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[0:00] Good evening. If you have your Bibles, and I hope you do, turn to the book of Proverbs chapter 2. Proverbs chapter 2.! And I'm going to read the entire chapter before the preaching of God's Word. Proverbs chapter 2.

[0:19] My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insights and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

[0:46] For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright. He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless.

[1:00] For He guards the course of the just and protects the way of His faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair, every good path.

[1:11] For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths, to walk in dark ways, who delights in doing wrong, and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.

[1:41] It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth, and ignored the covenant she made before God.

[1:56] For her house leads down to death, and her paths to the spirits of the dead. None who go to her return, or attain the paths of life.

[2:06] Thus, you will walk in the ways of good men, and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it.

[2:20] But the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it. Join with me as we pray. Lord, thank you for your word.

[2:33] Thank you for its clarity, for its simplicity, and for its depth. That the youngest person can understand it, and the wisest and the oldest can gain wisdom from it.

[2:50] So I pray that you would help me to explain it, and proclaim it, and preach it in a way that it deserves, and in a way that would honor you.

[3:03] Lord Jesus, come and teach your people. While you were on this earth, they called you good teacher. And we call you good teacher. Come and teach us, I pray.

[3:16] In your name, amen. Amen. Well, this sermon is entitled, The ABCs of Proverbs. I'm calling it that because Proverbs 2 is one long poem with 22 verses.

[3:31] You'll notice that even in English and in Hebrew, it has 22 verses. And that's how many letters there are in the Hebrew alphabet.

[3:43] Now, you see that sometimes in the Bible. For example, the book of Lamentations, every chapter has 22 verses, except for chapter 3, the middle chapter. And it has 66.

[3:55] So, 22 times 3. Some of the Psalms are that way. There's other portions of Scripture that are clearly meant to evoke the Hebrew alphabet, to remind you of the Hebrew alphabet.

[4:10] And in the same way, Proverbs 2 is doing the same thing. It's harkening back to the Hebrew alphabet. And that's just a way of saying, just as you begin school, learning your ABCs, just as you begin kindergarten with ABC and singing the song.

[4:30] Chapter 2 of Proverbs is saying, this is the first class. This is the first grade. This is kindergarten in Lady Wisdom's school.

[4:43] Now, we've seen Wisdom is inviting you and me to school. We've seen she's ready to teach you. She's ready to pour out her heart to you, to give herself to you.

[4:59] But Wisdom, though, is a dangerous teacher to ignore. She's far more dangerous than any kindergarten teacher typically is.

[5:10] If you ignore her, then when you are in the clutches of terrible circumstances brought about by your own folly, when the trap is snapped on you, she won't be of any help.

[5:25] She has a promise that once that has happened, that she will bail you out, that she will protect you. She'll get you out of it. On the other hand, she will be very obvious and close and maybe right there.

[5:42] You'll see her then, but she will only mock you with what could have been. She'll only mock you for what you don't have.

[5:55] And so Lady Wisdom is a dangerous teacher to ignore. But you're here. You're here. You've come to Lady Wisdom's kindergarten class in Proverbs chapter 2.

[6:09] You want wisdom. You're ready to learn. So you've put your coat and your backpack in your little kindergarten cubby. And you're sitting down at your little table.

[6:24] And you're ready to begin kindergarten in the school of wisdom. And here's where you begin. Here's lesson one.

[6:35] The ABCs of wisdom. Lesson one is you've got to want it. You've got to want it. How much do you want wisdom?

[6:46] How much do you want wisdom? It's the same question that meets potential Navy SEALs that they're confronted with in the very first week of their training.

[7:00] The very first week is nothing but cold, pain, wet, physical training with mere hours of sleep for the whole week.

[7:12] By day three they talk about it's normal that you are hallucinating. And if you survive the first week, are you a SEAL?

[7:24] Are you ready to begin? Are you ready to go on some mission? Are you a SEAL? No. All you've done in the first week is earned the right to begin to train to become a SEAL.

[7:39] You've earned the right to begin to train to be a SEAL. If you want it enough, you get to begin. If you want it enough, you get to begin. And that's really lesson one of Proverbs chapter two.

[7:52] It's gut check time. It really is. It's gut check time. It's time to see what you're made of and what do you want. Do you want wisdom?

[8:05] Do you want wisdom? Well, are you willing to accept wisdom's words? Accept. Accept. Receive. Not reject them, but accept them.

