The End of Wisdom

If you have your bibles with you, open them to the Book of Proverbs. Proverbs and Chapter two we conclude today are series on the Gospel according to Proverbs. We conclude with looking at the last paragraph in the second chapter of the Book of Proverbs. If you'll remember, we're trying to understand how it is that the Book of Proverbs fits into the overarching narrative of the Bible itself. If Christ is the interpretive key to the whole Bible, if we understand everything in the Bible through the lens of the person and work of Christ, if everything points to the person and work of Christ, then the question that comes is, how do we interpret the Book of Proverbs in light of the person and work of Christ. How do we understand the Gospel from the perspective of the Book of Proverbs. We've looked at that in nine previous messages, now the tenth finally coming to the end of chapter two. If you'll remember, we've seen that Solomon is preparing the Proverbs as a means of equipping and discipling his own sons. We see that it's a picture of what discipleship looks like in general, not just from father to son or from mother to daughter, but from anyone who is a mentor anyone who is a teacher, anyone who is making disciples, who is pointing the young or the uninitiated or the ignorant towards the truth of the Gospel and the wisdom that is found in God himself. And so here at the end of chapter two, let's begin and see how Solomon concludes here, So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it, but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out of it. Now, on last week, if you remember, we read the chapter up to the point that we were looking at in order to put it into context. We won't do that today because in order for us to understand this last paragraph, we'll have to refer back again and again and again to the rest of the chapter, so we will actually get the chapter read because if you take this out of its context, and remember we talked about that idea of indicatives and imperatives, right, and indicative indicates what something is, and imperative tells us something to do. Indicative. This is a microphone imperative speak into the microphone. And usually when we come to the scriptures, especially when we come to proverbs, we're looking for principles or things that we ought to do. And if you've been paying attention in these last several messages, we haven't seen imperatives. We haven't been told things to do. We are getting a picture now of what wisdom does when we find wisdom. And remember how we've defined it. Wisdom is the righteous application of true knowledge. Not just the application of knowledge, but the righteous application of true knowledge. There's a lot of knowledge and information out there that's not true. Amen. People talk about fake news all the time. Right, it has to be true knowledge. And in order for us to know that it's true knowledge, we know that it comes from the only giver of true knowledge, which is God himself. So we have to apply that, but we have to apply it righteously. Well, in this last section, we are seeing what happens when we make the application of seeking and acquiring and being found in true wisdom. So this is a benefit of that application, and you see it there in this text. So you will walk not so you must walk, But so you will walk. This is indicative, not imperative. We are not being told to do something here, We're being told what the fruit is of what we've already been told to do. Notice here that we have these parallels. Remember, the Book of Proverbs is poetry. That's incredibly important for us to remember as we interpret the book as a whole, that it is poetry. This is not a book of law. This is a book of poetry. And because it's a book of poetry, we find symmetry here. Notice that there is a repetition of two lines, an explanation of the same thing twice over. So you will walk in the way of the good, and you will keep the paths of the righteous. The next line is another couplet, for the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it. Again, the same truth, repeated two different ways. And then we have one last couplet. But the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be rooted out. Again, this is poetry. Three couplets that make up this line. But what does this teach us about the end of wisdom? And when I say the end of wisdom. I don't mean like wisdom is over. I mean what is the ultimate end of the wisdom that we find here. First, the end of wisdom is righteousness. You see that in the first line, you will walk in the way of the good and keep the paths of the righteous. The emphasis here, as in the rest of this chapter, is on the concept of walking in paths. Notice this is not about something that we do, but this is about something that we are. This is not just a concept that we find in Proverbs, but it's a concept that we find all over the Bible. In fact, we talk about walk king with Christ. We talk about Christianity as the Christian walk. Early on it was referred to as the way. This implies inward change that leads to outward expression, and in the New Testament, the idea is of repentance. Repentance is an inward reality that leads to an outward expression. Roman chapter one and verse seventeen says in the righteousness for in it, rather the scriptures, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith, not just do things that are righteous, but they shall live by faith. Their life shall be marked by it relations Chapter three, verse eleven. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith. In other words, there's a picture of a lifestyle, but a lifestyle that is produced as a result of our faith, something that is changed in us, us being made righteous and living righteous lives, not just because of outward expressions, but because of an inward transformation that then leads to the outward expression. There are things that we do because there's something we've become that is the picture here, and it's no different in the Book of Proverbs. That is not just a new idea in the New Testament. For example, it's like the difference between a cook and a chef. Amen, some of you are going to leave here and you have to go and you have to cook. Some of you feel like you're cooking all the time. But there's a difference between a cook and a chef. A chef wears a uniform and has a responsibility and duties. A chef has a restaurant to be responsible for. A chef has tables in the restaurant that he's responsible for. A chef is thinking about that all the time because it's who he is. It's his job, it's not just something that he does. Or the difference between a brawler, the warrior or a soldier somebody who just happens to light picking fights and somebody who has taken up the uniform and has gone through training and is now identified as such. Do you see the difference. There's a difference between someone who does something from time to time and someone whose life is marked by that thing. And when we talk about righteousness, we're not talking about somebody who does righteousnes things from time to time, but somebody whose life is marked by those things. Somebody who wears the uniform of righteousness, someone who, as the scriptures say, is clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and their entire life is then marked by that righteousness. Look at Proverbs to nine and ten. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path. Remember our text. Look back at our text again. Look at verse twenty, So you will walk in the way of the good. Keep the paths of righteousness verses nine and ten, and you will walk in every good path. Look at verse eleven to fifteen. Discretion will watch over you, understanding, will guard you, delivering you from the way of evil, not just from evil actions or deeds, but from the way the lifestyle of evil, from men of perverted speech, who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil. Men whose paths are crooked, who are devious in their ways. Do you see this? What we're talking about is the uniform that they wear, their identity, their character that has been developed. Looking verses eighteen and nineteen talking about the forbidden woman, the adulteress, for her house sinks down to death, and her paths to the departed. No one who excuse me, none who go to her come back, nor do they regain the paths of life. So the idea in Proverbs chapter two is the difference between two paths, two lifestyles. This is no different than what we find, for example, in the New Testament Matthew Chapter seven, Verses thirteen and fourteen, the famous passage enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide, and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Again, the idea of coming to a fork in the road, and there's a path over here and a path over there. And what Solomon is putting before his son here in Proverbs is the idea of these two paths. It is not just do these things because they are wise, but choose this path, which is the way of wisdom, as opposed to this path, which is the way of folly. John Chapter eight and verse twelve. Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Again, they will not walk in it. The apostle Paul in Romans six and verse four. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Do you see that paths ways walms when we read Proverbs the wrong way, When we read it looking for legalism or for moralism. We read it looking for truths or principles that we can use to get what we want. That is not what Solomon is saying to his son, and he makes it clear here in this last paragraph that this is about the transformation of our lives, because we are found not just in wisdom, but in the wise Son of Proverbs, who is indeed Christ himself. When we seek the wisdom of Proverbs, we are seeking the wise Son Jesus. Make sure that this is the way we read the text. We're not seeking mere morality or a list of character traits that will lead us to wealth or prosperity. Again, we are seeking Christ and to walk as Christ walked. That's what this wisdom does. That is the end of wisdom. It is actually righteousousness. But wisdom does lead to blessing. And this is why it gets difficult, because this wisdom really does lead to blessing. And looking at it from the outside, it may seem that what the Bible is trying to teach is this, you need to do these things. If you want these results, you need to do these things. If you want this answer, you need to do these things because it will lead to Now listen, it is true that this wisdom that we find in Proverbs leads to bless it. But don't be fooled like the outsider who looks at it and thinks that you are living this life that is blessed, and it is a result of the things that you do, as opposed to being a result of the person that you've become. Listen, Satan is nothing if not a liar, amen and a counterfeitter. And here's what he loves to do. He loves to say to the individuals who are on the broad way. No no, no, no, no, no no. The difference between you and them is not the path that they're on. The difference between you and them is not that they have come to faith in Christ and been transformed and made righteous and been clothed in the righteousness of Christ. The difference between you and them is just the things that you do. No, no, no, You stay on this wide road and just adopt a few things and then counterfeit blessings come their way, and they think I must be all right. They do not understand that those are counterfeit and those are temporary. So secondly, wisdom not only ends in righteousness, but it does end in blessing. We see that in verse twenty one, for the upright will inhabit the land, and those with integrity will remain in it. There's no doubt here and we can't run away from it. There is blessing that is found in wisdom. First, because God is a God who blesses his people. Amen, somebody, God is a God who blesses his people. Our God is a good God, and he blesses his people, So of