 --> 00:19:54.120 Now, there's obviously thousands of online concordants. 00:19:54.120 --> 00:19:58.320 There's thousands and some of them just talk about ordinary walking, but particularly maybe 00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:04.159 in the Psalms or the New Testament, look up all the references to walk and you see the 00:20:04.159 --> 00:20:10.359 nature of this righteous living and we're to do it without hypocrisy. 00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:14.039 The righteous who walks in His integrity, blessed are His children after Him. 00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:17.000 So it's walking without hypocrisy, with integrity. 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:22.279 It's a buzzword today to be someone with integrity and I'm glad it's good. 00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:24.599 It's a great buzzword. 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:26.039 It's an impossibly high standard. 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:27.839 We can't do it without Jesus Christ. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:32.279 We're thrown back onto Jesus Christ daily. 00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:33.879 Spiritual disciplines. 00:20:33.879 --> 00:20:43.119 Daily for there's a great power in sincerity and there's a great power in integrity and 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:45.759 not being hypocritical. 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:47.359 And you know what that means? 00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:54.480 It means in community, in family first and in church and community second. 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:58.440 That's what it has most influence. 00:20:58.440 --> 00:21:03.680 That's why God is a covenant God who works in family and who works in community because 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:11.519 He knows that as we live righteously, that's a great example to the people around you. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:14.160 Integrity without hypocrisy. 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:16.960 Especially children, you know it says, blessed are these children after Him. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:17.960 Why does it say that? 00:21:17.960 --> 00:21:23.799 Because children are most powerfully influenced by their parents and they will see most clearly 00:21:23.799 --> 00:21:27.039 whether we are being hypocrites in our lives. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:32.359 As covenant children, how often have we spoken to and counseled and been with adults who 00:21:32.359 --> 00:21:38.440 are broken and struggling because of their parents? 00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:44.240 How often have people wandered away from the church because of the behaviour of their spiritual 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:49.039 parents in church or the attitude and the behaviour of others in church? 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:56.960 Because of hypocrisy, a lack of integrity, a lack of righteous living, walk without hypocrisy. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:58.039 God honours that. 00:21:58.039 --> 00:22:03.559 We are blessed to see so many children as we have, but it's a huge responsibility for 00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:04.559 all of us. 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:07.879 You are all locus parentis here. 00:22:07.879 --> 00:22:08.879 All of us have that role. 00:22:08.879 --> 00:22:14.319 All of us have taken vows as we sit with the children and we have to live righteous lives 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:20.519 together and righteous lives as parents, recognising what this is saying is that our 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:24.559 righteous or unrighteous life affects other people. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:27.200 It affects the generations down the line. 00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:33.799 You know a toxic church environment affects a church environment for years down the line. 00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:43.039 A toxic family environment is the same and so righteousness is the opposite of that and 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:44.599 brings blessing. 00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:47.240 The third thing, the last two I'm going to deal with much more briefly, I'll be pleased 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:50.519 to know, the third thing is wise talk in verse 15. 00:22:50.519 --> 00:22:56.879 There is gold and abundance in costly stones, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel. 00:22:56.879 --> 00:23:01.440 Again, the lips of knowledge and knowledge here is reflected in the knowledge of the 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:03.000 Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:10.039 So it's really talking about wise talk, how we live, how we speak, how we converse. 00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:14.159 And we've seen that wisdom is never just simply head knowledge and it's never definitely 00:23:14.159 --> 00:23:20.839 not just intelligence, but it's about knowing God, it's about truth and practice. 00:23:20.839 --> 00:23:26.159 It's not mystical, it's not locked away for the few, it's for the many. 00:23:26.159 --> 00:23:28.839 And why is that important? 00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:33.799 Because I guarantee you will walk out of here today, long before you walk out of here, by 00:23:33.799 --> 00:23:37.279 the time you have your coffee, you will all be talking. