Proverbs - Wisdom For Troubled Times

So here's Proverbs chapter 2, and we're going to read the whole chapter together. So if you've bought a bible with you, then do turn to it, And if not, or if you're at home, perhaps, then you can the reading's gonna pop up on the screen as well. 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, Indeed, if you call out for insight 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. For the Lord gives wisdom from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright.

He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 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. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discression 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 have left the straight path to walk in dark ways who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.

Wisdom will save you from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. Surely, 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. Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it.

But the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it. And so read God's word to us this morning. Well, this is the first time I've been back here, and we've got a much smaller stage and a much more wobbly lecton. So I hope it all doesn't go wrong. It's it's it's lovely having Joel and Sarah here.

Joel's a son of a very old friend. I think I spoke at your dedication and it it caused massive uproar because because I tried something different. And I I I I remember because there was a whole load of atheists there. And I think I stood up and said, you are nothing important. You're your just a a fortuitous occurrence of atoms, no 1 cares about you.

And there was uproar. And then I said, well, that's what you believe. It's not what I believe. And then just thinking about it. Sorry.

The story after story, I did I did a a Carol service at at your dad's church. And it was it was really full. And I really didn't know what to preach. I had 5 sermons in my bible. And I had and I was really unsure.

And I thought, I'll just have to stand up and see what happens. And I put my notes on a lectern like this, on a thing like this. And they went, and all of 5 notes went, and all muddled up. So it was a long talk. Anyway, great great to be back here.

Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry to pick on you there. Let me pray. Father help us now, these amazing words and they're very challenging and father we do need your spirit.

As we've been praying to actually be humble enough to hear. We've got hard hearts. We think we know better. And so please break in by your spirit, show us truth. Even if it hurts, show us truth that we may live authentic free lives in Christ in Jesus' name, our men.

I think 1 of the sad things but nevertheless important things about parenting. Is the time when you really have to teach your your children, your child, that life isn't a world like telly tubby lands. That's all very nice, but actually life isn't like that. It's Actually, not everyone is a fireman Sam that's there for your rescue there to help you. Not everyone is the poor control.

Which is going to be kind to you and come to your rescue. And part of growing up and part of becoming a teenager is to understand that there are bad People out there. Really bad people. There are scammers that are out to take from you, not to give. And they will lie and they will use fraudulent ways and they'll come across in, you know, sort of strike the the chords of your desires and and tell you therefore your best, but actually They're bad people.

They're bad people. Really bad people. And so we've got to sort of learn that, and people that will may come all kinds of rules and tell you tell you that you must follow them, but they won't follow them themselves. Hippocrats, inauthentic people. Liers.

And that's what's going on in this passage today. So you really do need this open. It's Proverbs chapter 2. So in our passage, we have a father and he's teaching and warning his son about these very things, scammers are gonna come. See verse 1, it says, my son, if you accept my words and store up my commandments within you.

So he's a father talking to a son. So what you've got here is a really intimate loving relationship. That's what we're supposed to understand. This is a loving father who knows his son very well, who's invested in his son who understands what's best for his son and has put energies and concerns and pains and money and effort into bringing up his sons and he's not a scammer. He's a father.

He loves his son. He's a father. He's if you like, the real fireman Sam. He's been the poor control. In in this son's life.

On many occasions, he's rescued his son. But now his son is going out into the world. Perhaps leaving home. He needs to stand on his own 2 feet. He's become a teenager now.

And so his father is saying before you go out, before you step out, I want to warn you. There are icebergs that are going to sink you. There are small print that's going to trap you to contracts you don't you don't want. There are men out there who are evil and wicked and they're out to get you. Look at verse 12.

See verse 12. Look, Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse. Wisdom is what you need, son. Wisdom is what you need because there are wicked men who are trying to get you to walk their perverse way. That's what they're saying.

And how do they do it? How do they get you to walk the perverse way? Well, it says, men whose words are perverse, twisted, fraudulent that word means. They're twisted words. They're gonna use words and concepts, and ideas, and promises.