course those who walk in His wisdom will experience his blessing. Secondly, living in accordance with God's wisdom is a blessing in itself. Don't miss that. I didn't say walking in God's wisdom will guarantee you the blessings that you seek. That's another truth, and there's another group out there teaching that that's a lie from the pit of Hell. Amen. What I said is walking in God's wisdom is a blessing in itself, but you only see it as a blessing when you are found in the wise son of proverbbs, who is Christ himself. Thirdly, if the God of all wisdom is God, and he is, indeed, there is most assuredly blessing preserved for those who walk in his wisdom Verses six through eight of Chapter two. For the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth, come knowledge and understanding he stores upsound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield for those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Do you notice the same idea there path way he guards us. There is that blessing that is found in wisdom, and that blessing that is found in being under his covering. Now, in applying this, we have to understand that it is a general principle, not a guarantee. Taking it as a guarantee can have devastating consequences. We all know people whose faith is shaken by a failure to acknowledge this truth. In fact, some of us are people whose faith is shaken by the failure to acknowledge this truth. That this is a principle and not a guarantee. That this is a wisdom book, not in law book. And so if you look at it as law, it says, well, these people experience these things. Okay, it's a law. By the way, I've said this before and I'll say it again. It is wonderful that we are reading Job while going through this series. Because Job's friends get it dead wrong. Job's friends come to him and they are thinking about it in terms of law. You who are experiencing this, Therefore you must be in sin, because we know that when you walk in righteousness you get blessing, and when you walk in sin, you get stuff like we see in you. Job. Just confess, because there's no way that you could be a righteous person and experience what you're figuring. Job. Your children are dead. God doesn't do that to righteous people. Your livestock gone. God doesn't do that to people who walk in integrity. Just confess your body is filled with sores. Job, Please, don't you sit there and tell me that you are righteous and upright and walking in integrity and God is doing these things to you, because God doesn't operate like that. And were it not for the first part of the Book of Job, we would all fall into that trap. But in the first part of the Book of Job, what are we told? He's a righteous man, he's a righteous man, and y'all, all these terrible things are happening to him. And unfortunately, even though the Book of Job is right there in the Bible, many of us, many of us still have the theology of Job's friends. Many of us still operate according to that kind of thinking. You get a bad diagnosis, and your theology goes out the window. You want a husband or a wife but can't find one, and your theology goes out the window. You want a baby but can't have one, and your theology goes out the window. You want a job but you can't get one, and your theology goes out the window. What do I mean by your theology going out of the window. Here's some of the ways. First, you blame a lack of faith or your failure to work the system. I want a husband or a wife, I haven't found one. It must be that I don't have the right faith or I'm not saying the right words. Your theology is gone out of the window. God's not sovereign anymore. A second response that indicates that your theology has gone out of the window is you assume that you must not really be saying now. Granted you might not, but you're thinking about this the wrong way because you're thinking, well, no, no, If you're a real Christian, then these blessings just follow you. Read job. Amen, he's a righteous man. And I don't know what bad thing is happening to you, but I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say, job had it worse. Amen. Now, it may not feel like that when you're the one experiencing it, but just read what happens to that man, and we start the book off with him being declared as a righteous man. A third way that we lose our theology is when these things happen, we blame God for failing to keep his promise. We shake our fist at God and we say things like God, I served you, I've changed my life. I used to do this and that and the other, and I don't do it anymore. How could you? God? The plate passes, I put money in the plate. How could you? Godrrible theology, horrible theology. That is not how God operates. It's not quick pro quote. It's not God watching you, seeing if you did seventeen things right so he can get you seventeen. But that's not the way the world works. Proverbs is poetry, not law. The fourth way that we lose our theology here is that we abandon Christianity because it doesn't work, and we go and try to find something else that will work, because we want to be the masters of our own universe. A fifth thing we do is just go into a depression his life's just not working the way that we think it ought to work. And all of these things are wrong, and all of these things point to the idea that we are believing in moralism or legalism as a poet to believing in the Gospel. We believe that if we keep the law rightly, then our life will be roses and blessings, or that if we're just good moral people, our life will be roses and blessings, and that the way that God operates with us is on that quick pro quote. You do good things, he gives you good things. You don't do good things, he gives you bad things. And so now every time a negative thing comes your way, you begin to automatically assume that something is broken with God. Two Timothy, chapter three, verse twelve. All those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted if you believe that you're not