[8:17] Are you ready to open up your hearts? To receive whatever she has to say. They're a gift. They are a gift. My words are a gift and they're going to challenge you, wisdom says.

[8:31] They're going to demand things of you. They're not the easiest gift of all to receive. They can be blunt. They can be sometimes harsh. They aren't always what we want to hear, but rebuke a wise man and he will become wiser still.

[8:45] Proverbs 9, 8. So how much do you want it? How much do you want it? Are you willing for wisdom to challenge your way of thinking?

[8:57] Are you willing to have your mind changed? To have long, close held opinions and thoughts and ideas and schemes and plans challenged?

[9:08] Are you ready to say no to a whole line of reasoning that you have believed? Are you willing for wisdom to push out sinful, stupid thoughts? To make room for her thoughts?

[9:21] When was the last time that you had a significant change of mind about something? Well, will you accept her words?

[9:35] Or is the garage of your mind too full? You can't fit anymore. Sorry. No room in the end. I have my own store of wisdom. I have my own knowledge. I have my own understanding.

[9:46] And that's enough. I really don't have any more room for anything you have to say. I've got my head is full. I can't accept anymore. Well, do you want it?

[9:57] Again, that's where this is kindergarten and the lady wisdom's school. Do you want it? Do you want it enough to store up my commands? Not advice.

[10:10] Wisdom's commands. Do this or don't do that. Wisdom is not necessarily your best friend saying, hmm, you know, maybe you should think about doing this.

[10:23] That's not how wisdom comes across. She comes across with great authority. God's commands are wise commands. And we're fools for not believing them.

[10:34] And so will you store them up? That's a treasure word. You store up treasure. You store up memories in your hearts. As a treasure.

[10:46] You treasure them, don't we? As we've been moving. And in this whole process. It's a real time for nostalgia.

[10:57] And thinking about everything that has happened in this house. You treasure those memories. You know, that is the terrible thing about dementia.

[11:09] It's all Alzheimer's. To forget your children. To forget your loved ones. To forget your parents or your grandparents.

[11:21] To forget what your children were like when they were five years old. That would be something. That would be to lose something unspeakably precious.

[11:31] You store up these things. We store up treasures. We store up plans. Plans we have for our lives. We store up ideas. Long held beliefs and thoughts about the way the world works.

[11:46] The way we see ourselves. We store up these things. We store up the truth. We store up things that we think are the truth. But maybe they're not. They're important to us. They're vital to us. They're our treasure.

[11:56] A treasure is what you go back to continually in your mind. Jesus says, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. He's saying, wherever your treasure is, your heart will find its way to that treasure.

[12:15] Your heart is always checking up on your treasure. Is it doing okay? Is everything intact? Is it growing? Is it safe? Oh, look how beautiful it is.

[12:26] And you gaze upon it. And you love it. My precious. My treasure. Is that how you're going to want wisdom?

[12:40] Are you going to want it more than a miser wants money? Do your ears want it? Turning your ear to wisdom. Does your heart want it?

[12:52] Applying your heart to wisdom. Does your mouth want it? Are you crying out for wisdom? Calling out loud for it? Are you a baby bird? Opening up your mouth wide.

[13:04] Crying for food. It's the most interesting thing. I don't know if it's true for all owl species. But I know at least many owl species or some. They get kicked out of their nest before they're ready to live on their own.

[13:21] They get kicked out before they're really proficient hunters. Before they can provide food for themselves. And so they really can't feed themselves. And so you know what they do? They find a branch, a tree, real close to where their parents are.

[13:38] And so their parents might have a little clutch, a nest full of little babies. But their teenage owl, so to speak, is living in the tree next door.

[13:52] And that owl next door, the teenage owl not ready to feed himself, just starts calling out, crying out all the time.

[14:03] Feed me, mom and dad, feed me. And I think just to shut these guys up, mom and dad will go feed their teenage owl. And it's non-stop.

[14:18] Is that how much you want wisdom? Do you need it? How much do you want it? You know, I've seen people, at least on TV, lining up the gas station when the Powerball gets up to $500 million.

[14:31] I've stood in line at Family Express and there's 10 people in front of me. And they're buying these Powerball tickets.

[14:42] Do you want wisdom more than you want, than they want money? Are you willing to work for it? If you're not willing to work for it, then really you don't want it. But that's what he's saying.

[14:54] Look for it for silver. Digging for silver is not easy. Searching for hidden treasure is hard work. Do you want it?

[15:06] I used to watch this show. Something about the mystery of Oak Island on History Channel or something like that. And it's really about these two brothers.