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:39.200 We will all be talking. 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:42.039 It's not just the preserver, the preacher or the leaders. 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:43.039 We all talk. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:46.160 You'll go home and talk to your husbands and wife, to your girlfriend, to your boyfriend, 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:48.840 to your friends, to your neighbors, to your colleagues. 00:23:48.840 --> 00:23:50.480 You will talk. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:58.480 And wisdom demands that we talk with the wisdom of Jesus in our lives. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:24:03.200 And I'm not going to go through all the examples, but even this chapter gives examples of wise 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:04.200 talk. 00:24:04.200 --> 00:24:10.360 I think last week I said I would encourage you, I think it would be the greatest thing, 00:24:10.360 --> 00:24:14.720 a great thing to do is to read two or three Proverbs every day of your life till you die. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:16.600 That's a great thing to do. 00:24:16.600 --> 00:24:20.319 I don't think you'll ever get bored of reading one or two Proverbs, or two or three Proverbs 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:21.319 every day. 00:24:21.319 --> 00:24:27.240 And it helps you understand and helps me understand wisdom as we pray from James, you know, if 00:24:27.240 --> 00:24:29.319 anyone asks of God, God gives them wisdom. 00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:31.840 Well, this is how we get it. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:39.480 Can I also say that I think as well as reading Proverbs every day, I think every day you 00:24:39.480 --> 00:24:43.720 should ask for wisdom, because God promises it. 00:24:43.720 --> 00:24:46.240 He commands you to do it. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:48.399 And isn't it easy? 00:24:48.399 --> 00:24:51.439 You know, we feel and we act stupidly so much at the time. 00:24:51.439 --> 00:24:53.720 And do we need to? 00:24:53.720 --> 00:24:58.839 Because he says, listen, I'll give you wisdom, but ask for it. 00:24:58.839 --> 00:25:04.519 And in asking for it, you need to be looking for it then from where it sources. 00:25:04.519 --> 00:25:07.279 So wisdom comes from God. 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:12.000 And wise talk is a virtue that we are to seek in our lives. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:15.199 Because Pro, you know, the whole old adjus, sticks and stones might break your bones, 00:25:15.199 --> 00:25:16.679 but words can never hurt you. 00:25:16.679 --> 00:25:17.679 Nonsense. 00:25:17.679 --> 00:25:18.679 That's not one of God's Proverbs. 00:25:18.679 --> 00:25:20.179 It's not in the Bible. 00:25:20.179 --> 00:25:22.359 And rightly so, and I'm glad it's not there. 00:25:22.359 --> 00:25:26.720 Because yes, sticks and stones might hurt us, but I think for most people, words hurt us 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:28.039 more. 00:25:28.039 --> 00:25:34.359 Wise talk, something that we should seek after and something that I believe, or the Proverbs 00:25:34.359 --> 00:25:37.279 tells us, we should share. 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:40.000 The lips of knowledge are precious jewel. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:41.720 There's golden abundance in costly stones. 00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:43.839 It's something that's precious. 00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:49.399 And it's something that we should be careful to speak. 00:25:49.399 --> 00:25:54.720 And the whole thing about speaking is that we're sharing what we are saying with others. 00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:58.160 So wisdom is much more valuable than giving someone a tenor. 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:01.000 Oh, a tenor might be important for someone. 00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:07.240 But it's something we should communicate by our life and by our character, by our testimony. 00:26:07.240 --> 00:26:12.000 And can I say within the church context, within our shepherding of one another, speaking 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:18.680 Christ into one another's lives, into our husbands, wives, children, friends, neighbors, 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:23.000 as Christians, lives, speaking wisdom into their lives. 00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:27.000 Not gossip, remember, that's the opposite side of things and all that stuff. 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:30.079 How good are we or how bad are we maybe at doing that? 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:33.720 Speaking grace and wisdom into one another's lives. 00:26:33.720 --> 00:26:37.039 I'm not talking about the formal teaching here. 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:39.680 I'm talking about our conversational life together. 00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:40.680 How good are we? 00:26:40.680 --> 00:26:46.599 How much do we struggle sharing Christ with one another as Christians? 00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:51.279 And I guess the corollary, moving forward with that, if we're uncomfortable sharing 00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:56.639 Christ with one another as Christians, we're very unlikely to share Christ with those who 00:26:56.639 --> 00:26:58.599 aren't Christians. 