reading your Bible, because you don't have to just read the Book of Job. Just think about the apostles themselves, these men who walked with Christ, who were taught by Christ, who served the Lord so faithfully that we have the scriptures because of them, These faithful men who were willing to die. That's how strong their faith was. They were willing to die, and God used them to bring us the scriptures, so that ought to mean that their life was filled with blessing. Right, how did they die? Beheaded? One was beaten to death with the branch of an olive tree. One was hung on a cross upside down. These are the apostles who serve Christ faithfully, so faithfully that we have the scriptures because of them, And yet they died painful martyr's deaths. Do you see how inconsistent that is? I am am am looking for a better job or more money, and I don't have it, and I say, oh woe is me? God failed me? And yet the apostles themselves die martyr's deaths. And we realize this, but we don't see the inconsistency in our own theology. These are principles and they are true, but they are not laws. Because sometimes God's blessing in our life includes him in trusting us with suffering. Well, I don't I don't see how that could be. Let me see, if you've ever had this experience. You are in the midst of dark and difficult days. You are going through a hardship, and you think your world is over, and then God puts somebody in your path who just happens to have gone through the same thing and come out the other side with their faith intact and in fact strengthen, and God allows you to hear their story, and your faith is bolstered because they endured. Am I talking to anybody this morning? Do you realize what that means? That means that their suffering was used for your blessing? Do you hear me? Says? Sometimes the suffering that we endure not only results in the blessing of strengthening our own faith, but it results in the blessing of being able to turn around and strengthen others as well. Don't fall into the trap of believing that the only way God blesses you is through your good days. Thirdly, we see that ultimately the end of wisdom is salvation. Look at the last line, this last couplet, if you will, But the wicked will be cut off from the land and the treacherous will be rooted out of it. Well, that doesn't sound like it's talking about salvation. The first word there is. But now the first word in this paragraph is anybody, So so I've taught you all of these things. So this is what's true of you, because all of the things that I taught you throughout this chapter. But there's another group of people, and here's what they can anticipate. In other words, two paths, two groups of people who are marked by two different lives. One is marked by wisdom, and these people inherit the land, and they live in the land, and it is good. And by the way, in an ultimate sense, this is not for them under the old covenant, that's the land of Israel, Amen, and Jerusalem for us a new covenant, it's the new Jerusalem Amen, which is yet to come. And we praise God for that. And so there's the blessing that this path leads to. But then there's that other path. And what does that other path look like? The wicked will be cut off from the land, the treacherous will be rooted out of it. That's what that path gets to in a new covenant. Since this is heaven or hell, why is this important? Solomon is pointing out to his son, that's what you've been saved from. You haven't just been saved from a life that is worse off than this one. You've been saved from a life that cuts you off from God himself. The warning about what happens to the wicked and to the treacherous is reminder of the fact that we've been saved from their fate that hadn't been for the Lord, we would have been cut off, we would have been rooted out. And it's not because we're better than other people. It's because wisdom found us, and the God of our wisdom found us. And we see this in the if then statements of the broader chapter at large. Sorry I didn't do this last week, I said, why didn't you take off your I don't know, But look at the if then statements of the chapter. Look at verse one, my son, because this is the answer to how we get there. Remember, legalism and moralism says, we get there, we get to be the ones who remain in the land and who prosper in the land by keeping the law or by being moral people. That's what legalism and moralism says. But what does chapter two say, my son? If you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you. By the way, he goes on to explain what he means by that seeking wisdom wisdom which is found where well, we just looked at verses six through eight. For the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. So the if statement has to do not with us making better choices in terms of wisdom, but finding the God, who is the source of wisdom himself. If you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, what are his words? His words are seek wisdom. His words are seek the God of wisdom, then we have the then statements verse five. Then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Verse nine. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity in every good path verse sixteen. So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman from the adulterous with her smooth words verse twenty. So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. How does this happen? Not by us just seeking the principles of Proverbs, but seeking the Prince, Not just by us seeking the way of wisdom, but seeking the wise son of Proverbs, who is Christ himself. Christ is to us and for us the wisdom of God. So what then do we take away not just from discernment from this series. Remember where we started, and I'll take you back there when you read Proverbs, and as we've read through these first two chapters of Proverbs and applied these first two chapters of Proverbs. Remember, my argument was that we see the Gospel, that we see this pointing us to the person in work of Christ, that we see this calling us to repentance. We see this calling us away from self reliance and believing that we can somehow be good enough, that we can somehow be righteous enough in and of ourselves, and instead it is pointing us to the fact that we can't. You are not the wise Son of Proverbs. You are the fool. Amen. What are those principles? One, wisdom is not law. When you read the Book of Proverbs, remember it's wisdom and it's not law. These are principles. They give us a picture of what this life of wisdom looks like. And ultimately, it is not about who you and I become as much as it is about who Christ is as the wise Son of Proverbs. Remember, Christ is a descendant of David, which means he's a descendant of Solomon, which means that in an ultimate sense, When Solomon is writing Proverbs, he is writing to his ultimate son, Jesus Christ, who is the wise son of Proverbs. Secondly, remember the difference between indicatives and imperatives. Remember the difference between something that we're being told to do or pursue pursuit in Proverbs and something that we're told as a result of being found in wisdom. But why is that so important? Because if it's an indicative and we turn it into an imperative, then we are working to create something in ourselves that is only created through wisdom. We are working to do and be something that only Christ is. And the only way that we can become what Christ is is through coming to Christ himself in repentance and faith, through turning away from self reliance and recognizing that we are sinners in need of a savior, and Christ is that savior. That Christ died for sin, once for all, the just, for the unjust, in order that he might bring us back to God. That there is a penalty that we owe to God because of our sin, that the wages of sin is death, not good deeds. But we can't pay that Christ. Christ paid that Christ, and we place our faith in Christ who paid that Christ in our stead and by faith we are found in Christ by grace. Have you been saying through faith and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not as a result of words, as Paul says in Ephesians two eight nine. Thirdly, remember that the furniture has not moved. Remember that phrase that we used that in the New Testament, we don't get new furniture. The furniture was there in the Old Testament. It's just in the New Testament. The lights are now on and we can see it, which means that these truths are the same truths, but we understand them through the light of Christ. This is why the last point is this. When we're reading Proverbs, remember that we're reading about Christ, the wise son of Price Roverbs. Don't look at Proverbs and assume that you are the central character. Christ is the central character. And here's the difference. When I read Proverbs with me as the central character, I see, okay, here are the things I need to do so that I can be no, no, no. When I read it as Christ as the central character, I see, here are the things that will be formed in me to the degree that I'm found in Christ. So that the Book of Proverbs causes us to flee to Christ, not to self reliance. So what does this mean in terms of those of us who are parents who're raising our children and discipling our children, or those of us who are teachers or mentors who are teaching children who may not get this. Am I saying that we don't teach them these principles? Absolutely not. We must teach them these principles. But we must teach them these principles not as an end in themselves, but as a means to an end. Remember the proverb the righteous are as bold as a lion, but the wicked flea when no one is chasing them. Remember that it's that an indicative or an imperative. The righteous are a bold as a lion, but the wicked flea when no one is chasing that. That's not an imperative. It's not telling you to do anything. But what do we do with that proverb? Right? We say, no, no, no, son, you need to be bold as a lion and don't flee when no, we just turned an indicative into an imperative. There is no imperative in that verse. The righteous are bold as lions If you like boldness. It's because you lack righteousness. Don't try harder to be bold. Find yourself in Christ, who is the wise son of Proverbs, who is our righteousness. So now instead of telling my child to try harder in works, righteousness and self reliance, I'm telling them to look harder to find Christ, who is the source of wisdom and righteousness. Do you see the difference. So we do teach these truths. We do teach these principles. We do teach all of these character traits, and we teach why they are so winsome and so important and so necessary. But we teach them in light of the fact that they become more true of us the closer we come to the wise son of Proverbs, who is Christ himself, in whom we see all of these things perfected. And so, if you've heard nothing else over the course of these ten messages, please hear this. Christ is the wise son of Proverbs. Flee to him. He is your answer, He is your hope. There is none other. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your goodness and mercy and kindness toward us. Thank you for your word. We thank you for your truth that transforms grant by your grace, that we might not only hear, but heed your word, that we might be found in the wise son of Proverbs, Your son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grant by your grace that we might see in him the fullness of these truths, and that they might be formed in us as we flee to Christ as our only hope, our only savior. Grant that we might recognize ourselves as sinners in need of a savior, and that in doing so we might recognize that we may we're not going to save ourselves. We cannot save ourselves. Salvation is found in Christ alone. Grant that we might flee to Him in repentance and faith, and be saved, kept in the land, not rooted out of it. For this we bring in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen.