Southern Cross Presbyterian Church

Proverbs 29:1-31:31

Wealth and riches is a curious thing. Listen to the writers take on it:

Proverbs 30:7-9 ⁷ “Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die:  ⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  ⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

The New Testament also drives for what we call contentment:

1 Timothy 6:6-10 ⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain.  ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  ⁹ People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.  ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

It however acknowledges some will have more material wealth than others, but does not condemn this, but calls for… I guess… what we have heard in Proverbs… wisdom:

1 Timothy 6:17-19 ⁷ Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  ¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  ¹⁹ In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Perhaps these words of wisdom can help us to negotiate the dangerous waters of our materialist society, always remembering Gods ultimate riches to us:

2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

proverbs 23 – 25

There were lots of warnings… “do not crave his (a ruler) delicacies for that food is deceptive…”, “…do not move an ancient boundary stone…”, “do not gaze at wine when it is red…”

When reading these, I thought they were a bit weird but after reading it again, I realized that its all about the God-fearing life (obvious, hey?!).

Why is it wise NOT crave the delicacies of a ruler? So we won’t be deceived from the truth; we won’t turn from the wise life…

Why is it wise not move an ancient boundary stone? so we don’t take advantage of the weak and underprivileged in our community and forget all that God has done for us (This was important in the Old Testament – just remember what we’ve been reading over the last 5months!)…

why is it wise not to gaze at wine when it is red? Well, if you kept reading, there’s a bit more context but it is wise so we won’t be deceived and poisoned against the truth, against wisdom. We seek to keep out eyes clearly fixed on the gospel, not distorted by the rose-coloured glasses.

All in all, the message is “Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” Ultimately this wasn’t fulfilled in just any human or king living the wise life… it was fulfilled by a servant king, who lived the perfect wise life, who died and rose again so that “…there is surely a future hope for you…”

Proverbs 17:1-19:29

In Proverbs 19 we see the great desire to gain wisdom and understanding.

I found that many of these desires are affirmed in Ps 119 as the Psalmist reflects on the word of God.

^{Proverbs 19:8} He who gets wisdom loves his own soul;
he who cherishes understanding prospers.

^{Psalm 119:4} I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.

^{Proverbs 19:20} Listen to advice and accept instruction,
and in the end you will be wise.

^{Psalm 119}:¹⁰⁴ I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.

^{Proverbs 19:8} Stop listening to instruction, my son,
and you will stray from the words of knowledge.

^{Psalm 119:10} I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.

Do you desire wisdom and understanding? :

^{2 Tim 3:16-17} All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Proverbs 8:1-10:32

Proverbs 10 reminds us a number of times of the power of words.

¹¹ The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.

¹³ Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks judgment.

²⁰ The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.  ²¹ The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment.

³¹ The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out.  ³² The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.

Ephesians 4 reminds God people of what it means to have been made new. A new life in Christ and the transformation it can bring to words and to our whole life:

²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;  ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds;  ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

The new you must know the power of words:

²⁵ Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Ephesians 5:4 ⁴ Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

We see the saying “Stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”… is just not true. Words have great power.

As people called to put off the old self and be made new. Let us understand the power of words.

Let us use words to build up, not tear down.

Proverbs 1 – 3

When i’ve read proverbs in the past, I have always “sky-dived” in, looking for the wisdom that I needed for that particular moment. Before I started this time, I asked my wonderful husband about how I should read Proverbs or what is the bigger picture – his answer: its all about fearing the Lord and not fearing the Lord.

As you read through the first few chapters, you can see this as clear as black and white. The key verse for this morning (and possibly for the whole book) – proverbs 1:7

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline”

The only true way to be wise is to fear God… This reminded me of the first two chapters of 1 Corinthians.

“It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” 1 Corinthians 1:30 (Read through from verse 18 to the end of chapter 2 to see the contrast between the foolishness of those who reject the cross of Christ and the wisdom of God, given to those who believe).

What is wisdom from God? Knowing the cross of Christ and fearing the Almighty God, who deserves all our honour. The Almighty God who spared nothing to draw us to himself and reveal his wisdom in Jesus.

I am looking forward to reading more of Proverbs, knowing that wisdom can truly, only be found in Jesus…

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthains 1:18.