00:26:58.599 --> 00:27:04.559 So wise talk is sharing truth, encouraging, challenging and provoking to good works. 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:10.839 And the last one that we're looking at in this series is parallel with that, is not 00:27:10.839 --> 00:27:13.200 just wise talk, but is good advice. 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:16.119 And it comes down to the same thing in many ways. 00:27:16.119 --> 00:27:22.879 Verse 18 says, plans are established by counsel, by wise guidance, wage war. 00:27:22.879 --> 00:27:25.599 It's a follow on. 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:29.519 And for us, with the whole Bible that we have, our knowledge, we recognize that we're in 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:32.119 a spiritual war. 00:27:32.119 --> 00:27:33.719 We know that. 00:27:33.719 --> 00:27:38.479 Ephesians 6 verse 12 reminds us of that, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, 00:27:38.479 --> 00:27:42.559 but against the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:44.719 spiritual force of evil in the heavenly light. 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:45.880 We know that. 00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:50.600 We know that spiritual battle is one that we are in. 00:27:50.600 --> 00:27:57.240 And so Ephesians goes on to say, Paul goes on to say, then be prepared. 00:27:57.240 --> 00:28:01.839 Where the armor of God, truth, righteousness, peace, prayer, faith, word of God, the sword 00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:05.559 of God, spirit, all these things, where that. 00:28:05.559 --> 00:28:12.279 But practically recognize the importance of seeking and giving good advice in this warfare, 00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:14.279 the spiritual warfare. 00:28:14.279 --> 00:28:20.960 And it's agitating against being lone rangers spiritually. 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:24.639 It's, can I say something provocative? 00:28:24.639 --> 00:28:28.399 I think it's pious nonsense to say, I'm fine. 00:28:28.399 --> 00:28:30.559 I've got this great relationship with God. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:33.039 I don't need other people. 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:34.119 I think it's misguided. 00:28:34.119 --> 00:28:35.119 I think it's unbiblical. 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:36.119 And I think it's pious. 00:28:36.119 --> 00:28:40.879 I don't think it may be intended as pious nonsense, but it is pious nonsense. 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:44.640 It's quite proud because God has set us in families. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:46.160 He's set us in communities. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:48.000 He's set us in an army. 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:54.360 And he reminds us that yes, we have spiritual responsibilities individually that are hugely 00:28:54.360 --> 00:28:55.360 important. 00:28:55.360 --> 00:29:01.640 Where are we going to work out grace and patience and forgiveness and meekness and wise words? 00:29:01.640 --> 00:29:04.360 What, in the mirror? 00:29:04.360 --> 00:29:05.600 No. 00:29:05.600 --> 00:29:06.880 It's with one another. 00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:09.400 It's in these places where we all fail. 00:29:09.400 --> 00:29:13.519 It's difficult and when you think, ah, they're not nearly as close to Jesus. 00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:17.680 I wish they were much more like Jesus than I am. 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:18.800 Yeah. 00:29:18.800 --> 00:29:21.640 So it's about we're in combat. 00:29:21.640 --> 00:29:24.840 And we're in combat together as people, as a people of God. 00:29:24.840 --> 00:29:25.840 We are His body. 00:29:25.840 --> 00:29:27.519 We're the church of Christ. 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:33.759 And we're to give good advice, give it, and receive it together. 00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:35.440 We recognize that. 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:39.799 Guides are established by counsel, by wise guidance, wage war. 00:29:39.799 --> 00:29:46.480 We wage war on spiritual darkness by the counsel and by the wisdom we give and we receive from 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:47.880 others. 00:29:47.880 --> 00:29:53.799 So unity is, you know, in a war context, isn't unity tremendously important? 00:29:53.799 --> 00:29:55.480 I've got your back. 00:29:55.480 --> 00:30:00.039 You going on the front line, you want the guys behind you to have your back. 00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:02.400 You know, you've seen it in all the films, haven't we? 00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:05.680 Okay, you go across there, I'll cover you. 00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:06.680 We've seen that. 00:30:06.680 --> 00:30:09.440 And that's what it's like spiritually. 00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:13.519 Isolation is dangerous because we're thinking we can do it on our own. 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:15.480 But we need people to cover us. 00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:17.880 When we're weak, we need others to be strong. 00:30:17.880 --> 00:30:22.880 When we're failed, we need others to be doing God's work on our behalf. 