Wisdom and Folly

[0:00] Proverbs chapter 9. We'll read the entire chapter. Wisdom has built her house. She's hewn out its seven pillars.! She's prepared her meat and mixed her wine.

[0:13] She's also set her table. She sent out her maids and she calls from the highest point of the city. Let all who are simple come in here, she says to those who lack judgment.

[0:25] Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live. Walk in the way of understanding. Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult.

[0:37] Whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you. Rebuke a wise man and he will love you.

[0:49] Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still. Teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

[1:06] For through me your days will be many and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you. If you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

[1:19] The woman folly is loud. She's undisciplined and without knowledge. She sits at the door of her house on a seat at the highest point of the city. Calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way.

[1:34] Let all who are simple come in here, she says to those who lack judgment. Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is delicious.

[1:45] But little do they know that the dead are there. That her guests are in the depths of the grave. May the Lord speak his wisdom to our hearts tonight.

[1:56] Pastor Jason. If you're playing basketball and your opponent is trash talking you and you don't think they have what it takes to back up all their boastful words, you might say, well, it's time to put up or shut up.

[2:17] Put up or shut up. You've talked. Now it's time to prove it. Prove it with your actions. Prove it with your play. That has to be one of the themes of the book of James.

[2:34] He's not interested in what you say. He is very interested in what you do. So, I'm religious. If anyone considers himself religious and yet doesn't keep a tight rein on his tongue, his religion is worthless.

[2:54] James is saying, you need to prove it. Don't just say it. I have faith. Well, if a man claims to have faith but has not deeds, can that kind of faith, can that faith save him?

[3:07] He says, show me your faith without deeds. He's actually asking them to do something that's impossible. He's saying, show me this faith, but don't show me any of your deeds.

[3:17] He's basically saying, let's see it. Let's see your faith in action. I'm wise. I'm wise. I'm religious. I have faith.

[3:27] I'm wise. Well, who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done and the humility that comes from wisdom.

[3:38] Do you see kind of that reoccurring theme in James? He's saying, you can't just talk. You need to actually put up or you need to shut up.

[3:50] Now, why does James talk like that? Well, because we all have this tendency to have a false view of ourselves, to think that we are religious and we're not.

[4:03] Or that we have faith, but we don't. Or to say that we're to think that we're wise, but again, we're not. See, being wise in your own eyes is not just your problem or their problem out there.

[4:20] It's my problem. It's something that I would wrestle with. And you do, too. Maybe you don't know that you do, but you do, too.

[4:32] And then, so what happens if you're wise in your own eyes? Well, Lady Wisdom, we just read this. Lady Wisdom invites you and calls you to this feast to become wise, to leave your simple ways to become wise.

[4:45] But the problem is we don't see how starving we are. We don't see how needy we are. We don't see how emaciated we are. And so when she offers us a feast, we aren't interested in it.

[5:02] You've seen people that are starving to death. Their stomachs can be absolutely bloated with air. And they hardly have any hunger at all after a while.

[5:18] And that's what we can become if we're wise in our own eyes. We're invited to a feast and we don't want it. So who is wise in understanding among you?

[5:29] Who is wise in understanding among you? Well, we all tend to think we are, but are you? Tonight we're going to do one of our excursions where we leave the section-by-section or verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Proverbs.

[5:46] And my plan is for this week and next week to look at these two different pictures. What does the book of Proverbs say? This is what the wise man is like. And next week we're going to talk about the other category.

[6:01] The simple, the fool, the mocker, the sluggard. But tonight we're going to look at the wise man's picture. And I think this is helpful and it's especially helpful for now because if we see what the wise man looks like and we take a good long look at ourselves, then I think what we're going to realize is we maybe need wisdom more than we thought we did.

[6:30] Proverbs 1 through 9 is a lot of this encouragement to get wisdom. But it's going to grow cold and that is going to grow stale if you really don't think you need it, if you think you are pretty good.

[6:44] But my hope is that as we look at what the wise man looks like, you're going to see that, you know, maybe I'm not so wise and I need this. And then you will hopefully say with Proverbs, get wisdom and your heart says, I want it.

[7:03] Lady Wisdom calls you to her feast and you come running. You come running to it. So we're going to look at, I'm going to hold up the wise man's picture and your job is to look at, hold up the mirror and look at yourself and say, look close and ask, is this me?

