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[0:00] Proverbs chapter 4. Proverbs 4. I'll begin reading at verse 10 to the end of the chapter.

[0:12] ! Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.

[0:25] When you walk, your steps will not be hampered. When you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction. Do not let it go. Guard it well, for it is your life.

[0:41] Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it. Do not travel on it. Turn from it and go on your way.

[0:53] For they cannot sleep till they do evil. They are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall. They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

[1:07] The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness.

[1:22] They do not know what makes them stumble. My son, pay attention to what I say. Listen closely to my words.

[1:34] Do not let them out of your sight. Keep them within your heart, For they are life to those who find them, And health to a man's whole body.

[1:47] Above all else, Guard your heart, For it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth.

[1:59] Keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet.

[2:12] And take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or to the left. Keep your foot from evil.

[2:26] Closing hymn tonight is Yield Not to Temptation. We're not going to go to the closing hymn right at this moment. But that's where we're going.

[2:40] We're going to sing, Shun Evil Companions. And that's point number one of our sermon. And then, Fight Manfully Onward, Dark Passion Subdue.

[2:51] That's our second point of our sermon tonight. We've already looked at the first part of Proverbs chapter 4. And the point, simply put, Get wisdom.

[3:04] And whatever else you get, Get understanding. So, get wisdom. Young people, wisdom is supreme. It's the first thing, The most important thing, The best thing.

[3:17] Therefore, get wisdom. That makes sense, doesn't it? If it is the supreme and the most important thing, Then all the things that you are trying to achieve, All the things that you are trying to acquire, This should be the very first.

[3:32] You should get wisdom. And though it costs all you have, Get understanding. And the sooner, the better. Long life is in her right hand, And in her left, Her riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant, And all of her paths are peace.

[3:45] That's what Proverbs 4 says. So, life, wealth, honor, peace. Who waits to get those kinds of things? I don't think anyone here says, I don't want more of that in my life.

[3:59] Well, who waits? Well, I guess fools wait. People not wise enough to know what's good for them. That's who waits for that. And so, young people, Especially, I hope you aren't fools.

[4:12] Get wisdom. Now, remember what wisdom is. We've been looking at this book of Proverbs, And I've sort of given you a summary, A definition of what wisdom is.

[4:23] It's knowing and understanding God and His world, And living in harmony with it, But also realizing that you're never going to completely understand that. It's knowing God and His world, And living in harmony with it.

[4:38] This past week, I saw a book. I haven't read it, But I might. It's from an author. His name is Paul Fides, A professor of systematic theology at Oxford.

[4:52] And he wrote this book. This is the title. Seeing the world, And knowing God, Hebrew wisdom, And Christian doctrine In a late modern context.

[5:02] Now, I saw that title, And I was super interested. I looked it up on Amazon, And you know how you can say, Take me inside, Or show me what's in the table of contents. I looked at that. And what the first part was all about, Was wisdom as observation.

[5:18] Wisdom as you are paying attention, To what is going on in the world. You're paying attention, To what's outside of you, Observing. Wisdom is out there. It's ready to be seen, If you'll look.

[5:29] That's the first part of this man's book. And the second part, Is about what he called attunement. Attunement. So, observing the world, Seeing the fabric of God's world, And then attunement, Is playing in tune, With that fabric.

[5:49] It's like the whole orchestra, The string section. You know how they play in tune, In harmony, With each other. So, wisdom is playing in harmony, Is singing, On tune, With, With who the Lord is, And what he is doing.

[6:07] That's wisdom. Wisdom is, Has a good sound to it. It sounds right, When you're doing it. And folly though, Is grating, And out of tune, And clanging, And off putting.

[6:21] Now, We've had some people come in, And tune our piano, So they tighten the strings, They loosen the strings, Whatever, To make it in tune. I don't know how often, That needs to be done, I don't think it's very often, But our hearts, On the other hand, Need tuned up, Frequently.