[15:19] And they're trying to find, there's this supposed treasure, this supposed mystery, on this little island called Oak Island, I think off the coast of Nova Scotia or somewhere. And these brothers, they call in backhoes, they call in drills, they call in scuba divers to go down into watery places.

[15:38] They call in the radar, they call in the sonar. They all define this treasure, this thing, this mystery. Now I quit watching it because they never ever got around to finding any treasure.

[15:54] It was episode after episode of da-da-da. And they found a bucket. And it might have been a bucket from 1800 or something. But they were desperate.

[16:05] Their whole lives, it seemed, were built around this. Is that how much you want wisdom? Wisdom. She'll teach you as much as you want to learn.

[16:18] She'll teach you as much as you want to learn. God will give you as much as you want to get. And if you don't want it, then don't bother.

[16:32] But if you do want it, then here's how you get it. You accept. You apply. You call. You cry. You look. You see everything's involved.

[16:46] You're involved. You're involved. You're heart. You're eyes. You're hands. You're mouth. You're ears. All that you are. And let's just stop there for a second.

[16:59] Parents, are you challenging your young people, your teenagers, your children, to get wisdom? Challenging them. I'm pressing them.

[17:10] Encouraging, cajoling them, pleading with them. Again and again in the first nine chapters of Proverbs, it's my son. My son. My son. My daughters.

[17:21] Listen to me. Get wisdom. God. And God himself in this book is getting in our face as the father. And he's, I'm not saying it's, he's not being harsh.

[17:36] He's not that Navy SEAL instructor. But do your young people know how serious you are about this?

[17:47] They might agree or disagree about this, but they know you're, you're dead serious. Well, that's really lesson number one.

[17:58] It's a gut check. It's how much do you want this? If you are willing to search for it, then what it's saying is you're going to find it. Kindergarten level Proverbs is not, though, just, you just got to want it.

[18:12] But you need to see, though, at a very basic level that's going to be worked out in the next coming chapters and really in all the book, what wisdom will do for you.

[18:23] So we have one big lesson of you got to want it. And number two is, well, you need to see why you should want it and what, what it will do for you. What will wisdom do for you in a very basic way that's going to be worked out and fleshed out in later chapters.

[18:40] So really here, this is, here's what's in it for you. This is why you should want it. You, you got to want it. And here's why you should want it.

[18:51] Rick Horn, one of the, the men that we support financially at our church wrote a book about parenting teens. And in that book, he talked about when you're parenting teens, you need to present to them wise wants.

[19:10] Teenagers want things in, in, in some of the things they want are really wise and some are really foolish. But you want to, you want to grab a hold of those wise wants. Wise things that you should want for your, for yourself.

[19:23] Now verses one through four is if, if, if. And now it's time for the then, then, then, then. It's three ifs and five thens. It's, it's, it's five good things that will happen.

[19:36] Five good reasons why you should really want wisdom. And really God himself is, is having a face to face and say, do you want this?

[19:49] Oh, these are some good things to want. Good things to want for yourself. Well, what's in it for you? Verse five, the first, then the first thing, then you'll understand the fear of the Lord and find knowledge of God.

[20:11] Wow. I think I could just stop there. Isn't that enough? Remember we talked about the fear of the Lord, that, that beautiful and perfect combination of humility and trust and reverence and love and obedience and hope.

[20:33] You'll, you'll find it. You'll find him. Him. What is wisdom?

[20:44] I've given you this definition of wisdom is understanding the fabric of God's world and living in harmony with it. But also knowing that you'll never completely understand it.

[20:58] Wisdom, though, is the understanding of the fabric of God's world. But you can't know the fabric of God's world if you don't know God.

[21:12] If you don't know God, wisdom begins with knowing and fearing God, being rightly related to the God who has made everything in such a way.

[21:24] So in his light, we, we see light. So you seek wisdom. You seek wisdom with all that you have. And God promises that you will come to know him.

[21:39] You'll understand him. You'll have a relationship with him. You'll grow in that wonderful combination of fear and love and faith and hope and humbleness, humility.

[21:53] You'll know God. We all, we all, we all want to become more like him. We all want to know him. Paul said, I want to know Christ.

[22:03] Well, here's how that happens. Pursue wisdom. Pursue wisdom. Pursue wisdom with all your heart and you will come to know the God of wisdom.

[22:16] You just won't be clever and have great techniques about living and competence and things like that. It's not a sterile competence that the book of Proverbs is holding out.