They're going to attack your desires. They they know the root into your heart and the yeezy root into your mind, and they will twist ideas and promises, and and and pervert them. They are frauds. They are inauthentic men with high ideals and don't live up to them themselves. Behere beware the world isn't teletubby world.

The world is full of these men. Now just so we get an idea what these men are like, I'm gonna introduce you to 2 perverse men. Okay? So that you get an idea. Here's the first 1.

This man made great claims about himself. Let me just read out some claims he said about himself. I'm just gonna read them. Right? So you This is to hold to get an understanding what a wicked person is.

I think you'll agree, this is a wicked person. But, nevertheless, this is what he says about himself. So he comes as a scammer and he's saying he's this. He says no 1 ever had more talent of loving than me. That's what he said.

He said, I was born to be the best friend that ever existed. He said, show me a better man than me, heart more loving, more tender, more sensitive. He said, I rejoice in myself. He really he really did. He said, if there is a single enlightened government in Europe, it would erect statues to me.

This is what he said. I love myself too much to hate anyone, he said. Never have I have I known the hateful passions Never did jealousy, wickedness, vengeance ever enter my heart, anger occasionally, but I never craft I I was never crafty, and never bear a grudge. Now, if that man comes to you and that's true of him, then I think you should listen to him. Don't don't you?

I mean, if that's true of him that it's worth listening to, isn't it? But the trouble is People come like Fireman Sam and they say mighty words but they're not Fireman Sam. They're the devil. So it's worth putting his words to the test. How?

How do you put a man's words like that to the test? See how they live See how they behave. See the how they treated people. Now, I've got no time to take you through all the negatives. That have been written about this man, how he lied about to people, how he manipulated people, how he was a self centered so and so.

But I can show you how he treated children. That's a good test, isn't it? To see whether this man really is worth listening to. How did he treat treat children? Well, He had 5 children by 1 of his mistresses.

None of those children he named, We don't even know the sex of any of those children. His mistress wanted to keep them, but he was the man, and he took them all off he never saw them, I don't think. He took them away. We don't know the dates of their birth. We don't know the the sex of them.

They were given no names and they were taken and bundled up and left out institution outside institutions by his servants. And the biographers say they probably all died very early. That's a wicked man, isn't it? That's a perverse man, isn't it? I mean, that's easy it's easy to get that, isn't it?

Would anyone think that that's not a wicked man? That's a wicked man. That's that's my first man. Okay? Let me just give you another because we could be here all day, couldn't we?

But let me just give you another man. This man, he actually preferred to associate with middle class intellectuals. Like himself. And yet, he comes across as a man in history that was absolutely for the working class person. It's very interesting this man.

He made sure that any working class socialists or any committees that he set up had no power. They were just there as a sort of figurehead but not being able to say anything. He made sure of that. He didn't like working class people, this man. Yeah.

This man speaks so violently against Jewish people and black people I genuinely cannot quote him. Yeah. And you know what I'm like, those of you know me. You know that I, you know, I I I'm not squeamish. I can say things from the pulpit.

But these, the the things he said about black people and about Jewish people are so horrific, I would not read them out. He was a horrible man. 1 biographer says there are 4 aspects about his character. His taste for violence His appetite for power, his inability to handle money, and above all his tendency to exploit those around him. Would you want to listen to a man like that?

And to add on top of that, his personal hygiene was horrific. For 25 years, he hardly washed. He was covered in boils and stank. I can't tell you where all the boils were, but if you read a biography, you'll find out. He was extremely unpleasant.

And when those boils were bursting all over his body, he had fits of rage. Now, the father is saying, son, teletubbies land doesn't exist. Sun, there are men like those 2 I've just described in the world, and you need wisdom to save yourself from these twisted man. Now, if you're listening to me, I guess you're asking this question. Well hold it.