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:24.519 Trust is vital, isn't it? 00:30:24.519 --> 00:30:30.480 In this work of the kingdom, if we are going to give and receive good advice, it means working 00:30:30.480 --> 00:30:31.480 together. 00:30:31.480 --> 00:30:33.559 All of us here have different gifts and talents. 00:30:33.559 --> 00:30:35.059 We're not all the same. 00:30:35.059 --> 00:30:37.200 We're not all university educated. 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:41.720 We're not all doing different things in different ways. 00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:43.400 We're not all doing the same things in the same ways. 00:30:43.400 --> 00:30:45.759 We're all different with different strengths and weaknesses. 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:50.680 But God has fused us all together in His wonderful knowledge. 00:30:50.680 --> 00:30:55.720 And we are to learn from and sharpen one another as iron sharpens iron. 00:30:55.720 --> 00:30:58.680 And that involves trust. 00:30:58.680 --> 00:31:03.080 If I wrote, if I asked, if I put a questionnaire to the church and said, what discourages you 00:31:03.080 --> 00:31:07.560 most in your Christian life? 00:31:07.560 --> 00:31:14.960 I think the percentage of people who say other Christians will probably be in the near 90s 00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:17.840 or the church, the church and other Christians. 00:31:17.840 --> 00:31:20.720 Because that's how often our experience is, isn't it? 00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:22.200 That's where the devil first attacks. 00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:27.759 He says, if I can cause division internally within the family, if I can break people apart, 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:29.599 then I'm doing my work really well. 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:37.160 If I can get them to talk badly about one another, then it's the devil's advice of a 00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:38.160 hithful. 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:39.720 If we can do that, that's great. 00:31:39.720 --> 00:31:43.160 Separate, divide and separate, that's his great tactic. 00:31:43.160 --> 00:31:50.119 And yet the way of wisdom, the way of righteousness and faithfulness is to both give and to receive 00:31:50.119 --> 00:31:55.039 good advice, to take counsel, to learn from other people. 00:31:55.039 --> 00:32:01.319 Many of the old soldiers in St. Columbus have got so much to offer the squaddies here, so 00:32:01.319 --> 00:32:05.879 much to offer those who are just new on the Christian life. 00:32:05.879 --> 00:32:08.200 You get so much to share. 00:32:08.200 --> 00:32:15.159 Don't ever think as an older Christian that this is a young people's church. 00:32:15.159 --> 00:32:16.240 That I've got nothing to offer. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:18.920 You've got more to offer than anyone else. 00:32:18.920 --> 00:32:20.319 You've got life experiences. 00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:26.960 And as we seek to mentor and sit together, may it be that you look out for the young 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:32.480 and the vulnerable, the weak and the struggling, and that the weak and the struggling and the 00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:37.439 vulnerable who might not be young by the way, look to others for strength and support. 00:32:37.439 --> 00:32:38.439 Why? 00:32:38.439 --> 00:32:45.359 Because we're in a war, a spiritual war where we're called to love our enemies. 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:46.359 Remarkable. 00:32:46.359 --> 00:32:52.519 So I finish with 1 Corinthians 15, 57, but thanks be to God. 00:32:52.519 --> 00:32:56.439 He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:32:56.439 --> 00:32:59.199 That's where the victory is for your life today and for mine. 00:32:59.199 --> 00:33:03.240 In all the battles and in all the struggles, He's already won it. 00:33:03.240 --> 00:33:08.599 And we need to put our trust in Him, especially when things are bleak and dark for us. 00:33:08.599 --> 00:33:09.599 We look for that. 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:13.639 So let's bow our heads in prayer in response to God. 00:33:13.640 --> 00:33:19.360 Father God, we thank you for your wisdom, which is so often counter-cultural and different 00:33:19.360 --> 00:33:27.360 from what we would regard as being the declared or the decided wisdom of the society in which 00:33:27.360 --> 00:33:31.280 we live and even of ourselves as a church. 00:33:31.280 --> 00:33:39.640 Lord Grant, as that radical walk of faith and righteousness and enable us to serve you 00:33:39.640 --> 00:33:45.680 with humility and repentance, recognizing we often get things wrong, but that you persevere 00:33:45.680 --> 00:33:46.680 with us. 00:33:46.680 --> 00:33:47.680 You're faithful. 00:33:47.680 --> 00:33:49.320 You have steadfast love. 00:33:49.320 --> 00:33:53.360 You said, you have said to us, you will never leave us or forsake us and we rejoice in that 00:33:53.360 --> 00:33:55.320 today because that is our hope. 00:33:55.320 --> 00:34:01.680 And we pray that each person here may know that as their hope today, a remarkable, powerful, 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:07.000 life-changing hope that is not just for this life but for eternity. 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:12.920 So may you have the praise and the glory and may we walk from here as wiser people molded 00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:17.920 by your word and transformed by your grace a daily basis. 00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:37.480 For Jesus' sake, Amen.