[7:23] And so the wise man, I have six points tonight. And as I thought about it, we could probably do more and more than that. But this is a really good beginning.

[7:34] Six points. Then in point one, what is the wise man like? He is righteous. He is righteous. Now, wisdom and righteousness are not the exact same thing.

[7:47] People can have and do and attempt try to do righteous things and do them in a very foolish way. But so wisdom and righteousness are not necessarily equated, but there is no wisdom at all without righteousness.

[8:04] And so the wise man is righteous. Wisdom, remember, is living in harmony with the fabric of God's world. And God is moral.

[8:16] And so the world that he created, the system, how things work is moral. There are things that are right and there are things that are wrong. There are things that I should do and things that I shouldn't do.

[8:30] And wisdom is living then in harmony with that reality. It's it's living righteously. And that's not just a little part of wisdom.

[8:40] So you're in Proverbs nine. I just want you to come and take a very quick, very super brief tour of of just Proverbs 10. And maybe you haven't noticed this theme, but I think you're going to see it after I show it to you.

[8:56] The wise man is righteous. Look at verse two. Ill gotten treasures are no value, but righteousness delivers from death.

[9:08] Verse three. The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry. Verse six. Blessings crown the head of the righteous. Verse seven. The memory of the righteous will be a blessing.

[9:20] Verse 11. The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life. Verse 16. The wages of the righteous bring them life.

[9:31] Verse 20. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver. Verse 24. What the wicked dreads will overtake him. What the righteous desire will be granted. Verse 25.

[9:42] When the storm is swept by, the wicked are gone. But the righteous stand firm forever. 28. The prospect of the righteous is joy.

[9:53] 29. The way of the Lord is a refuge for the righteous. Verse 30. The righteous will never be uprooted. Verse 31. The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom. Verse 32.

[10:04] The lips of the righteous know what is fitting. Now, should I go on? If I were to go into chapter 11, half of the Proverbs, or about half of the Proverbs, are about, they refer to either the righteous or the upright.

[10:23] And then chapter 12 is about the same. And I'm going to leave that to you. But I hope you see that this emphasis that the wise man is righteous.

[10:34] And this is not talking, and this is where we need to be very clear, this is not simply talking about our justification, our record in heaven. That we have through Jesus Christ by faith.

[10:46] That is a passive, what Martin Luther called a passive righteousness. That is given to us. This is not talking about that. It's talking about, rather, what James is talking about.

[10:59] Who is wise among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. We're not talking about Christ's righteousness.

[11:10] We're talking about our righteousness. By not his deeds, but our deeds. And so the wise man does what God says is the right thing to do.

[11:26] He accepts commands. Chapter 10, verse 8. The wise in heart accept commands. You remember in Psalm 119, the psalmist saying, Oh, how I love your law.

[11:40] I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies. I have more understanding than the elders.

[11:51] For I obey your precepts. Wisdom is obeying God's precepts. Righteousness is part of wisdom.

[12:03] It's not all of it. But there is no wisdom. It is impossible to live a wise life without living a righteous life. Because, again, do you have this conception?

[12:15] If the world is moral, if God has created this world, and there are right things and wrong things, and that's not just imposed upon the world, but that is the fabric of that world.

[12:27] That's the way things work. Then you can't go against that grain and expect to have an easy life, a wise life.

[12:37] But, again, living a righteous life inevitably leads to an easier or smoother life than the wicked.

[12:49] Now, there's persecution, and there's things that oppose, and it's not always easy. I'm not saying any of those things are not true. But we're talking about the difference between floating downstream and trying to paddle upstream.

[13:03] One of those things is easier than the others. Now, there's dangers when you're just floating downstream that you need to navigate. I have been floating down a stream, and a log has been right across, and I had to get out of the way.

[13:18] And, actually, on that log, there was a snake, and I just saw it at the last minute, and my hand was right next to it. Now, there's dangers with floating downstream. But it was certainly easier than trying to paddle upstream.

[13:33] The way of the wicked is hard, the Lord says. Isn't that what parents are heartbroken over their children when they see their children living unrighteous, wicked lives, and you see the damage and the difficulty that they just bring into their own life?

[13:50] The way of the wicked is hard. Chapter 4, the way of the wicked is like deep darkness. They don't know what makes them stumble. So the wise man is upright. That word upright in Hebrew, it either means what is vertical.