[22:28] No, it's, it's about him. You'll know him. You'll be living life with him and, and knowing him. And rubbing shoulders with him, you'll be wise.

[22:42] You'll wake up with him. And in affliction, there'll be a voice behind you in your ears saying, turn right, turn left.

[22:52] He'll teach you success and strength and virtue and character. He holds victory in store for the upright. You'll know God.

[23:03] And you'll know Jesus Christ, the one he sent. Have eternal life. That is a wise thing to want.

[23:16] My brothers and sisters, that is such a wonderful thing. And God is holding it out to you. You can have this. Pursue wisdom.

[23:27] And if you weren't a Christian, then you are missing out on knowing and living with a great, good God.

[23:38] In his presence is joy. From his mouth comes wisdom. In his hands are strength and victory and help.

[23:48] The world is dark and dangerous. Does not have your best interest at heart. Young people, growing up is hard. But he can walk you through it.

[24:03] He can walk with you in it. How wonderful it would be. And how wonderful it is to be a teenager. To be a teenager with God as your friend.

[24:17] Being a Christian is not a terrible thing. It is the lights coming on. It's having GPS in a crowded, busy, confusing city. It's having a father who loves you with you.

[24:31] Now he's going to call you out sometimes. He's going to discipline you. He's going to press you. And he's going to step on your toes sometimes. But it's only because he takes you so seriously.

[24:44] He takes you so seriously. And he loves you so much. Will you want wisdom? You will get the only wise God. The second then. The second thing is verse 9.

[24:56] Then you'll understand what is right and just and fair. Every good path. Wisdom will enter your heart. And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. It's like, what is he saying? Well the curtains will be thrown back.

[25:08] The sashes thrown back. The cool summer breeze and bright sunshine will flood your hearts. And you will know. You will have insight.

[25:18] And you will have discretion. You'll know how to live right. God will teach you to see the difference between a good plan. Or a bad plan. A bad path.

[25:29] A bad plan. A bad idea. A bad policy. And a good plan. And a good idea. And a good policy. And a good group of people. Knowing what is right and just and fair.

[25:41] Now that isn't always the easiest thing. That isn't always the easiest thing. You know, we can have really good intentions. And the book of Proverbs is talking about that.

[25:54] You know, a lot of things are not moral or immoral. We can have really good intentions. We can want to help this poor family. This poor church. This poor community.

[26:06] And you give them help. And you do it cheerfully. You do it willingly with good intentions. And you will ruin their lives. If you do it in the wrong way.

[26:17] You'll hurt them. And you'll hurt yourself. And that's why there are books called When Helping Hurts. It hurts you. And it hurts them. So you think it's always easy.

[26:31] It's not. Do you think it's always easy for Jackie Barr to know how to help people? At the Women's Care Center. Problems are hard.

[26:42] Life is messy. People are complicated. Things are not simple. And if you think they are. Then you have no idea. You have no idea.

[26:54] It's because you're sitting. You're not sitting knee to knee with them. You don't have any idea. You don't see all the dynamics at work. But here is wisdom.

[27:06] For those moments. When you need to know. What is the right thing to do. The right path to take. The best way to do something. The best way to say something.

[27:17] The best thing to do in a hard moment. Here is wisdom saying. I will teach you. I will not only help you to do the right thing. I will help you to do it in the right way.

[27:28] The right thing that will be good for you. And good for them. Now how much is that worth? When life is messy. And it's complicated. And you need to do something.

[27:39] But the way is not so clear. And wisdom says I'll help you. That's a wonderful thing. That wisdom promises. Here's the third. Third result is that wisdom will keep you from wicked men.

[27:53] We've already talked about that. Chapter one. From their paths. From their crooked words. And their crooked paths.

[28:06] We need to be very clear here. We're not. It's not particularly talking. About. Dirty words. Or bad words. That's not really.

[28:18] The point. These men can be impressive. They can be convincing. Their words and their paths will seem right.

[28:33] But the end. Is death. I could give you examples. Horrifying examples.

[28:44] Of men. Who have painted themselves. And the things that they're selling. As good and right.

[28:57] And they talk about things like Jesus. And family. And patriotism. And they are. Just words.

[29:08] To cloak. Their greed. And their sexual immorality. These men can be impressive. They can be convincing. They can lead many astray.

[29:19] You remember. Hopeful. And Christian. When they followed the ladder. He led them on a path. That only ever so slowly. Turned them around. But when he finally. Revealed himself.

