We finished up last Sunday the book of Romans. It was a
profitable book to me. I want you to turn. I'll give it some prayer and
consideration to where I'd like to go now, and I'd like to take
another book. I'd like to take the book of
Proverbs. Turn with me there, Proverbs 1. I've got a few verses prepared here.
We'll see that, which we'll consider now. Proverbs 1, verse 1. We're going to begin with a study
of the recognition of the author of this book. I'm not talking about the vessel
through which The Spirit of God penned the words, that is, King
Solomon. I'm not talking about Solomon. Scripture says that prophecy
came not in old time, or that actually means at any time, by
the will or the inclination of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved or carried by the Holy Ghost. So this book
is written by the Spirit of God. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. It's the Proverbs. Parables. Parables. That's what
this is. It's parables. Parables, Proverbs.
It's actually the instruction that is given by the Spirit of
God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. This book of Proverbs
is written to God's people. They are divinely ordained words that set forth Christ to
God's people. Matthew 13. Let me just read
this to you. Matthew 13, 34, 35. All these things spake Jesus
unto the multitude in parables. And without a parable spake He
not unto them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables. So therefore, The Lord didn't
say anything that wasn't a parable, wasn't a proverb. Now, the amazing
thing about a proverb or a parable is that it is set forth, it's
a spiritual truth, it's a divine spiritual truth that is set forth
or it's taught something that is or appears to be, naturally
or historically understood. It's something that men can read,
and they look at it and they say, I understand that. I understand exactly what it's
saying. Proverbs, we're going to find
as we go through this, I mean, you read it, and when you first
read it, you think, I know exactly what that's saying. Well, you may or may not. I read
some things that I thought I understood, too, and I found out how ignorant
I really am. Why did the Lord speak in parables? Why did he speak in these proverbs? Why? The disciples asked him,
why do you do that? Why do you speak in parables?
He said in Matthew 13, verse 11, "...because it is given unto
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
them it is not given." There is a mystery here. Verse 1, the Proverbs of Solomon,
the son of David, the king of Israel. David had a son. His name was
Solomon. He was a wise man because God
made him wise. God asked him, He said, What
do you want me to give to you?" And he asked for wisdom to govern
or to oversee the people of God. And the Lord told him, he said,
you know, because you didn't ask for fame and money and lands,
he said, I'm going to give you those things you didn't ask for.
I'm going to give you wisdom too. This was the wisest man
concerning those born after the flesh. that ever walked on this
earth, Solomon. But I'll tell you this, a wiser
and a greater than Solomon is who this sets forth. This is
the Proverbs of the one of whom Solomon is a type. Wisdom himself. the wisdom of
God. Let me just give you a hint right
now. As a general rule, and if it changes, by the grace of God,
I'll try to see if it deviates from this. There's one place
even in this passage this morning where I'll bring it out to you. But as a general rule, when it
says, and wisdom saith, or wisdom speaking, you just write in Christ
right there. Christ. Wisdom. The wisdom of
God. The purpose of Proverbs, verse
2, it is to know Christ. To know wisdom. And to know Him. The Lord said,
this is life eternal, that they may know Thee. To know Him by
faith, to know Him by experience, to know Him. To enter in. Who He is? God. To recognize Him. We recognize
Him in providence. We recognize Him in His watchfulness
and care. We know Him. To know wisdom. And also the purpose of Proverbs
is to know wisdom and instruction. Now that word right there is
chastisement. That's what it means, chastisement
or reproof. The Proverbs, the parables are
given to God's people for instruction, for correction, for chastisement
in righteousness. Not what I think is acceptable
before God for righteousness, but for instruction, for chastisement. I want to be taught. We learn. I'll tell you this,
we learn by chastisement. You remember things that you
experience, that you suffer. That's why David said it's good
that I've been afflicted, that I might learn my statutes. You don't really know anything
that you haven't experienced. Somebody called you up and said,
well, I'm going through this trial or something. You know,
if you've never been there, you can't say, well, I understand.