[14:11] When it's talking about vertical, it's what's straight, vertically. Or if you're talking about a plain, it's talking about what is flat. It could talk about, and then related to that, it talks about a smooth road.

[14:25] So an upright road would be a smooth highway as opposed to one that is bumpy. It can even be used for wine that goes down smoothly.

[14:37] It's not bitter. It's not harsh. It's not hard to swallow. It's not the medicine. It's not like Robitussin that you drink and you're like that. It's what is upright.

[14:50] And so there's no bitterness. There's no harshness. There's no bumps in the roads. There's no crookedness. And the wise man is upright. And so in all of his ways, he acknowledges the Lord.

[15:02] Now, have you thought of that? All of his ways, all of his paths are done. I acknowledge the Lord is in control. I acknowledge the Lord is over me and has authority.

[15:16] So I obey him. And so the wise man's ways are always with God in mind. And the result is they're smooth. All your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths smooth.

[15:30] He'll direct your ways. Now, the question is, is that you? If I look in the mirror and under the standard of the wise man is righteous in all of his ways, well, then I have to say I need wisdom more than I thought I did.

[15:55] I'm not as wise as I thought I might have been. Point two, the wise man is teachable. He's teachable. He's learnable.

[16:06] He's teachable, we'd say. No matter how old he is, he's not too old to be learning. He's not an old dog that you just can't teach any new tricks to. He's teachable. And the reason he's teachable is because he's not wise in his own eyes.

[16:21] He sees himself as more of a fool than as a wise man. The wise man has this ironic quality about him that given his, when someone asks, are you wise or foolish, he's going to put himself in the foolish category.

[16:37] And the fool does the exact opposite. He puts himself in the wise category. And so the wise man is teachable. The fool thinks he's just a hair smarter than everyone else.

[16:50] Just go look for that. The fool just thinks he knows something a little bit more. She knows a little something that other people don't know. But the wise man doesn't have that opinion of himself.

[17:01] And so he's ready to learn. The fools, like, they don't, those people out there, they don't quite get it. That's why the sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven wise men who answer discreetly.

[17:16] Like, in the, we're going to talk about this next week, Lord willing, but the sluggard, he thinks he has something figured out that all of these other guys don't have figured out. But that's not how the wise man thinks about himself.

[17:29] And so he's teachable. He's not just ready to hear and to be taught something new. He's eager for it. He's eager for it.

[17:42] Proverbs 18, 15, the heart of the discerning acquires. It gets. It's always gathering knowledge. The ears of the wise seek it out.

[17:53] If you were to look into the ears of a wise man, they have a radar system that's always constantly on, looking for knowledge, looking for wisdom. It's on all the time.

[18:04] And that's why they can go out in the streets and they can gather wisdom. And they can go into the office and they gather wisdom. They read books and they're gathering wisdom. The wise man isn't satisfied with what he has.

[18:18] He's not satisfied with his own understanding. He's hungry for God's understanding. He's hungry for what wise men have to say.

[18:30] And so when the wise man says, now listen to me, he's all ears. So lady wisdom calls him to the feast. And he's that 12 year old boy that's running home, hungry, ready for it.

[18:45] And that's why you'll find the wise man in the company of the wise, because he wants what they have. The companion, he who walks with the wise becomes wise.

[19:00] He wants what they have. And so he's there. He's with them. 13 one, the wise son heeds his father's instruction. He listens to his father's instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.

[19:14] So he's teachable. And so he accepts rebuke. He accepts correction. He's ready for correction. And so you say something to him or to her, and he's ready to hear it.

[19:29] He doesn't chafe under it. He doesn't bristle. He doesn't think he knows better than you do. He doesn't argue endlessly about it. He doesn't try to prove you right. And are him right and you wrong.

[19:41] He doesn't do that. Why? Because he knows something about the beauty of rebuke and correction. 1532, he who ignores discipline despises himself.

[19:56] The wise man has this figured out. If I despise that discipline, I'm actually hating myself. And I don't want to do that. But whoever heeds correction gains understanding.

[20:09] Or Proverbs 25, 12, like an earring of gold. Or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man's rebuke to a listening ear. Now the wise man knows two things.

[20:24] He knows how to give a rebuke so that it's a fine earring. So that people are more willing to accept it. Now you know the difference between a fool correcting you and a wise man correcting you.