[6:42] And that's really, The rest of Proverbs chapter 4, It's not good enough, To get wisdom, You, You have to stay in tune, You have to keep it, So, If we're looking at the book of Proverbs, Youth is a special time, To become wise, Now is the best time, The sooner the better, But every age, So I don't know how old, The oldest person here is, But however old that is, Now is the time, To keep wisdom, It's time to get it, But it's also time, To keep it, To stay in tune, We fall out of tune, Far more quickly, Than any piano does, There are dangers, There's temptations, From the outside, That come in, And we are tempted, We are led astray, And then we're brought into folly, That's verses 10 through 19, That it's talking about, The dangers that come from outside, But then there are dangers, From within, And that's verses 20 through 27,

[7:44] Above all else, Guard your heart, The greatest danger, To wisdom, Is not, What is coming from the outside, It is your heart, You are your greatest danger, And so we're going to see, To keep wisdom, To keep in tune, We have to be watchful, We have to be watching, So let's look at these dangers, You see the first, Coming from the outside, And then the second, Coming from within, Verse 10, We're talking about, What comes on the outside, And here's the father, And, It's good to think, This is our heavenly father, Speaking to us, Teaching us wisdom, Listen, Listen, My son, Accept what I have to say, Now, I don't think normally, I would have stopped there, But remember, Last week, In Sunday evening, Pastor John preaching on James, And we're called to humbly, Accept the word, That God is planting in us,

[8:45] To receive this, And that's exactly, The same language here, We're called to humble ourselves, And to receive, What he is about to say to us, Receive it in such a way, That it's actually going to change, The way that we think, That we live, It's going to make us more careful, More watchful, It's going to have, An effect, On us, So accept what I have to say, You can't be proud, And wise, He says, I guide you in the way of wisdom, Are you willing, Are you willing to be led, Are you willing to be guided, Or, Is it going to be your way, Or the highway, If you want to lead in your life, If you want to, In this dance, With you and God, If you want to determine the steps, And lead the dance, If you aren't willing for God to lead you, If you're not willing to accept his word, And meekly follow him, Then you are going to miss,

[9:47] The way of wisdom, That's what he's saying, I guide you, And so the call is for us, Then to follow him, So follow him, And he says, I'm a good guide, I'll take you on straight paths, I'll take you on smooth paths, Most of the book of Proverbs, Sort of takes place, A lot of the imagery, Takes place in the city, He talks about, Where the crossroads meet, That's not out, In the middle of nowhere, Where two roads meet, He's talking about, In the city streets, In the center of town, Where the market is, Or where the palace is, This is the normal imagery, Of the book of Proverbs, But here, He's taking us, Not into the marketplace, Or the palace, But we're now out, On the Judean countryside, And ancient Israels, The roads, The paths, The countryside, It was not, Four lane highway, Smooth sailing, It was treacherous, It was dangerous,

[10:49] It wasn't Indiana flat, Ancient Israel, Was filled with treacherous paths, With ravines, With gullies, With caves, Around corners, Where who knows, What could be hiding, You remember Jesus, Telling the parable, Of the good Samaritan, He includes a geographical detail, Because it, His people would have, Connected to it, He said that, That event, Of the good Samaritan, And the man being robbed, It took place, On the road down to Jericho, Jesus knew that, That particular road, Was particularly dangerous, And so they could relate to it, So that's where we're at, We're on this, Down the road to Jericho, It's treacherous, It's filled with thieves, And gangs, It's filled with danger, From the outside, You need to be on guard, Now that's the picture, That our heavenly father, Is using with us, This is, This is what, This is what life is, It can be treacherous, You could lose your footing, There are thieves and gangs outside, You need a guide, And he's saying, I,

[11:49] I can guide you, And I will guide you, And I will guide you, In straight, Smooth paths, But you have to hold on, To what I'm telling you, You have to stick, To what I'm saying, He guides us with his instruction, Verse 13, Hold on to instruction, Do not let it go, Guard it well, For it is your life, And now, This is the special thing, That he wants us, To understand, So our father, Is taking us by the hand, He's leading us, Down this path, And there we are, We're walking, Side by side, With him, And now he says, Six times, So if you're walking with someone, And someone tells you, Six times, To not do something, Or to do something, But it's all the same thing, It's pretty important, Six times, Six ways, Don't go on the path, Of the wicked, Don't set foot on their path, Don't walk there, Avoid it, Don't travel on it, Turn from it, Go on your way, Do you get the point?