[29:30] They were in a net. In a path. Facing the exact. Opposite direction. They should have gone. The exact wrong way. And again. These are not men. Who necessarily use.

[29:41] Bad words. Or dirty words. Are blatantly evil. We're talking about men. That turn the fabric. Of God's world. Inside out. They turn what is up.

[29:53] Down. And down. Up. They use words. Good words. In bad ways. I just mentioned that. They use family. And Jesus. And patriotism.

[30:04] And they use words like grace. When they really mean license. Brothers and sisters.

[30:14] They use good things. In crooked ways. Not everyone who says. Lord. Lord. Does what he says. The Pharisees wore robes.

[30:26] Of righteousness. And they wore them. As cloaks. For evil. But wisdom will give you. This is what it's saying.

[30:36] Wisdom will give you. The nose. To smell them out. They are perfumed pigs. They're perfumed pigs.

[30:50] They're. Those. Teenage boys. Who. After P.E. Just spray on. Some deodorant. Instead of. Taking a shower.

[31:03] Wisdom will smell them out. And discretion. Will protect you. There'll be something. In the way. They say. The things they say. Something in the way. They carry themselves.

[31:14] Something that. Wisdom. Will be able to sniff out. And you might not be able. To put your finger on it. But. There'll be something there.

[31:24] That will say. I need to hold myself back. From this person. I need to hold myself back. From these people. I've seen that happen. In churches too. Where. They knew that something.

[31:36] Was not quite right. But they couldn't tell you. What exactly. What it was. And only later. Did it. Did they find out. What was really going on. But wisdom protected them. It kept them. From giving their hearts.

[31:47] To this person. And if you don't think. You need that kind of protection. Then you are. What we were talking about. A week ago. You are the pati.

[31:58] The simple. The naive. The uncommitted. You see. The prudents. See danger. And they take refuge. The fool keeps going.

[32:08] And suffers for it. The fool. Does not. See. Legitimate. Danger. You know. There is a lot of talk. About fear.

[32:19] And this context. Of the coronavirus. And we shouldn't be afraid. Of this. And we shouldn't be afraid. Of that. And I am not. Here to talk about those things. I am just saying.

[32:29] Not all fear is bad. There are wise things. To be afraid of. Prudents see danger. And they take refuge. And there are foolish things.

[32:40] To be afraid of. The sluggard. Says there is a lion in the street. There is no lion in the street. It is an excuse. It is this fear. That makes him lazy. That excuses his laziness.

[32:51] There are wise fears. And there are foolish fears. And the point is. Wisdom will keep you. From crooked men.

[33:03] Now here is the fourth thing. There is safety. From the adulteress. Now it is amazing. How much. We are going to run. Into this.

[33:14] This woman. In the first nine chapters. Of the book of Proverbs. And so. This woman. Who is married. And yet. At the same time. She is a prostitute. She is no better.

[33:26] Than a prostitute. And. She behaves. In such a way. As a prostitute. And. We meet her so often. I don't want to give away. Too much. Right here. And right now.

[33:36] And go into great detail. But I do want to just point out. That just as there is financial wisdom. In the book of Proverbs. And just as there is relational wisdom. In the book of Proverbs.

[33:47] There is sexual wisdom. Now maybe those aren't categories. That usually put together. Sex and wisdom. But. Proverbs does. Frequently.

[33:59] And actually. The book of. The song of songs. Is all about. Married. Sexual. Wisdom. So men search.

[34:10] They search. Through the book of Proverbs. Looking for tips. About finances. They never buy a lottery ticket. They never. Not save.

[34:21] Or invest. But they are complete fools. In the category. Of sexual. Wisdom. So they strain out the gnats. And they swallow the camel.

[34:32] Because. Because look. Her. Her house. Leads down to death. Her basement. Is hell. And so they pierce themselves.

[34:43] With a hundred arrows. They ruin their families. They ruin their marriages. They ruin their careers. They ruin their finances. Their ministries. Their reputations. All because. They are sexual.

[34:55] Idiots. Fools. Fools. Either they are. Petit. In that area. Simple. They don't know. Or they have.

[35:07] Embraced. Folly. And they are now fools. Fools. But wisdom. God's wisdom. Includes. Sexual wisdom. And it will keep you.

[35:18] From grasping. The siren. Maybe you remember. High school. Literature class. And Odysseus. Is out on the seas. And he. His ship. Goes by.

[35:29] These. The sirens. They're beautiful. Women on the top. And terrible. Monsters. On the bottom. That's exactly. What these. Women are. And.