[20:37] And the wise man knows how to turn that correction into a gold earring that someone takes out of the palm of your hand and now gladly puts into their ear.

[20:47] The wise man knows how to do that. He knows how to give rebuke. But he also knows how to receive it. And so when handed a gold earring, it finds a place in his ear.

[21:02] He puts it on. No one, if it's Christmas, ladies and your husbands give you a diamond, a set of diamond earrings, no one shuns it.

[21:16] No one says, I don't want that. No, what do you do? You take it and you put them right in. You do it eagerly. Well, that's what a wise man does with a rebuke. 9.8 Rebuke a wise man and he will love you.

[21:34] 9.9 Instruct a wise man and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man and he will increase in learning. So wise men are teachable. And that means they're growing.

[21:46] They're ever growing. They're ever growing in wisdom. They're ever growing in knowledge. They're growing, increasing, fruitful, blossoming people. So Proverbs talks about these people.

[21:59] They grow stronger. The wise man grows stronger in strength. They grow wiser. They grow in wealth. They grow in favor with God and man.

[22:10] They're growing people. They're not shrinking people. And you can trace it all back to this feature that they are ready to learn. They're ready to acquire. And they are acquiring knowledge.

[22:23] They're growing people. And what we're going to see here at the end is they grow right into becoming trees of life themselves. And fountains of life. They're overflowing people.

[22:35] And it's all because they're teachable. So it's, you know, there's that category of things in our world. And there's this truth that, you know, the rich get richer.

[22:48] That's true. And the poor get poorer a lot of times. Jesus himself said it, you know, those that have will be given more. And those that don't, what they have will be taken away from them.

[23:03] And that's what, this is that category. Wise people grow wiser and fools become more and more impoverished. They're growing people.

[23:14] So who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it. Don't just say it. But when that moment of correction comes, you prove it.

[23:26] It's their teachableness. So if you claim to be wise, then show it when you're taught. Show it by your attitude of, I want that.

[23:40] I want correction. It's not pleasant, but I receive it. And I want to learn. And I want to grow. That's point two. Point three. Wise men are prudent.

[23:52] And that's sort of an old-fashioned word. And I don't think we appreciate how, just how clever it is. Prudent or shrewd.

[24:04] There's a couple of words that Proverbs uses to cover this kind of feature. Now, there's not like huge distinctions between wisdom and understanding and knowledge and discretion and discernment and shrewdness and prudence.

[24:20] Like they're all kind of together. And they just sort of are, you can kind of distinguish them. And so, wise men have this quality of being prudent. It means they can understand a situation.

[24:33] They know how to size up a situation. And they can handle it. They know how to navigate it. They both have good sense and the wise behavior that comes from having good sense.

[24:44] One commentator says this. This idea of prudence is this ability to grasp the meanings or implications of a situation or a message.

[24:55] And the ability to understand practical matters and interpersonal relations and then make beneficial decisions. Do you kind of see what he's, what that, that's a lot of big words.

[25:08] Let me just put it this way. You're facing a difficult interpersonal relation, conversation. What do you say? How do you say it?

[25:20] What will give you the best results? What will get you to the place where you want to go? Where are all the dangers and the pitfalls? How do I avoid those and get to the end?

[25:32] So you're facing a big life decision. Well, you need prudence for that interpersonal difficulty. You need some shrewdness.

[25:43] You need some, I know the implications of what I'm going to say and how I'm going to need to say it. Or you're facing big life decisions. So you're facing this decision of who am I going to marry?

[25:56] Is this the person, right person for me or the wrong person? What career should I do? Career should I pursue? So young people, you're starting to think about that.

[26:08] This is going to be my major in college. Are you going to have wisdom about making that decision? Or are you just going to go off of what you kind of think is right?

[26:19] Well, what career to pursue? How to handle your money? The prudent person looks down the road. He sees down the road. He sees the implications of the decisions he's making now.

[26:32] And he thinks about that. So the prudent person can see down the road. The fool can't. For some reason, that's all cloudy and oblivious to him.

[26:45] He doesn't, it never enters into his mind. So the prudents see danger and they take refuge. Fools keep going and they suffer for it. Now, I'm sure you, if you're older, you can think of examples of people that have stumbled into dangers.

