in Proverbs chapters 8 and 9
we read of wisdom of wisdom crying of the voice of wisdom of what
wisdom says and what wisdom does wisdom being a picture a figure
of Christ himself Chapter 9 we read, Wisdom have builded her
house, she have hewn out her seven pillars, she have killed
her beast, she have mingled her wine, she have also furnished
her table. She hath sent forth her maidens,
she crieth upon the highest places of the city. Whoso is simple,
let him turn in hither. As for him that wanteth understanding,
she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine
which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish, and live,
and go in the way of understanding. He that reproveth a scorner geteth
to himself shame. And he that rebuketh a wicked
man geteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he
hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he will
love thee. Give instruction to a wise man,
and he will be yet wiser. Teach a just man, and he will
increase in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. and the knowledge of the holy
is understanding. For by me thy days shall be multiplied,
and the years of thy life shall be increased. If thou be wise,
thou shalt be wise for thyself, but if thou scornest, thou alone
shalt bear it. There is none wise but God. There is none who are truly wise
but God. which is why chapter 8 of Proverbs
that speaks of wisdom crying and the speech of wisdom is a
picture of Christ the Son of God and his wisdom Christ came
into this world for the salvation of his people his bride the church
as figured by Adam and Eve, his bride. He came for the salvation
of his people and in saving that people, in laying down his life
for that people, in delivering that people of their sins, in
washing them clean, in washing his bride clean, his church clean,
in making her perfect in him, he gave unto her all that he
is. He gave unto her righteousness. He gave unto her wisdom. And in chapter nine of Proverbs,
we read of wisdom building her house. Here it's not just Christ
God who is wise. but his bride is wise. Wisdom
builds her house and out of the house of God, out of the church,
out from the bride of Christ, goes forth his message and his
wisdom. He preaches his gospel through
his bride, through the church, to this world. And through it
he builds his house. She's hewn out her seven pillars,
perfect. She's killed her beasts. She's
mingled her wine. She's furnished her table. She's
sent forth her maidens. She cries upon the highest places
of the city. She shouts out to this world,
here is wisdom in the church, in Christ. Here is wisdom. Whoso is simple, let him turn
in hither. Come here. Come here and listen. As for him that wanteth understanding,
she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine
which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish and live,
and go in the way of understanding. Come to the banqueting table
of the gospel. Come to the bread and the wine. Come to the body of Christ and
the blood of Christ. The body broken, the blood shed
for sinners. Come eat of my bread and drink
of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish and live. If you will drink of this wine
and eat of this bread, you will live. The wisdom from the bride,
from her bridegroom, declares in the gospel to this foolish
and this wicked world, that if you will live, you will find
life only in this bread and this wine in Christ. He that reproveth
a scorner geteth to himself shame, and he that rebuketh a wicked
man geteth himself a block. The scornful, the wicked mock
the church, they mock Christ, they laugh at the bread, they
laugh at the wine, they trample it underfoot, they've got no
time for these things, they want to eat, drink and be merry with
the food and the wine of this world, which lasts a moment and
leads them unto death and carries them away in the darkness. The fools that they are, they
laugh and they scorn and they mock and if you reprove them,
if you correct them, they're just hardened. Oh you who mock
and scorn the gospel should I reprove you, you will be hardened. You hate all the more, you laugh
all the more, you shut your ears all the more, you turn aside
all the more, you go off in your folly, you will not listen. Because
the wisdom of God is foolishness to you. As Paul picks up in Corinthians,
It's foolish. The preaching of the cross, the
preaching of the bread and the wine, which are spoken of here
in Proverbs, prophesied long before the coming of Christ,
finding their fulfilment in the death and the resurrection of
Christ, the preaching of the cross to the natural man is foolishness. Yet to those who believe, it
is the wisdom and the power of God. But you reprove a scorner,
and he hates you. Rebuke a wise man, and he will
love thee. Give instruction to a wise man,
and he will be yet wiser. Teach a just man, and he will
increase in learning. to those who are made wise unto
salvation, to those whose ears are open and whose eyes are opened
and whose understanding is enlightened by God through the gospel, to
those who have faith put within, that to those who are made wise
and who come to see that wisdom is in Christ alone, that salvation
is through Him, that the bread and the wine bring life. that
his blood cleanses from all sin. To those who are made wise, when
you rebuke, when you instruct them, they grow wiser. Preach the gospel to the wise
and they become hungrier. They love the gospel, they want
more of the gospel. The gospel is life unto life
and death unto death. Preach it to a dead man and he
hates it and says, I want nothing of it. He grows more dead. He
grows more hateful. He grows more rebellious. Unless
God opens his mind. Unless God opens his understanding.