You don't need too much wisdom to want to avoid those 2 men. I mean, seriously. I mean, even a little child who's into teletubbies lands and Fireman Sam and the poor control, If they saw these 2 men coming up towards them and they didn't know anything about evil men, they would run to mommy and daddy because they're so horrible, wouldn't they? So I know what you're thinking. Do what I need wisdom to be saved from those 2 men.

It's daft almost me asking this question. Are you wise enough to avoid those 2 men? Are you come on. Are you wise enough to avoid to to avoid those 2 blokes? Are you?

You are come come on. We must be wise enough to avoid avoid those 2. Well, if I told you that those 2 perverse men and I could have chosen lots are actually heroes of some people. I mean, there are weirdos that follow Hitler, aren't there? I mean, you've got to be a weirdo to follow those 2, haven't you?

They're they're almost as bad. And yet, are we wise? These men Those 2 men I've just described along with others with their perverse lives have had their theories and their philosophies and their beliefs repackaged and put together by others. And their theories and beliefs are everywhere. We've sucked them in.

Their theories about family and patriarchs and sexuality and freedom. Why do you think people are going on about those things, self identity, and finding yourself? All of those philosophies all of that ideology, all of that thinking that is around today comes from these men. They're not only the founders of those things, they're actually the heartbeat. Our modern education is based on these men.

Isn't that extraordinary? The first man is called Russo. Most people haven't heard of him because these men are clever enough to be faceless influencers. There are so many faceless influences around. You know it about the mobile phone.

You know that there are faceless influences working now on doing algorithms to get your attention so they can sell your information to other people and make money out of you. You know all of that. But these are faceless influences. Most people haven't heard of Russo. Russo said, because people were having a go at him for the way he treated his 5 children.

He doesn't even know the sex of the date of and they're all probably dead died early. He defended himself. And his defense was to say, well, I don't believe in family anyway. They shouldn't have a father figure over them anyway. The state should bring them up.

Modern education has based itself on that. On his theory because he couldn't be bothered. To look after his children. So perhaps we're not as wise as we thought we were. Perhaps we've fallen for scammers, more than we realized because they're in for his influences everywhere.

The second man, do you know who he is? Karl Marx, He himself was from a Jewish background, but he hated it. He hated black people when his daughter went out with a black man He was furious and banned that to happen and said that was not gonna happen. He was a man that hated working class people. He sat in the British library, stinking.

You'd probably still smell the smell there if you go into it. Writing his books, supported by capitalists so he could afford to sit and write his books on how the working class man needs to take over. He made up the words like, and yet he was 1 himself. Russo Marx, Freud, skinner, Nietzsche, These are names that you may distantly have heard of, but they're faceless influences that are powerfully at work. Their words, their twisted, perverse words are powerfully at work.

If you're looking to find yourself within yourself or identify yourself by your sexuality, there that's a direct line to these men. And everybody's talking about that today. Therefore, we're not so good at spotting wicked men, are we? Therefore, the advice of this man is that we need wisdom. We need wisdom.

We'll never survive in this world with wicked men, without wisdom. So we have a father who's speaking to his son. And it's like God, the father speaking to us. Here's my first point then. We need wisdom, and therefore seek wisdom.

First thing is seek wisdom. Look at verses 1 and 2 1 to 4. Seak wisdom. My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ears to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding. Indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, And if you look for it as for silver, silver was more costly than gold in this particular at this particular time.

So 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. Seak wisdom. He's saying to his son, you're leaving me and my influence seek wisdom. You're not automatically find wisdom. You need to seek it.

And there are conditions in seeking in order to receive it. This son has responsibility not just to know the word of the father. And not even just to obey the word of a fa the father. He has to seek it internally. It has to be internalized.

It has to become real. They're not to be just words of God, words of the father in a bible that you may memorize. They've got to actually live within you. That's what he's saying. Look at the words he uses.

Look, turn your ear verse 2. Turn your ear, seek wisdom. Turn your ear, Verse 2, apply your heart. Verse 3, call out. Verse 3, cry aloud.