[27:04] And if they would have just had a little prudence, they would have saved themselves a whole bunch of trouble. So prudent men know how to handle tricky situations.

[27:16] With delicacy. With good sense. 1435, Proverbs 1435. A king delights in a wise or a prudent servant.

[27:27] But a shameful servant incurses wrath. So here's this picture. The king has a delicate mission. A tricky mission. Something difficult. Something that he has to accomplish.

[27:39] And he's going to send this servant on this task. And he's going to be entrusting a lot of power. A lot of weight.

[27:50] On what this servant is going to do. And so this king sends a prudent man on a mission. And that prudent man will size up the situation. He'll understand what's going on.

[28:01] He'll see the dangers. And he'll know how to handle it. And he'll know what to say. What to do. What not to say. What not to do.

[28:11] To handle. And to accomplish the mission. And so this prudent. Wise servant. Gets the job done. He gets the mission done.

[28:22] And the king's response is. Man. There's no one like that guy. That guy is good. I can give him anything. You know.

[28:32] You're just thinking like. There's no one like that Daniel. There's no one like him. I can put him into places. And into situations. And he knows how to take care of it.

[28:43] And how to handle it. And he delights in it. 17. 2. A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son. And again. Do you like.

[28:54] Do you cheer for the underdog? Well this verse is about the underdog who wins. The prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son. Now think of that. A son in the house.

[29:06] Has all of the natural advantages. Right. If everything goes relatively normally. The son's going to take. The highest place.

[29:16] He's going to take over. For his father. The son has all the natural advantages. He has the. He's wealthier. He has more power. He. Nepotism.

[29:27] You know. Where. I'm going to help my kids out. That's as powerful. And as strong of a motive as. It's ever been. He. So. This. This guy. This son. Is his father's son.

[29:38] So he's power. He has position. He has everything going for him. But the prudent servant still ends up in charge. How did that happen? Because that prudent servant.

[29:49] Showed himself. Proved himself. So think of all the dangers. And the delicate situations. That that prudent servant. Had to navigate through.

[30:00] In order to come. To be in charge. Think of all. The delicate. Difficult conversations.

[30:11] That that servant had to navigate through. In order to then. Displace the son. To get to rule over the son. And yet. He gets there.

[30:23] He gets there. He's clever. He's prudent. He's shrewd. Shrewd. That word shrewd. Can have a bad sense. In the book of Proverbs.

[30:35] And it can be deceitful. And cunning. But it also has a good sense. Shrewd people. Know how to get what they want.

[30:46] And that's not necessarily a bad thing. They know how to get what they want. They know how to achieve their goals. Proverbs 14. The wisdom of the prudent. Or the shrewd. Is to give thought to their ways.

[30:58] But the folly of fools. Is deception. So the prudent looks down the road. He looks at what he wants to achieve. And he sees all the possibilities.

[31:10] And he can pick the right one. The right path. But you know what the fool does. The fool just thinks. Well. This seems right. And he goes down that path.

[31:22] And it's a deception. It's a lie. It looked good. He thought it led to life. But it didn't. It was a dead end.

[31:32] It's a deception. So fools. Filled with their folly. Think they know the right way. But it's a lie. And they end up worse off than before. But the wise man is shrewd.

[31:43] And so he knows how. To pick the right road. To say the right word. He knows how to avoid getting bogged down. Or led astray. From what he wants.

[31:54] What he wants to accomplish. And what he wants to achieve. Proverbs 12. 16. A fool shows his annoyance at once. But a wise man. A shrewd man. Overlooks an insult.

[32:08] Why does he overlook that insult? Why does he not get bogged down. In this back and forth. With this fool. He's not thrown off. He's not thrown off by the insults. He's not thrown off by the stupidity of the fool.

[32:19] He knows how to sidestep it. And to ignore it. And to keep going on his way. And the whole time. Getting where he wants to go. So. Who is wise and understanding among you?

[32:33] Let him show it by his. His prudence. His shrewdness. His ability to handle practical situations. With poise.

[32:45] And. With gentleness. With intelligence. And achieving that goal. Proverbs. Or point number four. The wise man is insightful.

[32:56] And discreet. He's insightful. And discreet. Now. I put those two together. Because they're actually. They're sort of like. They're opposites. But. They're two sides of the same coin.