No, you don't. No, you don't know. You never
lost a loved one? No, you don't know. Well, I understand. No, you don't. I'm sick. Well, I understand. Not if you
hadn't been sick. I don't know. We learn through these parables. These parables are given that
we might learn, number one, who Christ is and learn by chastisement. Whom the Lord loves, He rebukes,
He chastens. I need to be taught. I need God
to bring me down. I need to understand, to perceive
the words of understanding. That is, to
understand the Gospel, the words of understanding. This is the
truth. These parables, the Gospel is
here. There is no difference in the
book of Proverbs, the book of Ephesians, the book of Revelation,
the book of Titus, the book of Genesis, Exodus. The Lord on
the road to Emmaus, He took those two aside and He began to open
up unto them. In all the Scriptures, those
things concerning Himself. This is what Proverbs is all
about. These are not just nice little cute thoughts of the day
that we put on our refrigerator. Oh, that's a good thought. Oh,
it's better than that. It's life itself. The truth concerning
Christ, that is, to perceive the words of understanding. Verse 3, to receive the instruction
of wisdom. To seize it, to accept it, to
have it, to be mine, to grasp hold of the discipline and that
chastisement and reproof. To perceive the instruction of
wisdom. Now here's that deviation I was
going to tell you about right here. Now, I could definitely
see how the word right here, to receive the instruction of
Christ, I can understand how that would be. That's true. There's
no doubt about it. But this word right here is different
from the word wisdom in verse 2. It's a different word. And
what this word means, it means to act in accordance to what
He's taught me. It's the effect of what Christ
has taught me. If Christ has taught me something
through His Spirit, through His Word, by His mercy and grace, there's a difference in the walk.
A man walks differently. This is what it is. David said
in verse 2 of Psalm 101, and this is it. When it is, the word there, wisdom,
in verse 3 means to behave yourself. This is it. Here it is right
here. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when wilt
thou come unto me, I will walk within my house with a perfect
heart. Someone says, but I can't do that. I know you can't in yourself. But I will tell you this. I'll
tell you the consistency of a believer's walk. They believe Christ. And they strive after Him. And
they see the war within themselves. And they hate it and despise
it. What grieves me the most, that little saying, I believe,
that you said, What grieves me the most is that I don't grieve
over my sins as I ought. That's a right walk. Things that bother me because
of a new nature. Things bother me now that didn't
used to bother me. Does it bother you? Does it bother
you? Now, you just answer this for
yourself. Does it bother you when you see disrespect in the
way that you are outwardly, the way you walk, the things you
do? Does it bother you because of
your outward acts of rebellion because of that inward old man
nature? Does that bother you? I hope
it does. I hope it makes you sick. I hope you're sick of yourself. Because I pray God makes me sick
of myself. That's what Jeremiah said, or
Job. Job said that. I loathe myself. It makes me
sick. At times, I would desire to pray. Next thing I know, I'm thinking
about, I don't know what I'm thinking about. All of a sudden,
I'm thinking about, It makes me sick. I can't even talk to
him right. I don't even know what to say.
These Proverbs are given. To truly know Christ, to give
a heart that's after Him, and to grasp hold and receive His
instruction. As you've therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, God's wisdom, Christ Himself has taught us how we receive Him. How does
a man receive Christ? Well, I can tell you this, you
receive Him as a poor, helpless, needy, ruined sinner. How else do you come? How else
do you come to Him? Not pleading anything you've
done. And I'll tell you this, as the
way you first received Him, that's the way you're receiving Him
right now. You haven't gotten any better.
No, you haven't gotten any better. In fact, you've realized really
how worse you are. There's a whole lot of things
that children don't know about themselves. Kids don't really know how rotten
they really are. Cute as a button, but rotten
to the core. Now how many of you parents are
not going to agree with me on that? We love them. I tell you what, I love them
and we cherish them and I'm telling you, but I'll tell you this,
the older a man gets, the more he realizes, you know what, I'm
not as good as I thought I was. We learn. We're taught. we receive
that instruction. Proverbs, verse 4. What's the
purpose? To give subtlety to the simple. The young man knowledge and discretion. To give subtlety. Boy, that's a nice spiritual
word. What does it mean? Sense. That's what it means. S-E-N-S-E. S-E-N-S-E. Yeah, that's how you
spell it. To give sense. Man, you ever
had somebody say, boy, you ain't got no sense at all. You just
ain't got no sense. What were you thinking? The Proverbs. sense to the simple, to the deceived. The Proverbs, these are words
of divine spiritual language. This is the language of Christ.
