Proverbs 8 [Pierre-Yves Koenig]

0:00It's privilege to bring God's Word to you this morning, and so we're continuing this seven series in the Book of Proverbs, looking at chapter 8 of the Book of Proverbs. It's on page 641, if you've got one of these Church Bibles. But before we look at chapter 8, I want to read again to us chapter 7 from verse 6. So, chapter 7 beginning at verse 6, it's the Father teaching His Son, and He says this, At the window of my house, I looked down through the lattice, I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young man a youth who had no sense. He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of our house, at twilight as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in. Then came out a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute,

1:00and with craft intent, she's unruly and defiant. Her feet never stay at home. Now in the streets, now in the squares at every corner she lurks. She took hold of them and kissed them, and we've a brazen face, she said, today I fulfilled my vows. I have food from my fellowship offering at home, so I came out to meet you. I looked for you, and I have found you. I have covered my bed with coloured linens from Egypt, I have perfumed my bed with mirro, iOS and cinnamon. Come, let's drink deeply of love till morning. Let's enjoy ourselves with love. My husband is not at home. He has gone a long journey. He took his purse filled with money. He will not be home till full moon. We've burst you easy words, she'll let him stray. She seduced him with a smooth talk. All at once he followed her, like a nox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose, till a narrow pierce is his liver. Like a bird darting into a

2:04snare, little knowing it will cost him his life. Now then my sons listen to me. Pay attention to what I say. Do not let your heart turn to your ways or strain to your paths. Many are the victims. She has brought down her slain or a mighty throng. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death. That's the story you looked at last week. The story of a senseless youth being deceived by the smooth words of an adulterous woman. And we see this in the story. Don't we step by step? He walks into the trap. It looks great, but at the end he ends up slaughtered, down with the dead. And this is how chapter seven ends, down with the dead. And we've seen that this story is in many ways our story, senseless taking wrong decisions,

3:07being deceived by others, men or women, deceived by our own corrupt desires, following things that promise pleasure and life, but really that set us on a highway to the grave. Going down with the dead. This adulterous woman there representing sin and temptation, these things that are not so attractive, but are not evil and hurtful to us. And the question that are at the end of chapter seven is, is there another way? Are we just bound to be deceived again and again? Are we bound to repeat the same errors, the same sense, the things that we keep doing and that we keep regretting? Are we bound to go down with the dead? It can sometimes feel like we've sinned that we're like a kid sat in front

4:11of a big pile of sweets. It's just too tempting. Even if you know that it's not good for you, you can't resist taking a few and a few more and a few more even if it's going to cost you your big smile. But chapter eight tells us that it doesn't have to be like this. You don't have to finish this pile of sweets being sick, sick, gross, filling two flesh as well. You don't have to go into sin all the way to the dead because there is another woman there in chapter eight, totally different to the adulterous woman of chapter seven. A woman that offers life instead of death. She says in verse 35 of chapter eight, those who find me find life how different. This woman is women wisdom and this is her that we meet in chapter eight. And so in verse one,

5:13we read this, does not wisdom call out, does not understanding raise her voice. Yes, she does. She calls out. You don't have to follow the adulterous woman. Tentations and sin because wisdom is calling out and she goes out of her way to get your attention. Look at verse two at the highest point along the way where the past meets. She texts us stand beside the gates leading into the city. And she calls the exact same people who are so easily ensnared by the adulterous woman. Look at verse four and five. Look at who she calls. To you, people I call out, I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence. You who are foolish sets your heart on it. She calls the simple, the senseless, the fools, you and me, people who are on their way to the dead. But she's calling now to get our attention. Is it worth listening to her?

6:20And the rest of the chapter gives us the presentation of wisdom. And it gives us three ways in which she is unique. Three reasons why we should pay attention to her words, why we should give ourselves to her. And the first thing we see is that wisdom is trustworthy. So often people call for attention so that they can get something from us. The clickbait image on the YouTube video so that they can get more views and more money. The alluring front shop sign that says get 40 pounds in free baths so that they can get your wallet flattering words so that they can get you to do whatever jobs they want you to do. Deceitful promises. But women wisdom is not like that. She is trustworthy. Look at the quality of the words she speaks. I read from verse six. Listen for I have trustworthy things to say. I open my

7:27lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true. My lips detest wickedness. All the words of my mouth are just. None of them is crooked or perverse. No false promises with her. She's not here to get you and screw you over. She's pure and she's trustworthy. You don't have to be suspicious or you don't have to be cautious with her. You don't have to be afraid that she's going to stab you in the back as soon as you turn around. That's why you can listen to her. Because where so many others deceive and disappoints, well, this one never does. You can give yourself fully to her and nestle into her arms. She's not like the adulterous woman of chapter seven that will lead you down to the grave. Rather, she says in verse 35, those who find me find life.