[12:50] He's being adamant, He's being very earnest, If you're going to keep wisdom, You cannot, Go on the way, Of the wicked, You have to see that path, For what it is, And you need to avoid it, He says, Don't even set foot on it, So, If it's wicked, If it's wickedness, Don't even put one foot, On that path, Because pretty soon, One will become two, And then you'll be walking, On that path, It's Psalm 1, Blessed is the man, Who does not walk, In the counsel of the wicked, So the wicked say, Let's go this way, And he's walking on that way, Or stand in the way of sinners, Or sit in the seat of mockers, But his delight is in the law of the Lord, Blessed, Psalm 1 begins, Here's the happy man, Here's the man, That is going to flourish, In his life, Here's the man, Who's going to live with wisdom, This man, This boy, This girl, He doesn't join the wicked, He doesn't go along with them, He doesn't take their paths,

[13:53] He understands, Where they are, And what they're doing, And he doesn't go that way, The way of the wicked, Is folly, But the way, The way of the wicked, Is not blessedness, It's misery, Psalm 1 talks about, They're chaff, They're sort of like the leftovers, They're worthless, They're useless, They're dried up, They're dead, That the wind blows away, So they're light as a feather, Inconsequential, And dead as a doorknob, Don't go that way, And that's what our heavenly father is saying, Don't join them in that path, Because that path is misery, It is death, And again, Is he serious?

[14:43] Six times, He says it, It's obviously something, God is putting, A lot of weight on, Don't do it, Don't join them, Romans talks about, Ruin and misery mark their ways, You can tell, The way of the wicked, Because along that path, It's ruin on the right, And misery on the left, They bring it, On others, They afflict, And inflict others, And they themselves, Are ruined, And you can see that, Look at them, He says this, In verse 16, They can't sleep, Till they do evil, It's like they're trying, They're trying to go to bed, They're trying to find rest, They're trying to find peace, They can't have a good night's sleep, Because there is something in them, That I want to see someone fall, What is that condition called,

[15:46] Where you cannot sleep, Until you do something, That's bad, Well, It's an, Addiction, It's a slavery, And, That's what these people are, They can't sleep, Until they do evil, They can't sleep, Until they make someone fall, They eat the bread of wickedness, They drink the wine of violence, So why should you join them, That's what he's saying, Why would you join them, If, If that's who they are, They're so restless, So enslaved, So agitated, So irritable, They have this itch, Until they see someone fall, How long then, Will it take for them, To hurt you, If that's their company, And worse, How long before you become like them, Bad company, Corrupts good character, So wickedness is their food,

[16:49] Violence is their wine, So this is the stuff, That they live on, We have that saying, You are what you eat, And that's true enough, What you eat, Goes inside of you, And it becomes a part of who you are, And that's what happens, When you walk in the path, Of the wicked, You will become hopelessly enslaved, You will be hopelessly, Darkened, Twisted, Evil yourself, I was reading, I was reading in Ecclesiastes, In my, Consecutive Bible reading, Ecclesiastes 8, It just struck me, Wickedness will not release, Those who practice it, It's like wickedness, It's, It's, It's a ball and a chain, It's a trap, You're not discharged from the battle, When there's a war, Or you're not discharged from the army, When there's a war on, In wickedness, It says, It will not release you, You will not get to go on your own way, And so our heavenly father,