He spoke. He spoke in Proverbs. He spoke
in parables. Why? Because the Lord says, because
it's given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom. It's
not given to them. Listen! Listen up! And I pray
as we go through them, God would give us a heart to hear this. What? To give sense to the deceived. Psalm 116, verse 6 says, "...the
Lord preserveth the simple, the deceived." The Lord preserves
the deceived. I was brought low, David said,
and He helped me. Deceived. Deceived by sin, deceived
by Satan, deceived by self. Psalm 19, verse 7, the law of
the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the
Lord is sure, making wise the simple, the deceived. The purpose
of the Proverbs, verse 4, to give sense to the simple, to
the young man, Knowledge and discretion. Young man. Boy, this is where
it really helps me. I tell you, as I've told you
before, I don't speak Greek. I don't speak Hebrew. But I do
have a Hebrew and a Greek dictionary. And I can look this up. Young
man. Now here again, here's one of
those Here's one of those proverbs. Now, this is so easily understood
to the natural man. What is the reason for proverbs? To give subtlety to the simple
and to the young man knowledge and discretion. And the natural
mind will say, I understand that. You know, we're young and we're
untaught. And we need, you know, because
of our youth, we need instruction. And therefore, we'll teach our
young people. You know, we'll get them in Sunday
school and we'll teach them, you know, young people. We need
teachers for the young people. Well, I guess that's okay. But
that's not what it means. The young man. The word actually
comes from a word that means to shake. Or to shake off. Or to shake oneself. From what? From the yoke of obedience to
God. The word here, young man, is actually one that means... Have you ever tried to touch
a child? You know, try to straighten them up. You know, Mama, have
you ever been in a grocery store? And here's one right there. You
know, he's wanting this. I want these cornflakes. I want
these sugar pops. I want this, you know. I put
that back. And you're going to reach over
there and look. No! That's what it means. That's
what it means. To shake. To shake away. What's the purpose? To give sense
to the deceived? To those that desire to shake
themselves away from the yoke of being Bound to the Lord Jesus
Christ. By birth, we're born like this. The Lord told Adam, in the day
that you eat, you're going to die. And Adam's wife Eve came to him
and she said, I've got this fruit. And Adam said, I'll take that. That's what it
means. To shake. To give sense to the
deceived, to the one that desires to shake himself away from the
yoke of obedience to God. To give him knowledge and discretion. Listen to this. This will make
perfect sense to you. Psalm 119, 9. And shall a young man, that is
one that desires to shake himself away from God by sin, wherewithal
shall a young man cleanse his way? David says, by taking heed
according to thy word. How will a young man, how will
a rebel, how will his way be cleansed? How will one shaking
himself away cleansed before God by God Almighty giving Him
a new heart to hear His Word, to bow, to come. God's Words. They give sense to the sinful. The young man, the one that shakes
himself, that gives him knowledge, that is discernment, to know
something of who he is and who God is, gives him some knowledge
and discretion. of sound judgment, thoughts concerning
my need of Christ. Proverbs. Why did God send Proverbs? Because for His people it is
given unto you to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God. To them
it is not. Some are going to read these
proverbs and they're going to figure them all out, they think.
Let's look at these last five and six and then we'll stop.
A wise man will hear. He will hear the voice of Christ.
And he will increase in learning the fruit of the Spirit of God. whereby God teaches those that
He loves concerning Christ. They're going to learn. They're
going to grow. They're going to grow in their understanding
of Christ. They'll grow in grace. Not that
God's grace, as I've said this before, grows. God's grace is
God's grace. But what you know about it, and
the more you know about it, the more you're going to know about
yourself and the more you're going to despise yourself. And
the more this tabernacle, as we looked at the other day in
2 Corinthians 5, the tabernacle of this flesh right here is going
to be a groaning to you. A wise man will hear, he will increase
in knowledge, a man of understanding. Those that God has given a heart
after Christ, they understand, they perceive, shall attain unto
wise counsel. The word attain there means to
procure by purchase. They shall attain. They'll be
able to buy it. That's what it means, to procure
by purchase. What do you mean procure by purchase? They shall attain. They shall
procure by purchase unto wise counsel. You say, I can't buy anything.