[33:08] They're opposites. They come from the same place. And so. The wise man is insightful. He sees. And understands. Situations. And people.

[33:19] He sees. Into them. He sees past the surface. And he sees the motivations. And he sees. The possibilities. And he sees. The reasons. And he.

[33:30] He sees. What other people. Are trying to. Fake. And pretend. And he sees through. The. The pretend. Just. Just one verse here. 28. 12. A rich man.

[33:41] May be wise. In his own eyes. But. A poor man. Who has discernment. Who has. Insight. Sees. Through him. Just because you're rich.

[33:53] Doesn't mean. That you're not. Shallow. And. Transparent. To the wise man. To the. To the insightful. So a wise man. Can understand. What's going on.

[34:03] In a person's heart. And because he's. He's able to draw. What's there. The purpose is. In a man's heart. Is like deep water. But a man of. Understanding.

[34:15] Will draw it out. So he's able to see. Look down. Into that well. And he said. He sees. What's down there. And he's able. To draw it out. He's able.

[34:25] To pull it out. He's able. To go fetch it. But what is strange. About this. Is that. Though the wise man. Sees through. Other people. The other people.

[34:36] Really can't see. Through him. And that's what I mean. By discreet. That's what discretion is. That's. That's being discreet. In Proverbs says. This is one of the things.

[34:46] That it's offering. To the young. To teach the young. Discretion. To be discreet. Discretion. What is that? It's this private.

[34:58] This is how one commentator puts it. Private. Unrevealed. Thinking. And the faculty. For it. So. It's what. You. Keep.

[35:08] Here. Hidden. Enclosed. And it's these secret thoughts. Of your heart. And you're always thinking. Thinking. Thinking. And yet.

[35:19] No one can quite understand. What's going on. In there. And what this says is. Proverbs 2.11. Discretion.

[35:30] Will protect you. And understanding. Will guard you. Five. Two. It will protect you from. Discretion. Protects you from. The adulterous woman. See.

[35:41] What this is saying is. There are people. That want to find hooks in you. They want to steer you. They want to turn you. They want to tempt you. They want to get you to where. They want you to go.

[35:52] It can be as. As bad as an adulterous woman. And it can be as innocent. So to speak. As a salesman. And. They're trying to manipulate.

[36:04] Manipulate you. To get you to do what. They want. But this discretion. Protects you. What's going to keep you. What's going to keep you safe.

[36:16] Well. This ability to think within yourself. This ability to. To keep that thought processes. Going. To keep your thoughts hidden. Beyond their ability.

[36:27] To understand you. Beyond their ability. To figure you out. And so. Discretion is knowing how. To play your cards. Close to your chest.

[36:38] If you're playing poker. You don't show. The other people. Your cards. And if you're at war. You don't. Post your plans. For everyone to see.

[36:49] You keep things. Secret. So. What is wisdom? What. Who is the wise man? Well. The wise man is. They can't figure you out.

[37:00] Quite. But. But you have them figured out. So the salesman isn't fooling you. And the adulterous woman isn't fooling you. And everything in between. Point five.

[37:12] The wise man is in control. We don't really have a time to develop this. But he's in. He's in control of his tongue. He's in control of his thoughts. He has self-control.

[37:22] His emotions. And this ability to control himself. Gives him also the ability to rule over others. So wise men know how to control themselves.

[37:33] And so they end up ruling over those who can't. So the wise servant ends up ruling over the foolish son. And the wise man ends up ruling over the city.

[37:44] Ecclesiastes talks about the wise youth. Who begins in poverty. And rises to the kingship. Well how did he go from that. To having no power.

[37:54] To having all the power. Well it was wisdom. His wisdom gave him the ability to control. Not only himself. But to control others. And so the wise man controls his finances.

[38:06] And his home. And it's not this domination. It's this control in order to bring blessing. And order. And so where this wise man imposes his rule.

[38:18] And puts his rule in place. The people under him prosper. So his children prosper. His grandchildren prosper.

[38:29] His co-workers prosper. So wise men know how to rule. Because they know how to control themselves. And so that gives them. Then they end up ruling others.

[38:41] That's point five. Point six. Wise men are a fountain of life to all around them. A fountain of life. We talked about this a few weeks ago.

[38:52] Another way of talking about it. Wise men are a tree of life. You see that in Proverbs too. Wise men bring life to their community. To their friends.