Unless God uses that gospel to break him. And to shine the light
into the darkness of his heart. But if he remains in darkness,
he grows darker. colder, harder. The gospel is life unto life
and death unto death. Is it death unto your death? Or is it life unto the life that
God has started, has kindled, has placed within your once darkened
dead heart? Instruct a wise man he will grow
wiser, he will increase in learning. Teacher just man and he will
increase in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. For by me, God says, thy days
shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased. If thou be wise, thou shalt be
wise for thyself, but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear
it. Are you wise or do you scorn? Are you wise or are you a fool?
Has God opened your eyes or has he left you in the darkness?
Is there any fear of the Lord within your heart? Because if
there is, that's the beginning of wisdom. And if there isn't,
it's because you're in the darkness, you're blind, you're cold, you're
dead, you're a fool. Where do you stand? if there's
any wisdom in your heart it's because God has come with his
gospel and spoken and there's life has entered in and it's
begun to grow and you've begun to see and you've begun to fear
the Lord for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
The psalmist picks up the same theme in Psalm 111, verse 10,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. He says in that Psalm,
as one who knows God, as one who knows the fear of the Lord. as one who was once a fool, once
blind, once dark, once dead, but now who lives. He writes
the psalm with these words as one who lives. Praise ye the
Lord. I will praise the Lord with my
whole heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great,
sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is
honourable and glorious, and His righteousness endureth forever. He hath made His wonderful works
to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and full
of compassion. He hath given meat unto them
that fear him. He will ever be mindful of his
covenant. He hath showed his people the
power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the
heathen. The works of his hands are verity
and judgment. All his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and
ever and are done in truth and uprightness. He sent redemption
under his people. He have commanded his covenant
forever. Holy and reverent is his name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. A good understanding have all
they that do his commandments. His praise endureth forever. Oh, what wisdom there is in this
Psalmist's words! He praises God because he knows
the wondrous works of God, the wondrous works of God in salvation. There he was in the darkness,
there he was a fool, there he was once a scorner, he mocked
and he scoffed like the foolish man, but the gospel came unto
him. wisdom built her house the church
the bride came under him with the gospel preaching the gospel
and God through his church made this sinner to see and what he
saw was the wondrous works of God the works of his hands the
commandment of his God which stood sure which stood fast forever
and ever what he saw was that God sent redemption unto his
people and that God commanded his covenant forever. He saw
a God that saw him in the darkness. And whilst he was in the darkness,
whilst he was afar off, whilst he was indulging in sin, whilst
he was eating and drinking and being merry, whilst he, like
the prodigal son, was wasting all of his means on the pleasures
of this world, far off from God, seeking his own glory and his
own pleasure, hating God whilst he was there, God sent redemption. Whilst he was in the darkness,
God looked upon him, a hateful sinner, and said in his covenant,
he's mine, I know he hates me. I know he's full of spite and
hatred and rejection. I know he has no time for me
and my ways but he's mine and I love him. I love this man though
he hates me. I love this sinner though he
has no time for me or my ways and I'm going to save him. I'm
going to redeem him I'm going to set him free not because he's
asked for it not because he's earned it not because he deserves
it but because I love him I will set him free I will deliver him
so God sent redemption unto this man unto his people when they
hated him and he sent his son into this darkness evil world
And the people in this world took his son. And they rejected
his son. And they laughed at his son.
And they mocked his son. And wisdom came into this world
full of foolishness. Wisdom walked amongst men. Wisdom
spake. And man rejected it. Man rejected
Him. Man rejected the truth of God,
the righteousness of God, the wisdom of God. He didn't want
to know. And man in his wisdom, man in
man's wisdom, saw God's Son, laughed at Him, spat upon Him,
rejected Him and said, away with this man. We will not have him
to reign over us. Crucify him, crucify him. A man in his great wisdom, as
he does today, rejected the very one who could save him. Rejected
the very son of God who is wisdom himself. He rejected him. And he put him to death. Mankind
put him to death. They took, man took God's son
and had him slain. Or so he thought. Power wasn't in man's hand to
slay God's Son. God's Son laid down His own life. But He allowed wicked men to
take Him. And allowed wicked men to nail
the nails through His hands. To nail Him to that cross. He
allowed wicked men to lift Him up in the midday sun. And in
the darkness, in the heat of the sun, He suffered. And in the darkness as the light
of the sun was taken away, he suffered as he bore the sins
of that people, bore the sins of his people upon the cross,
bore the sins of those who nailed him to the cross, bore the sins
of those who pierced him, bore the sins of those who hated him.