[17:51] Because he loves us, Because he wants us to experience wisdom, Says, Don't go on that way, Don't dabble in it, Don't even begin, James 1, Sin, When it's full grown, Gives birth to death, You know, Sin has, Its, Its growth, Sin goes through, A baby stage, And a toddler stage, And a primary stage, And a secondary, And college, And, And graduation stage, And, And sin becomes full grown, And when sin is full grown, It gives birth, To its own child, Which is death, Um, And, You know, The least sin, Young people, This is something that's so important for you to understand, The least, The smallest, The littlest sin, Wants to grow up, And it wants to become the biggest, In the baddest version, Of itself, So, Hatred,

[18:52] Bitterness in the heart, Wants to grow up, And become murder, It does, In lust, It, It wants to become outright adultery, Greed, It wants total dominion, Over people, And young people, I know it's hard to see that, You say, Well, How is the little going to hurt so much?

[19:20] And you're looking at your friends, And it's hard to see, What those friends, Uh, Who just don't care about God, Who don't, Who just dabble a little bit, It's hard to see how it's all going to turn out, And how you'll turn out, But, This is, What we've been saying, We're all becoming something, None of us have the choice, The option to be static, We are living, Breathing, Growing things, And some, Uh, We, We all are, You are me, We're all becoming something, It might be something more foolish, It might be something more wise, More sinful, Or more righteous, But sin is a monster, That wants to, Grow, It wants to grow, And it's never satisfied, And so that, Girl, In elementary school,

[20:21] Or that girl in junior high school, Who likes to make fun of others, Who belittles others, And she has a sharp, Cruel tongue, And she feels entitled, To do, And act however she wants, You know, She turns into, What they call a Karen, And, Who's yelling at the, Supermarket lady, And who's being rude, To the target customer service, And who screams at her husband, And, You don't end up there, Without starting somewhere, And so, The father is saying, Don't start on that path, Don't go that way, Don't go her way, Sin twists, And destroys everything, And touches, And, We all like to think, That we are going to be the exception, And we won't be the exception, We can't be the exception, And so whatever wisdom you had, Will be lost, Whatever light you had, Will be taken away from you, For the path of the righteous, Is like the first gleam of dawn, It gets brighter and brighter,

[21:22] But the way of the wicked, Is like deep darkness, And they don't even know, What makes them stumble, Proverbs 18, 5, I think, Or 4, It talks about the mocker, He's looking for wisdom, But he can't even find it, So he's obviously put, He's obviously in some sort of situation, She's obviously in some sort of situation, Where she's looking for wisdom, And now it's beyond her grasp, It's all so dark, Now is that what you want?

[21:52] That's really what this is saying, Is this what you want? Miserable, Enslaved, Addicted to evil, Drinking violence, Twisted, And all around you is darkness, So you're hopelessly lost, You're hopelessly confused, You're out of your element, You're beyond understanding, What is even going on in your life, You're falling down, You don't even know why, Then go on the way of the wicked, Just join them, Be naive now, Be silly brained, Silly hearted now, Just join them and smile, And walk down that way, And, You'll find out, You, But, You've been warned, Six times, Don't go on that way, See, You don't get to drink poison, And not, Feel it, You don't, Get to play with fire, And not be burned,

[22:55] Shun evil companions, Or you will become them, So maybe you've been dallying, With things that you shouldn't, Now's the time to get out of there, Now's the time to turn around, Reverse course, And get back on the way, That you should be going, Avoid, Shun, Evil companions, Get wisdom, Keep it, Guard yourself from the outside, Point number two, Second is, Above all else, Guard your heart, Above all else, Guard your heart, It's bad enough, We have enemies within, But we are, It's bad enough, We have enemies outside of us, But we have enemies within, Guard your heart, Verse 23, Why?

[23:43] For it is the wellspring of life, Out of your heart, Is going to flow, The streams of your life, What's in here, Is going to decide, And determine, How you, Go through life, How you receive life, How you accept life, How, What happens, Out of your heart, Flows life, And so, Guard your heart, Whether you are wise, And get all of the benefits, Of wisdom, That will, That will, Be determined by what's in your heart, Or whether you're a fool, And then you receive all the punishment, And the disappointment, And the discouragement, Of being a fool, That too, Comes from your heart, And so he's saying, Keep your heart, This is all about guarding yourself, And really, Again, This is all about guarding yourself, From sin, And so, Yeah, There's danger, There's temptations, From coming from outside, But here he is saying, We need to master ourselves, In such a way, That we are controlling our own,

[24:44] The members of our own body, So that we are living in righteousness, We are controlling ourselves, And steering ourselves, Down the good path, So it's not good enough, To avoid the evil path, You have to move, Move down, The path of righteousness, And so, Keep your mouth, From lies, From corrupt talk, From perversity, Things that twist, That fabric, Of reality, And so now you're talking, Foolish talk, Evil talk, He's talking like that, Your eyes, Keep them right before you, Fix your eyes straight ahead, Don't, Don't be distracted, I'm just reminded of, They live without any fear of God, Before their eyes, So we set the Lord before us, We live under him, And he is constantly, A part of our thinking, Your feet from treacherous paths, So, I'm the danger here,

[25:48] I'm the danger, My feet want to go astray, My eyes are drawn to things, That they shouldn't be drawn to, So guard yourself, My mouth, My tongue, James says, There's a pipeline, That goes from my mouth, Straight down into hell, So, Only a fool, Would just open up the hatch, And say, Okay, Whatever's in here, I'm just gonna, Let it come out, So guard yourself, Keep yourself in check, You cannot, Trust, Yourself, Trust in the Lord, And lean not on your own understanding, The man who trusts himself is a fool, Why?

[26:42] Because only a fool, Would believe someone, And trust someone, So unreliable as you, With ultimate decisions, With ultimate things, If you were talking to, With a businessman, Or if you were talking business, With a man, Who had been previously, Convicted of, A fraud, Of being a con man, How careful would you be, When they have, They have a stated, And known record, Of being dishonest, How careful would you be, When he's telling you, About his idea that he had, And his, And his business idea, How careful, Would you be, Well you'd, You'd really, Be an idiot, To, So Bernie Madoff, The greatest Ponzi scheme, Of all time, Starts asking about, Your retirement fund, And you're not, A little warned,

[27:42] Or, Charles Ponzi himself, Starts telling you about, An investment idea he has, But see, I have, A Bernie Madoff, And a Charles Ponzi, Living right inside of me, So don't trust yourself, See, See, Others can make me, Into a fool, If I join them in it, But I don't know about you, But, I do well enough, All by myself, Thank you very much, Of turning myself, Into a fool, Because of what's in here, The traitors are within, And the traitors within, Are the worst danger of all, The knife in the dark, The lie from the closest friend, The traitors within, Are the most dangerous, So once upon a time, There was, A great city, Called Mansoul, And it had once rebelled, Against the king,

[28:45] And against Prince Emmanuel, But, And they fought against each other, And in an over showing, Power force of, This over showing, This show of, Over powering, I don't even know, What I'm trying to say, The city was conquered, And completely pacified, And the city was on the very, Brink of disaster, Of ruin and destruction, They had fought against the king, And now the question is, Is the king going to, Just wipe out the city, And they pleaded, For mercy, Three times they pleaded, And on the third time, Prince Emmanuel, Showed mercy to that city, And, Many of the enemies, Of the prince at that time, They were driven out of the city, And Prince Emmanuel, Went up to the palace, And he lived in the palace, And lived in the city, And over the city,

[29:45] He put many of his own officers, And they ruled in that city, And so it was under new, Management we would say, But you know, There were still traitors in the city, Still traitors in the streets, Still traitors in houses, Mr. Lust, And Mr. Greed, And Mr. Covetousness, And Mr. Envy, And Mr. Gossip, And Mr. Anger, And Mr. Blind, And Mr. Confused, And Mr. Smarter Than Thou, And these traitors knew, That they could not keep living, In this city, Under their, Their names, So they changed their names, They married into good families, And they blended in, But you know, They didn't, They hadn't changed, They hadn't moved out, They hadn't died, They hadn't changed, They hadn't decided, That Prince Emmanuel, Is going to be the king for them, And so from time to time, They'd start fires in the city, And burn down houses, And buildings, And or when enemies would come, They,