[39:03] To their family. To their neighborhoods. To their cities. They bring life to themselves. They refresh others. And so their wisdom just doesn't benefit themselves.

[39:14] It benefits all those around them. So everyone is better for being close to that wise man. 13. 14.

[39:24] The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life. That's why you sit around them. That's why you ask them questions. That's why you listen.

[39:36] Because it's a fountain of life. Turning a person from the snares of death. 10. 11. The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life. But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

[39:47] Destruction. So thirsty people. Hurting people. Confused people. Drink from the wise man's wisdom.

[40:01] And they're refreshed. And they're encouraged. And life fills them. Hope. Joy. Peace.

[40:12] New strength. Fills them. It fills their souls. And James talks about this too. About our mouths being springs of water. Sometimes those springs of water are fresh.

[40:25] They bring life. And sometimes they're salty. And they bring death. And so. Are you wise?

[40:36] Well look around. Is there a garden around you? Or is there a desert? Are there friends and family joyfully drinking from you?

[40:48] Prospering because they're near you? Or is it just a few tumbleweeds. That can survive pretty much anything. And they have to. Or maybe it's worse than that.

[41:01] You know the Lord of the Rings and Mordor. And it's just nothing but. Belching death. And thorns. Some people are like that. Or to get anywhere near them.

[41:14] Is for death to enter in. So who is wise and understanding among you? Well look around. Is there a garden? Or is there a desert?

[41:25] Well that's our six points. That's our wise man's picture. You held up the picture. You held up the mirror.

[41:37] Is that you? Is that you? Is that you? Let me give you. A clue. If you think that's you.

[41:49] And you say that's pretty much me. It's probably not you. It's probably not you. Wise people see how drastically far short.

[42:02] They fall. Of being wise. You know fools think they just need a little top off. They're almost there. That's pretty much me.

[42:14] But if you think it's you. It's probably not. But I'll tell you who it is. You know what? Honestly it doesn't look a lot like me.

[42:26] But. But this man who's righteous. And teachable. And prudent. And shrewd. And insightful. And discreet.

[42:37] And in control. And a fountain of life. That. That's not my picture. That looks a lot like Jesus. He's the wise man.

[42:49] That's him. So can any of you prove that I have sinned? He says. He's righteous. In the temple. At 12 years old. Three days.

[43:00] Asking questions. He's teachable. Prudent. And shrewd. The Pharisees. And the scribes. Are always disappointed. Because they can't trip him up. Yet with one question.

[43:11] He can just. Completely silence them. Insightful. And discreet. He knew what was in every man. And yet no one really could understand him. In control.

[43:22] Even on the night of his arrest. He is saying. Okay. You're here to arrest me. Get on with it. But protect my. But leave these. My disciples alone.

[43:33] And a fountain of life. Peter's words. Where else can we go Lord? You alone have the words of life. We can have other verses. I could show you. But he's a fountain of life. So that. That wise person.

[43:44] That wise man's picture. I'm falling far short. Of that. But that's him. That's Jesus. And here's the good news. I'm planted in him.

[43:56] I'm planted in him. So I'm next to this fountain of life. The greater than Solomon. The perfect wise man. He's our fountain of life.

[44:07] He's our tree of life. And we are connected in him. And he says this. He says. I'll teach you. I'll teach you. Come to me. And I'll teach you.

[44:21] About 200 years before. Christ was born. And came into this world. There was a certain Jewish man. Named Sirach. And he wrote a religious book.

[44:31] It's called. The Wisdom of Sirach. You won't find it. In our Bibles. It's part of what's called. The Apocrypha. And you'll find it. In the Catholic Bible. Our version. But it's generally not accepted.

[44:44] As sacred scripture. But it's not. It's not all bad. Or anything like that. There's a lot of good stuff. And if you read it.

[44:55] It's kind of long. And tedious in parts. But there's a lot of. There's a lot of Proverbs in it. You can tell he had. The book of Proverbs next to him. And he's thinking about this.

[45:07] And so Jews in Jesus' day. Read it. This was sort of one of. One of their books. That they would read. And they knew about it. And they read it. And there's a portion.

[45:18] Near the end. Where Sirach. Is trying to encourage. His students. To get wisdom. He wants them to. To grow in wisdom. To learn from him. And he says this.