8:29And that's what makes her words so desirable. Even more than all the money in the world and so she says in verse 10, choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is more precious than rubies and nothing you desire can compare with her. And this person of wisdom, this woman wisdom here is a picture for our Lord Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God, the one who, when he came on earth, he publicly taught all kinds of people, calling people to come to him, falls and sinners, to listen to him, and he didn't have a secret agenda. His words were true, straight, trustworthy, the very words of God. The Bible says that no deceit was found in his mouth. Jesus's heart and words are pure and they are life to those who listen

9:36to them. And so as he calls, are you ready to listen to Jesus? Maybe there are some things he says in his words that you don't really like, that you find heart to accept. Maybe things have been how you should live, how you should spend your money, what priorities should you follow, what you should do, how you should behave towards those who have hurt you. But trust him, trust his words, they are good, they are right, they are trustworthy, even if it's hard and beyond that they are life giving. And how precious are his words to you? Are they more precious than anything else? What do you think about when you wake up in the morning, or when you lay down in bed in the evening? What you're going to eat the next day or maybe you're

10:41dreaming the holiday, next football game? Do you think about Jesus? His words? It's not that you cannot ever think about anything else than Jesus, but it's about what you delight in most, what gives you most joy and delight. What's the first thing you're rich for when you wake up in the morning? Is it the Instagram app on your phone? Is it the Bible app or your Bible to read or to listen to his words? Are you excited when finally Sunday comes around and you can come and gather with God's people to listen to these words don't are pure trustworthy that give life. His words are precious and not just because they are trustworthy, but also because he gives prosperity and that's the next thing we see about wisdom, that wisdom gives prosperity. You see bad leaders, bad leaders ruin the people. Whether it's the irresponsible dad who throws the money

11:47on the window, drinking or whatever else, living his family's skin. Whether it's the irresponsible MP that invests lots of public money into his friends' businesses at the expense of the people, in families, in communities, in countries we find plenty of foolish leaders who scrub and ruin and hurt loads of people in the process. Maybe you've been guilty of that in your family, your community. Maybe you've been victim of that in your family community. Wisdom is what makes a leader successful. Wisdom is what brings prosperity. Look at wisdom's best pals in verse 12, and verse 14, she says, I wisdom dwell together with prudence. I possess knowledge and discretion. And verse 14, counsel and sound judgment are mine. I have insight. I have power. In other words, wisdom is careful and not reckless. She always knows what's the best thing to do

12:50and when's the best to do it. She never guesses because she knows she is able and she is powerful. And in the middle of these two verses we see her enemies, the people she doesn't like, the the things she doesn't hang out with. She says, I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. She doesn't tolerate any of that. You won't find any of that we've heard. And this is what makes her so precious, so good for ruling. And so she continues in verse 15, by me, King's reign, and rulers issue decrees that are just. By me, princes govern and nobles all who rule on earth. When you have leaders and rulers who love wisdom, it brings prosperity and richness to all. And so wisdom continues, verse 17, I love those who love me and those who seek me

13:53find me, with me are riches and honor and during wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than fine gold. What I yield surpasses choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness along the path of justice, bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full. And we actually get a picture of this in the Bible, in the life of Solomon, the king of Israel, who wrote this book of Proverbs. He was a king who loved wisdom and feared God. And as a result of his wisdom, the people prospered. Their prosperity was such that we are told in the book of one kings in chapter 10 that in his days nothing was made of silver because silver was considered of little value in Solomon's days. They just had so much gold. Silver was worthless. And we read this as well, the king made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem.

14:59And it's not just money, it's honor and glory. In his days, nations around, they admired, they envied him and his nation. That's what wisdom gives. And we can think, well, it's a real shame that our first minister is not like Solomon. It's a shame that maybe our dads weren't like Solomon. That's we are not like him. There is one who is and even better and greater because as you read Solomon's life, he made some really foolish choices that ruins everything. But again, here wisdom points us forwards to Jesus Christ, the king sent by God to rule with wisdom as his bright. The one who rules justly, wisely, powerfully. The one who gives true prosperity to his people. And he did this at the cost of his own life on the cross where he died the death that we deserve

16:04for our foolishness, for our pride and our arrogance, these things that he ate. And in his wisdom, our king made himself nothing to raise us up, to deliver us from the house of the dead with this woman foolishness of chapter 7 to bring us into the house of life, for he was raised to life by the Father to reign forever more. And so what's the prosperity he gives to those who come to him now today? Well, in this life he gives us forgiveness of sins, a fresh start with a changed heart to live in a wise way, in a way that is good, giving us the ability to love. He gives us a relationship with the God who made us, a relationship where we can know his joy, his peace, where we can know hope. Knowing and following him in this life involves also suffering.