[30:46] And attack that city, They'd send secret messages out, To the enemies on the outside, Telling them the best place, And the best time to attack, They were forever smuggling, Things into the city, Doubt, Confusion, And fear, And they would nearly be caught, But of course, At the last moment, They'd blend into the crowd, They'd go dark, They'd go silent, And the citizens of Mansoul, Would take a breath, And they would relax, They must have died, They must have been killed, They're gone, And the city would relax, And the city would celebrate, And the police force, Would skip some of their patrols, And the guards on the walls, Would miss a shift, Or two, And then the traitors, Would strike again, Until finally,

[31:47] These traitors got together, And they unleashed, A pandemic in the city, A disease in the city, And the disease was called folly, And, Nearly the whole city, Was out of their houses, And staggering in the streets, And howling at the moon, And acting generally, Incredibly stupid, And they gathered, All around the citadel, Of the city, Where Prince Emmanuel was, And they were shouting, For him to come down, They wanted to put, Their own person, In charge, And, Finally, Prince Emmanuel, Sent out his guard, And he sent out, His seven wise men, And they were not quiet, They thundered, And they yelled, Everyone back to your houses, Back to your posts, Silence this folly, It's time, That we restore order, And afterwards, Because of this situation, Prince Emmanuel wrote a decree, A decree of the Medes, And the Persians, That cannot, Be undone,

[32:48] That from then on, Mansoul, Was to above all else, Guard, Your heart, Guard your heart, Because you have traitors within, Those things, That darkness, That confusion, Traitors within, That would turn you, Into a fool, Things that are still, Maybe in your mind, That, Is not truth, It's not according, To the word of God, Ideas and things, That you've, Cooked up on your own, Or thought were true, But they're not, Misunderstandings, Of God, And what he's doing, Misunderstandings, Of how the world works, And how people work, And how relationships work, See, Guard your heart, Wisdom has a certain, Hardness about it, See, I'll indulge others, I'll give them, The benefit of the doubt,

[33:50] And that's, What love does, But wisdom, Keeps, The soul, Wisdom, Guards, The soul, Like a steward, Keeping a city, For the returning, King, Wisdom, Wisdom, Will send its messengers, Out into the streets, To say silence, To be, Be quiet, And drive out the stupidity, It seems, Wisdom will marshal, Your defenses, Against, Foolishness, And wrong thoughts, And evil, And, And it sends patrols, Out into the city, To say, What's going on, With these eyes, What's going on, With these hands, What's going on, With that mouth, What's going on, With your heart, And it looks into things, So keep your heart, Keep your heart, Keep your heart, Humble, Keep your heart, In the fear, Of the Lord, If,

[34:52] If pride, And willfulness, Are the mortal enemies, To wisdom, Then we need to join, The Holy Spirit, And become pride, And self-willfulness, As constant enemy, We need to be, Active enemies, Of our own pride, So keep your heart, Humble, Submit yourselves, To God, Resist, The devil, So when your hearts, Are humble, The warning comes, And a correction, Comes, And instruction, Comes, And you receive it, We're not fighting, Over it, We're not contradicting it, The proud, And the self-righteous, Heart, The foolish heart, Says, No, You're all wrong, But you keep your heart, Humble, If you keep your heart, Humble, You'll keep yourself, From folly, Keep your heart, Stocked, With the word of God, Keep your heart,

[35:53] Stocked, Filled up, With the word, Of God, Verse 20 and 21, Listen closely, To my words, Keep them, Within, In your heart, That's memory, Memorization, That's, Constant use, That's, Meditation, Thinking about it, I'm not talking about, Hum, And, Deep breathing, Or anything like that, I'm saying, His words are in here, And, They are so in here, That they've quit being, Intellectual, Merely intellectual ideas, That float around in your mind, But they have become now, Like, Plumber's tools, And his pipes, And his fittings, And so, You go into the back, Of a plumber's truck, We've had, Not plumbers, But we've had some heating, And air conditioning guys, Working out of our house, In the last month, And they have that big old truck, And, You know what's in there?