[45:29] When I was still young. Before I started out. On my travels. I boldly prayed for wisdom. I went to the temple. And asked for her. And I will look for her. For as long as I live.

[45:40] From my blossoming youth. To my ripe old age. She has been my delight. And then Sirach says this. And you just tell me.

[45:50] If you. Something sort of like. Rings a bell. Or echoes. Sirach said this. Come to me. All you who need instruction. And learn in my school. Why do you admit.

[46:01] That you are ignorant. And do nothing about it. Here's what I say. It costs nothing. To be wise. Put on the yoke. And be willing to learn. The opportunity.

[46:12] Is always near. See for yourselves. I've really not studied very hard. But I have found great. Contentment. He's saying. When I found this wisdom.

[46:23] I found rest. I found peace. I found contentment. Now 200 years later. Jesus. Is walking. And he's teaching. And he remembered these words.

[46:34] And he's talking to his Jewish audience. And they would have known these things. And he said this. He said. Come to me. All you who are weary and burdened.

[46:45] And I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. And learn from me. For I am humble. And gentle. And heart. And you will find rest.

[46:55] For your souls. For my yoke is easy. And my burden. Is light. What was Jesus offering? He was offering wisdom.

[47:08] You can find that passage. In Matthew chapter 11. And in the context. You can go read it. You can read the context. And Jesus is offering wisdom.

[47:19] That's hidden from the wise. But revealed to little children. Remember. He thanked God. That he hid these things from the wise. And revealed them to the little children.

[47:30] And then he said. No one knows the father. Except the son. And those to whom the son chooses to reveal him. Jesus is saying.

[47:41] I have real wisdom. You want to really know God. You want to have wisdom. That's hidden from the so-called wise. I'll give it to you.

[47:51] I'll teach you wisdom. So he says. Come to me. Learn from me. And so. We've seen the wise man's picture. And we've seen that we don't.

[48:02] We're. We're not that. And yet we see here. Jesus is. That's Jesus. And now Jesus is saying. Come to me. I'll teach you wisdom. Now isn't that good news.

[48:15] Isn't that good news. Isn't this a perfect meeting. Of my need. And him offering. I need it. And he's. Offering it. He. I need to be a student.

[48:26] And he's willing to be my teacher. And so. He's willing to teach us. If we're willing to learn. So he who walks with the wise. Becomes wise. So. We need to get near to Jesus.

[48:38] We need to get close. With him. We need to get behind him. And get near him. And sit at his feet. Like Mary sat at his feet. With a whole hearted.

[48:49] Open. Open hands. Open mind. With eagerness. And Jesus says. I'll give you that wisdom. I will. And so.

[48:59] What should we do. Is we should pray with all of our hearts. To Jesus. Make me wise. And then as I walk through my day. And I need wisdom.

[49:10] I know where to go. And then I go. And he's. He's off. He's opened the door. The schoolhouse is open. The instruction is available. And we come in.

[49:21] And we'll learn from him. That's not who we are. But that's who Jesus is going to make us. The wise man. Well let's pray.

[49:34] Heavenly Father. Father thank you. For your word. For the clarity. And the truth of it. Thank you that it meets us where we are. And we just. Would pray that you would make us wise.

[49:48] That you would give us. These. Humble. Hearts. That are learning. That are willing to learn. That want to grow. That want to give to others.

[49:59] That. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus. We become. Fountains of life. We become trees of life.

[50:10] To those around us. That you would give us that discernment. And that prudence. That. Would protect us.

[50:23] Pray that especially. Especially for. Our young people. Give them this wisdom. Don't let them. Naively go. Into a world.

[50:34] That will. Grind them up. And destroy them. Give them wisdom. And. Give them that. Wisdom. Unto salvation.

[50:45] That would. Join them. Savingly. To Jesus Christ. And then. Live with him. All their days. I pray for those. Who are older. And maybe they're looking.

[50:57] And they're thinking. Of regrets. And failures. And. Some wreckage. And ruin. And. Desert. That's all around them.

[51:08] I pray that you would. Give them the grace. To gather all those things up. To bring them to our Lord Jesus. To ask for forgiveness. Ask for mercy. Ask for help.

[51:19] And. To. Turn. From their simple ways. Lives. And pursue what the Lord Jesus has for them. Even now. Pray that for all of us. In Jesus name.

[51:30] Amen. Thank you.