17:06He doesn't bring material prosperity on this earth, but it's also going to avoid you the pain of the bitter fruit of life lived in sin. And ultimately it's in the life to come that the fruit of wisdom will fully blossom when Jesus will come again, when he says that we will reign with him, we will be kings and queens over the whole world, when he comes again to bring about a world that is purged from evil and suffering and pain and death. And you can read about that at the end of the Bible in a revelations 21 and 22 where you see this glorious city filled with gold and pearls, where we will reign. He offers true prosperity. So do you want true living, not just surviving? In this life, in the next, only wisdom, God's wisdom can give you that only Christ can give you that.

18:09And what's wonderful is that it is accessible. You don't have to pay money to get it. You don't have to achieve great things or deserve it to get it because Jesus achieved it for us. He deserved it for us. But there's one thing you have to give, though. We read about this in this chapter. It's your ear. You've got to listen. It's your heart. You've got to love her, love him. He says in verse 17, she says wisdom, I love those who love me and those who seek me find me. The call of wisdom is not just to listen, but it's to love. If the adulterous woman of chapter 7 wants your heart to eat your life, lady wisdom wants your heart to give you life. But it's not enough to just sit here and think, oh, these are nice words, nice ideas. It's not enough to find Jesus interesting. It's not enough to just want eternal life and prosperity after death.

19:16If you do not want Jesus himself. But if you sincerely seek me, that's what he says, those who seek me find me. If you're ready to give your heart to him, to love him, he promises that he will welcome you, love you. In fact, you will find that he loves you all along. So Jesus is trustworthy. He gives prosperity. So listen to him. Give yourself to him. But can wisdom really deliver on all that stuff? Is it just too good to be true? As wisdom continues, we begin to realize that wisdom is much bigger than what we could ever think. We see next that wisdom is the fabric and joy of the universe. Wisdom is the fabric and joy of the universe. You see wisdom is not like me. The new kid in town who has just arrived will begin fairly soon. It's not even like the old lads

20:23at the Wavelian who've been around for so long and know all the chats around Grace Mount and South House. Wisdom has existed before the foundation of the world, before the Pentelems were formed, before the first man walked on the earth, wisdom was. So we read verse 22, the Lord brought me forth as the first of his works. Before his deeds evolved, I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning when the world came to be. When there were no watery depths, I was given birth. When there were no springs overflowing with water. Before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth. Before he made the world and its fields, or any of the dust of the earth. Wisdom is picture as the first of God's works. The language of bringing forth or giving birth doesn't mean that at some point wisdom did not exist and then God created wisdom. No God is

21:29eternally wise. He didn't have to become wise. This is poetic language to express the exalted place that wisdom has in the world. She is first, she is above, and she was there with God when he made all thanks. Look at verse 27, I was there when he said the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep. When he gave the sea its boundary, so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight, day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.

22:31Nothing that God has made was made without wisdom. God created all things with wisdom by his side. Wisdom is like the flower in a cake that holds it all together, and wisdom is not a grumpy old grey-haired man, as we could sometimes think. No, she rejoiced in God, and in the good world he created, in the goodness of human beings that he made in the beginning. Wisdom is the fabric and joy of the universe, and that's why you cannot live without wisdom. She is foundational to the world we live in. All the chaos and the sadness of our lives of our worlds is there because wisdom is not there, because wisdom is pushed away, and we've all experienced that. We've all walked away from wisdom, but wisdom and Christ invites us back. The one through

23:41all things were created. The eternal Son of God brought forth from the Father for all eternity. He became a man. He walked among us to invite us back into his joy. At the very beginning at creation he rejoiced of the mankind, but when he was on a walking as a man, he cried. He cried when his best friend died. He cried when he saw what we had made of this world, that was so good in the beginning. He cried when he saw the state of humanity, the pride of him, of wisdom, wrecked, harassed, wicked. But he came precisely to deliver us from that through his death on the cross, where he took on himself our pain, our grief, our sorrows, our sense,

24:42to restore us to his first joy and delight, to bring us back with the grain of things. Bring us back to God. And so will you give yourself again and again to Jesus, the eternal wisdom of the Father. He leaves us with this final choice at the end, life with him or death apart from him. Now then my children, listen to me. Blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise. Do not disregard it. Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, watching at my doorway. For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord. But those who fail to find me harm themselves. All who hates me love death.

25:46And so chapter 7 and chapter 8 of Proverbs gives you the option of two women to love, two ways of life to give you heart to. You cannot love both on the one. Either the adult for us women attractive, thrilling, but in the end bitter and deadly. This is the way of following your desires and sense of hating Jesus by rejecting his word, not listening to him. Or you can love and give your heart to women wisdom. Trust worthy, prosperous. The eternal wonder, the fabric enjoy of the universe, the one that gives true life. That's the way of trusting Christ, of listening to him, of giving your heart to him.

26:48Does not wisdom call out? Yes, she does. She does. So give your heart to her again and again that you may live.