[35:40] Really. That's what these. The men are too. People. Who would grab you. And bring you in. To sexual sin. Men and women.

[35:51] Young men. Young women. Don't be wise. In every other area. In a fool. In this area. Because. What it's going to say. Is. You're heaping.

[36:02] Burning coals. Into your lap. You are going to walk. On fire. And you will. Be scorched. And burned. And scarred. And maimed. For life. Because sexual folly.

[36:13] Is one of the most. Devastating. Kinds. It is the most. Seductive. The most. Tempting. The most. Grasping.

[36:23] The most. Powerful. You just. Cannot. Be a sexual fool. And prosper. So cry out.

[36:34] For wisdom. To see. To see. The fabric. Of God's world. And part of that. Beautiful fabric. Is godly. Sexuality.

[36:45] So fools. Twist that fabric. To their own destruction. The wise person. Keeps to the good path. The fifth.

[37:00] Then. The fifth thing. Is if you cry out. For wisdom. If you want it. And you look for it. What you will find. Is that you will find yourself. In the company. Of the wise.

[37:12] You will find yourself. Among the company. Of the wise. You'll walk in the ways. Of good men. You'll enjoy life. You'll flourish. He who walks with the wise.

[37:24] Grows wise. But the companion of fools. Suffers harm. So you cry out. For wisdom. And you start. Pursuing it. And you start. Finding yourself more. And what you'll find. Is you'll start.

[37:34] Finding yourself. More and more. In the company. Of the wise. With those who really. Know how to live. They talk about. The fools have nothing to say.

[37:44] At the gates. That is. When important things. Are being discussed. They don't have anything. Productive. Or helpful to say. They might have something. To say. But they're quickly ignored.

[37:56] And quickly silenced. They don't belong. With the wise. But here. This is what this is promising. You will. Find yourself. Among the wise.

[38:07] And in the. And in those. Who are walking. On the good. Paths. You won't be at the kids table. Anymore. They'll call you up. To sit with the grownups.

[38:21] See. This pursuit. And this is where. This is just. One of the hints. That we have. But this pursuit of wisdom. Is not a singular one. It's not just you.

[38:31] It's not just you. And God. It is a community. Projects. It's done. With other. People. It's something. That we do.

[38:42] With others. And so the father. Is saying. To his son. Or to his daughter. God the father. Is saying. To us. Join us. Join us.

[38:52] And start to live. Leave your childish. Ways behind. And come. And sit up here. With us. That is the invitation.

[39:06] That is the invitation. To everyone listening. To everyone watching. Right now. God is inviting you. And really. All the wise.

[39:17] Are inviting you as well. To join Jesus. And to live with him. To walk with him. Who is wisdom. Himself. To taste life.

[39:31] To really flourish. That's the invitation. You gotta want it.

[39:43] And here are why. Here are some really good reasons. That you should want it. The complacency of fools. That's how we ended chapter one. And the complacency of fools.

[39:53] Will destroy them. This laid back. Good enough. Don't need it. It will destroy them. Now here we are. To the exact opposite.

[40:04] Your passionate. Pursuit. And desire. For wisdom. Will bring you. Life. Flourishing. In every way.

[40:19] I just pray that. God would take this invitation. And drive it into your heart. And make you want it. Really as much as he wants it.

[40:30] For you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father. Thank you for the book of Proverbs. Thank you for the clarity. That we have in this book.

[40:41] For its simplicity. And its power. For its promise. Thank you that in it. We are invited. Into. The Trinity. Itself. Into the.

[40:53] Into the company. Of the only wise God. And we are. We are called. Into the company. Of good men. Who have lived before us. And who are living now. And who will live after.

[41:04] Who are wise. And good. And know how to live. You're so good to us. We're sinners. We're fools.

[41:15] We're full of ourselves. And yet. Here you are. Calling us. In such grace. To find wisdom. To find life. And we begin. And we find it.

[41:26] When we come to Jesus. And so. Lord Jesus. Present yourself. To our souls. Once again. And give us. That grace. Of faith. That will. Lay a hold of you. And in laying hold of you.

[41:40] Make us wise. Unto eternal life. Pray for our young people. I pray for our teenagers. Make them wise.

[41:54] In Jesus name. I do pray. For his sake. That he would have young people. Who are smart. Who are wise. Who are godly.

[42:05] Who are ready to face the world. Who are not fools. Not simple. But committed to you. Pray this for his sake. He deserves young people like that.

[42:18]  Amen.