In the darkness he suffered. And God looked upon his son and
because he bore their sins he judged his own son and slew his
own son. And his own son died as though
he was the sinner when he was the wisdom and the righteousness
and the truth of God. He didn't deserve to die, they
did. He didn't deserve to die, the
psalmist here did. He didn't deserve to die, Solomon. The writer of Proverbs did, and
yet it was Christ who died. And because he died and because
the psalmist saw that he died for him, he saw the love and
the grace and the mercy of God. He saw the covenant of God which
set God's love upon him when he was yet hating God. He saw
the redemption of God that set him free. He saw how God paid
a price to deliver him, to set him free, to deliver him from
his sins. He sent redemption. under His
people. He have commanded His covenant
forever. Holy and revered is His name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. This once foolish man was now
made wise unto salvation. And what made him wise? The fear
of the Lord. The fear of the Lord Why is there
so little wisdom in this world? Why is mankind so foolish? Because there is so little fear
of the Lord. So little fear of the Lord in
every sense of and meaning of that word. Men do not revere
the God who they should worship. There is no reverential fear. There is no respect, there is
no love, there is no worship of the creator who created them
and sustains them, the one who deserves mankind's worship. The psalmist writes holy and
reverent is his name and yet man doesn't regard him, man doesn't
regard God, man doesn't treat his name as reverent, man doesn't
revere him. He doesn't respect him, he doesn't
worship him. He goes another way, he turns
his back on God, he acts like God isn't there. He acts like
he can do what he likes and God won't see. There's no fear of
God. But there's no fear of the Lord
in terms of what the Lord will do unto wicked men. They go in
their wicked ways, you go in your wicked ways, you go in your
sinful ways, you wander around in the darkness seeking your
own pleasures, seeking your own riches, seeking your own way,
you go in your own path because you just don't think that God
will find out, you don't care that God will judge you. You live like there's no judgment. You live like there's no end
of this world. You live like you're immortal.
Though all around you, every day, you hear of those who die. You see those who die. Though
all around you people are passing from this world into the next.
And all around you the evidence of life is so short. And all
around you there's such tragedy and such sorrow. You don't think
where they're going. You don't care that each one
that leaves this world goes to stand before a holy God. You
don't consider that they must give an account unto this God.
And if they've spent their life in sin, if they haven't worshipped
Him, if they've gone their own way, if they've rejected Him,
if in their hearts they pierced the Son of God and took the nails
and hammered them into His hands and jeered and spat upon Him
as He suffered in the midday sun. If that is what men do,
then they will have to give an account. And a holy and a righteous
God will hold them accountable for what they've done. He'll
hold you accountable for what you've done. Your life is but
a vapor. You're born, you live, you die. One day soon, one day soon you
will stand before this God and do you fear that day? Is there
any fear of the Lord in your heart? Is there any fear of him
in the sense of worshipping, of revering him, of knowing that
he's awe-inspiring? Is there any fear of what he
will do and command regarding you when you stand before him
as a wretched evil sinner who cared not for him all the days
of your life, who went off with all that he gave you using it
for your own gain and pleasure and not for his service and worship?
Is there any fear? There is so little wisdom in
this world. There is so little wisdom in your own heart. There's
so much foolishness because there's so little fear of the Lord in
every sense of the word. In chapter eight of Proverbs,
we read that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, and the fear of the Lord is the hate evil. If there's
any wisdom in your heart, it will be that you've grown, you've
been brought to know who God is, to know who you are before
him, to know that you're a sinner before him, and to know that
sin is terrible. And you will hate it. When God
grants you some wisdom, you'll begin to hate evil and love righteousness. The fear of the Lord is the hate
evil. But do you see that in the world around you? Do you
see that today? Do you see that in your own heart?