[36:50] It's not empty space, It's full of stuff, Full of tools, Full of instruments, So you go into a plumber's truck, And what do you see? It's stocked full of things, He uses every day, Pipe, Fittings, Tools, Glue, I don't know what else, And, So, If he doesn't have his truck full, He's not going to be much of a plumber, So God's word, Is the wise man's tools, It's his pipes, It's his fittings, It's his glue, It's his, What he uses every day, And so he keeps his truck, Stocked, With, The word of God, Not just memorization, But he puts it to use every day, So, How well stocked, Is your truck?

[37:45] How often are you going back in the back, And, Getting, The word of God out, Jim Elliot, Who was the missionary to Ecuador, I am reading his biography, Probably for the fourth time, I don't know, He died, When he was 27, He was speared to death, By the very people that he was, Attempting to bring the word of God to, To preach to, And he lived in the word of God, And he loved the word of God, When he was in college, I think it was a sophomore, When this story happens, Or a junior, He went to Wheaton College, He grew up in Oregon, And he went 2,000 miles to Wheaton College, In Chicago, And at one point, He had to write home to his parents, To say, Mom, Dad, My grades aren't quite as good, As they could be, And he says, The reason is, I've been spending more and more time,

[38:45] In the word of God, And so some of my grades, Have suffered a little bit, And he said, The degree I want, Is the AUG, Not the PhD, Not the Bachelors of Arts, But the AUG, Which is taken from, Paul's letter to Timothy, Approved unto God, That's the degree I want, And, So he wrote this letter home, When he was, When he was young, His dad gave him a Bible, And in the front, It said, Either this book will keep you from sin, Or sin will keep you from this book, So, Jim Elliot writes home, I don't know what Mr. Elliot thought of Jim's letter, I don't know how he responded, Or anything, But, I can't help but think that he was, A bit proud, Of his son, Because, The wise son, Is the father's, Joy, A wise son,

[39:46] Is the father's joy, And so, Our young people, Sam, I won't give you all your names, You know who you are, Sam, And Reese, And Mark, And Ewen, And Molly, And Kate, And Gage, If you were to go 2,000 miles away, From home, And mom and dad weren't there, Would the word of God be in you?

[40:06] And could you write home, And say, This is what I'm doing? And would your parents be proud? Keep your heart stocked, With this word, He says, This is your life, This is your life, Keep your heart in prayer, This is humility, And the word of God, And prayer, These are basic things, But this is how you keep your heart, Praying without ceasing, How do you stand guard, Against traitors, That are constantly working, From the inside, And how do you stand guard, From enemies, That are constantly, Trying to confuse, And darken you, From the outside, You have to pray, And you have to pray, Throughout the day, So how often, Do you need wisdom?

[40:48] As often as that, You need to pray, How often do you need something? Well, As often as you need something, You should pray, I really like what Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, He told some of his, Not his seminary students, But he told some seminary students this, That these men were getting ready, To be pastors, And he's talking to them about, How to prepare themselves, To preach, And he said this, I put this down as a rule, And so should you, Never resist the spirits, Prodding to pray, He says, If you ever have a desire to pray, Just a little bit, The smallest desire, The least urge, The slightest thought, Then pray, Don't resist it, If you say, I should pray about that, Pray about it, If you feel like, I need to pray, Then you pray, Immediately, Think of a Nehemiah,