Isaiah 55 warns this whole, everyone that thirsteth, Come ye to the
waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money, without price. What is that saying? You that are poor in spirit. You that have nothing in your
ability or yourself whereby to purchase by your own ability
the water of life, to you, to you, this water is free. You buy it without money. This has been bought. This privilege
for you to buy was purchased by the blood of Christ. He bought
that. He's the water of life. And all that God Almighty has
given a heart to come to Him. When He gives you a heart, that's
when you come. Not before. God's got to create
life first. You're not coming. But if you
come, Helpless sinner. One made wise
to your need. Wise to your insufficiency. You
will hear. Because God is going to give
you ears to hear. Those that have ears to hear,
they hear. And they come. And they understand. And they buy. They purchase without
money by the grace of God. Wise counsels. You think about
this right now. You that believe, you hear these
wise counsels from God. You hear the sufficiency of God's
grace. You hear of Christ. And you know
what you're doing right now? Buy faith. You buy. You buy. You buy. Lord, You said, number one, You
gave me the desire to buy without money. I buy, Lord. by Your grace. No money, no purchase,
nobility in me. I hear of You. You've given me
of Yourself freely." The wise man will hear and will increase
learning, and a man of understanding will attain. He'll buy, procure
with purchase unto wise counsels, unto Christ the Counselor. All wise counsels come from the
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. And lastly, verse 6, to understand
a proverb, to understand a parable, and the interpretation without
which a man sees nothing of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember this, I'm telling
you, everything in the Word of God is a proverb, is a parable,
until God opens your heart to see it. That's why men can stand in this
pulpit today, Neal, and preach out of this Bible right here,
and read the very words, Carl, that we're reading right now,
and lie on God, because they don't see it. It's a parable
to them. It's a proverb to them. To understand a proverb and the
interpretation, the speech of it, the eloquent speech of it, the words of the wise and their
dark sayings, the riddles is actually what it means. To understand
the purpose This is a message from God to God's people. But it must be interpreted for
them. The Spirit of God must interpret
this. I tell you, truly all men that
come to Christ have been given understanding and salvation to
see the Lord Jesus Christ in every line. They see Him. They behold Him. It takes God
Almighty to open it up. I'm telling you, you know that.
They hunger to hear His voice in every message. That's what
you're doing, you that believe. You're listening for Christ.
I want to know how these first six verses in Proverbs, how is
Christ there? How is He there? They hunger. They want to see Him in His beauty. They want to hear the matchless
wonder of His grace. And you know, when they hear
of Christ and they see Him by faith, their spirit bears witness with
God's Spirit that this is so. When they see the glory of Christ,
they hear His beauty, His wonder, His grace, His compassion, His
mercy, and they see it. They say, now that's right. I
know that's right. I don't know what anybody else
has got to say about this, but I can tell you that's right.
May Almighty God be pleased as we take this precious book, the
book of Proverbs, and as we Strive to go line by line, word by word. That's what I'd like to do. Take
it verse by verse and go through. May the Lord be pleased to open
our eyes to see Christ. That's what you want to see.
I know it is. That's what you want to hear. But I'm going to
ask you something. Pray for me. Pray for me. I'm asking you. Pray for me that
God would give me some understanding because it's a great privilege
to be able to stand here. It's a privilege to be able to
stand here. But I'm going to tell you something. This is a
tough book. It's a book that I've not read
a whole lot and not heard a lot of people preach on. I've never
heard anybody ever preach through it. And I'm a frail creature. And if Almighty God doesn't give
me some understanding, I want to study and I want God to teach
me some things because I want to share them with you. The Lord
has given me some instruction through Isaiah 40. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people,
saith the Lord. I want to be a comfort to you.
I want to be a help, but I need this too. Pray for me that God
would open our eyes, open our heart of understanding, teach
us the mysteries that are set forth and given to God's people
for Christ's sake. Amen.