This world loves evil, doesn't it? Your own heart by nature loves
evil, doesn't it? It kindles it. It nurtures it. It bows down at its feet and
worships it. It goes this way, not God's way. It goes your way, not God's way. This world and your heart by
nature loves evil. Because there's no fear of the
Lord in this world, in the hearts of the natural man, or in your
natural heart. And there's no wisdom. There's
no fear of the judgment or the wrath to come. Mankind eats,
drinks, and is merry. It says life is short, let us
live it to the full. It does all it can to have as
much fun as it can here below, as though there's nothing beyond
the grave. And some who find this world
full of sorrow, will even resort to taking their own life to end
their sorrow thinking foolishly that there's nothing beyond the
grave that that will put them into an endless sleep that that
will take away the sorrow and the travail and give them peace
when the reality is, is that they plunge themselves into eternal
torment from where there is no escape, oh the folly of those
who take their own life, the folly of those who've not sought
God, the folly of those who have no wisdom because they have no
fear of the Lord. The world has no fear of judgment
and they're off to come, yet it is coming. There is judgment
every day in this world. God, as it were, claps the funders
here and there, here and there as a warning to mankind that
judgment's coming. Every day there's a storm here,
an earthquake there, a disaster there. As God says unto this
world, I am God and you must stand before me. and your life
is finite and I am all-powerful and I will do what I will. Seek
the Lord whilst you are young. There is a judgment coming. The
clouds are getting thicker as in the days of Noah. The clouds
are gathering. Time is short and yet mankind
has no fear. because he buries his head in
the sand. He turns the other way. He goes into his houses
and doesn't look up. He doesn't look up to the heavens.
He doesn't look up to the skies. He goes into his houses and he
sits in the darkness of his house eating, drinking, being merry.
And yet judgment's coming. He has no fear. Are you the fool? who thinks he lives forever.
Are you the fool that feeds upon the pleasures of this world,
as though there is no God? The fool hath said in his heart,
in his heart there is no God. Because in his heart he has no
fear, no fear of God, no fear of judgment. He's so cut off,
so dark, There's so little light. There's so little understanding.
He's so blind and he's so deaf. God's left him to himself. But when the church comes with
the gospel, when the woman, the bride of Christ cries, when wisdom
speaks, then wisdom is sounded. And do you hear? Oh may God be
pleased to open your ears and open your mind that you might
hear wisdom crying and that he might begin to put some fear
within your heart. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Oh will you not know, will you
not be brought to see that there is judgment to come and there
is a God before whom you're accountable. You must stand before Him. Oh
be wise. Don't play the fool. Look and
behold the redemption that this God sent. He sent redemption
unto His people. He have commanded His covenant
forever. He sent salvation. and yet you
despise it, you reject it, you run away, you care not for it. You have no fear of the wrath
to come and you have no fear of this God, you don't know him. You don't know him. When God
begins to put some wisdom into man's heart, he begins to sound
the alarm. the alarm of judgment to come,
the alarm of the consequences of sin, the alarm of the state
you find yourself in. And the first evidence of wisdom
in a man's heart is that it begins to fear the judgment. This fear
is terror. The sinner fears God with terror. He begins to quake, he begins
to realise that he's a sinner. The Spirit of God comes and convicts
and shows him what he is. He shows him how holy God is
and how wretched and wicked man is. And he begins to quake and
he begins to realise that he's finite, that he's small, that
his life is brief and that he's got no answer for his sin. that
soon he will stand before this God and he's got no answer and
he knows that God's going to judge him. He knows God's going
to find him wanted. He knows he's going to be plunged
into hell. Is that you? Has God begun to
shake you over the coals? Has he begun to sound an alarm?
Has he begun to say, I am God and you must stand before me.