[41:49] He's appearing before the king, And the king could see that he's sad, And the king says, Now, What's wrong with you? And it says, Nehemiah prayed and answered, It was the very same sort of thing, At the very same thing, At the same time, That's what I'm talking about, Don't resist, You give into it, Constant communication with Prince Emmanuel, Is how you resist, The traitors within, When you're running up to his palace, Day after day, Hour after hour, Moment after moment, It leaves less time, For the traitors to do their work, So how can you marshal yourself, To avoid evil, And to avoid folly, And live, Moment by moment, In wisdom, In the fear of the Lord, You keep your heart low, You keep it stocked, With the word of God, You, Are prayerful, Do you see, Okay, It's been like a month, Since we started chapter four, And now we've ended it, But, Do you see chapter four, On the whole, Is a call to action, Wisdom is not, Just handed over, Gaining wisdom,

[42:52] Is not passive, I've been so, Just impressed, With this truth, As I've studied it, Gaining wisdom, Is not passive, Keeping wisdom, Is not passive, It's not, Gaining and keeping wisdom, Is not the right of the old, It's not held back, From the young, It's not given to the lazy, Proverbs is not just a book, That says, If you read this, And you just hold it up to your head, Or something, You'll be wise, Doesn't work by osmosis, You just sit there passively, And it will happen, No, It's a call to action, And it's a call to desire, It's a call to fight, It's a call to protect, What you have, To be on the watch, Because the book of Proverbs knows, We have sin within, There's sin without, So how do you deal with it, And live in this world wisely, You cannot be passive, You have to be active, Wisdom is gained, By those who seek it, It's fought for, And yes, It's a gift, Those things are not opposite,

[43:53] But God is going to give wisdom, To those who seek it, He ordains the means, The seeking, The fighting, The gaining, The struggle, And the end, But he will not throw his pearls, Before swine, He's not going to give his pearls, Of wisdom, To someone who can't understand it, And doesn't want it, But you know what, He will dress you, With pearls, And make you glorious, And beautiful, If you want it, Now it begins, It all begins, With coming to Jesus, And it begins there, That's the beginning, The middle, And the end, He's the wisdom of God, And he can purify our hearts, And he can turn the lights on, But you have to want him, You have to need him, And if you want him, If you need him, The father will give you, The pearl of greatest price, He'll give you the very wisdom of God,

[44:56] And Prince Emmanuel, Will come into your heart, And take up residence, In the castle, Of your city, So getting, And keeping, And keeping, And keeping, And keeping, Wisdom, It begins, With getting, And keeping, Jesus, We never outgrow that, We never outgrow our need for him, Our need to be humble, To be in his word, And to be praying, That we might have him, Well let's pray, Our Lord, We thank you that, You have given us, This book of Proverbs, That you want, That you want to make us wise, And we thank you that, You do not treat us, As mere infants, That you have no expectations for us, Or, You don't give us, Anything to do,

[45:57] But, You want us to grow, You want us to become mature, And complete, You want us to be, Fully grown, And putting childish ways, Behind us, And so you tell us, To pursue wisdom, And seek it, And guard it, And keep it, You tell us to be soldiers, And to fight, And to resist, What is foolish, And you call us to action, And so we thank you, That you give us, These responsibilities, And we thank you, That you give us grace, That we might, Carry them out, And that at the end, Of these things, That as we, Pursue, And as we desire, As we guard, And as we keep, As we keep our hearts, You, Do give us wisdom, And what we, Are,

[46:57]  Grows, And changes, And we become new, And we become bigger, And more, Glorious versions, Of ourselves, We put foolish things, Behind us, Thank you, For what you're doing, In our lives, I pray that, You would break, Upon, Oh, Some sinner tonight, Who doesn't see, Any good thing, About wisdom, Who doesn't think, They need it, Who doesn't think, They need Jesus, I pray, That you would give them, No rest, Until, You have them, And you make them, Your own, Please send us, On our way, Careful, Loving each other, And loving you, I pray this, In Jesus name, Amen, Well let's, Stand and sing, From the overhead, Yield not to temptation, Bum,