What hast thou done? as God as it were, come into
the garden of Eden, where you wicked sinner have fallen into
sin, where you've eaten of the tree that he said you should
not eat. You know you shouldn't be eating
here. You know you shouldn't be doing
this. You know you shouldn't be going there. And yet you have. You turn from God. You turn from
what you knew you shouldn't do. And you would go this way. You
would do these things. And God comes walking in the
garden. Like he came walking in the garden
where Adam and Eve were and they knew they were guilty and they
tried to make fig leaf clothing to cover up their nakedness to
try to hide what they were and hide what they did. Are you trying
to hide from God? Are you trying to cover up what
you are? Are you trying to cover up what you've done? Is he walking
through the garden calling out your name? Are you beginning
to hear God saying unto you in your soul, what hast thou done? If you do, the fear that wisdom
has begun in your heart will be a fear of terror. You will
know that before this God you will be judged. There's no escape,
you've no answer, you're guilty. It's a fear of terror. But the
fear of God doesn't remain there. As God speaks through his gospel,
as the bride declares the gospel of Christ, she begins to speak
of his redemption. She speaks of the cross, she
says there's judgment, but there's judgment which came down upon
another. This God that you fear, this
God that could send you to hell, this God before whom you're guilty,
took his wrath and took his judgement and laid it upon his son, that
those who believe on the son should not perish. Wisdom begins
to declare that there's an escape, there's salvation, there's hope. You might not perish. You might
not be sent to hell. You might not be condemned. Perhaps
Christ died for your sins. Perhaps the judgment of God fell
down upon another. Perhaps the price has already
been paid. And as God teaches through his
gospel and puts faith in the heart, he leads the convicted
sinner. And he says, you're not going
to be judged. Yes, you deserve it. Yes, you
earned it. But I've already judged my son
for your sins. I've already paid the price that
your sins demanded must be paid. I've already paid a redemption
price that would set you free. I've already paid your ransom
price that you might go free. I've paid the price, O sinner. My son loved you. when you were
over there indulging in your sin when you hated him when you
hated me when you cared not for my ways and my things he loved
you and he bore your sins and he paid the price and God says
unto the sinner full of fear full of dread fear no more fear
no more thy sins are forgiven thee they've already been paid
the price has already been paid I've washed you clean you can
go free I've washed you clean I've set you at liberty here's
my gospel here's my news it's great news it's salvation I've
set you at liberty and when such a word is such a message The
fear that began. The fear that began as wisdom
opened his mind. The fear that began as terror
turns into fear of awe and wonder. A fear of worship and love. He's heard God. He's heard his
message. He's heard his salvation. He's heard his gospel. and he
comes to know God. And the fear of the Lord that
he now has is that fear, that reverential fear, that love,
that awe and wonder that this great God who made him and sustained
him also saved him, also paid the price for his sins, also
washed his sins away in blood. He comes to see the banquet that
the woman, the wisdom of God in the church has prepared for
him. He comes to see the bread broken
for him. He comes to see the wine brought
forth for him. He sees the blood shed that washes
him clean. He hears God in the gospel. He comes to know God. and he
loves God and he fears him as God because he's been made wise
unto salvation. You see, there's no wisdom in
man until he begins to hear and to know God. Have you heard God
speak to you in the gospel? Do you know this God? Do you
fear this God? Do you know his wisdom? The wisdom
of man, your wisdom by nature, rejects God. The gospel, the
cross is foolishness to you. It's foolishness. It's the defeat
of God in your eyes. You see the message, you hear
the message of Christ and the cross and you say, why did God's
son die? Where's the victory in that?
God sent his son and man crucified him. He died. Why did Jesus die? How is that a great ruler of
a great religion? How is that a great leader of
a great religion when he died? And you laugh at it and you scoff
at it and say, how can there be hope in that? And yet when the gospel comes
to you in power, when God preaches that message to you and shows
you what is death accomplished, that which you thought was weakness,
that which you thought was failure, that which you thought was the
end, you discover is actually power. and victory and the beginning
of life. It's no failure, it's a victory. Christ died that his people through
him might live, that those who were once dead might live. He
died that he might deliver them from their sins. He died that
he should take their sins away. He died that sin should be no
more. He died that death should be
conquered. He died that hell should be conquered. He died to bring salvation. And as he died, his people died
with him. And when he died, he was laid
in the grave. And sin was no more and righteousness
was manifested. And on the third day, he and
they rose again. Rose again victorious. Rose again
triumphant. Rose again in righteousness.
Rose again in peace. rose again in wisdom the wisdom
of God is Christ and you see it in his redemptive work he
sent redemption unto his people he have commanded his covenant
forever far from being the end this is the beginning this is
the beginning this is where life is to be found This is where
life is to be found. You say, oh eat, drink, live.
Live your life to the full when really you're dying. And how
brief are the lives of these that waste their time in such
a way that here one moment and they're gone and they're dead.
But will you live? Come eat of my bread and drink
of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish and live
and go in the way of understanding. Give instruction to a wise man
and he will be yet wiser. Teach a just man and he will
increase in learning. Are you the fool who dies who's
dead? or will you forsake the foolish
and live? Has God made you wise? Does the
Gospel make you wiser? Has God made you just, righteous
through His Son? Does the Gospel increase your
understanding? The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. For by me, God says, thy days
shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased. For by me, thy days shall be
multiplied. Where do you stand before this
God? Do you run with the foolish unto
the destruction? or has God, through His Gospel,
begun to make you wise? The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Amen.