Verse 4, look for it. Verse for search for it. I don't know whether you've ever I quite like those programs, but I don't know whether you've ever seen Aussie gold diggers. Have you ever seen that? Or Do you ever watch them?

No? Am I the only 1? They're brilliant. There there's these aussies and they're in the middle of Australia and there's nothing around. It's just boiling hot.

It's like 47 degrees. There's flies all over them, and they they've got these things where they're trying to find gold. And they give their whole life and all their money and all their effort and leave family to find gold. And they literally find that I mean, the way the program is set up. I mean, but if if they find like a little tiny nugget, and it's wee wee wee wee.

That nugget. Yes. That's worth like a hundred and 50 pounds Yeah. But they've spent like 3000000 to find that. It's so funny.

Search like an aussie gold hunter. Search for wisdom, young people. Don't don't treat this lightly. Your your future depends on it. Depends on 3 ifs.

Did you notice the ifs? Look verse 1, my son, if you accept my words. Verse 3, if you call out for insight. Verse 4, if you look for it like silver, like an aussie gold hunter. Jesus talks about asking and knocking on a door and seeking.

There's all your energy going into finding wisdom. A serious quest for wisdom. And let me say this. A serious quest for wisdom will know you'll only do it if you know you need it. To step out in a world where there's Karl Mark influencing people and your educators.

To step out in a world where where many are being being influenced by Russo and skinner. I mean, honestly, I could tell you some stories about them, and nature, and freud, So perverted men who lived dreadful lives. Nietzsche, of course, killed himself. These are the philosophies, to walk out into the world and think you can cope with it, and you won't be scammed by it, is food seek wisdom. Seek wisdom.

But there are reasons why we don't. Because we are wise in our own eyes, which is a direct teaching of Russo. We're wise in our own wise, mirror mirror on the wall, who's the wisest of them all? You are my fair friend. Says the mirror.

If you look into the mirror to find wisdom, you'll find someone who knows better than anyone else in the world. Yourself. Someone who will always agree with you, someone who is very quick to be offended if if others don't agree with you. The mirror is your friend. And agrees with you and encourages you to go force yourself.

The bible as a mirror shows you your heart and says that there's foolishness right at the center of your heart. Don't trust yourself. The Bible is directly opposite to the main teaching of today. Don't don't trust yourself. If you need wisdom, you've got to cultivate your heart, you need to remove the stones of self belief.

You need to pull all the weeds up, the bugs and the things that are in your heart that will destroy the Word of God. Our hearts naturally are opposed to God. We want to be God. That's why we look in the mirror. So the wise in their own eyes will have a barrier to wisdom.

And of course, God rejects the proud, But he gives to the humble. And then there's the wisdom of the world around us. It's bellowing at us. It it it I always find it extraordinary that people say when they come to a church like this, oh, look at you, you preacher us, you're always preaching at us. We get like an hour a week.

The rest of the time, the world is blasting us with its wisdom about what is life about, and it uses powerful media, you know, to they're all at its resources to to influence us. But he says my son If you accept my word and store up my commands within you, if you accept them If you go for that place for wisdom, if you realize that God must be wiser than everyone else in the whole world, If you'll listen to God and not the world and not to yourself, you'll get wisdom. Have a look at these verses. In 1 Corinthians. This is a letter in the New Testament part of the Bible.

Listen to this. It's very interesting. It well, I've got to be careful not to preach on this. So don't let me go on too long for this 1. For the message of the cross, that's the message of the Christian message the gospel.

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are perishing. See, people are so wise in their own eyes. When they hear the message of God, they think the message of God is foolish. That's how foolish they are. Does that make sense?

Well, he says it. 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 to live a wise life. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the of the intelligent, I will frustrate. Where is the wise person?

Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish, the wisdom of the world. For since the wisdom of God, for since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom, did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached. To save those who believed.

We're so wise in our own eyes that when we hear the wisdom of God, we think he's stupid. So we need to pull the weeds and accept that God's word is wise. Surely God who created the world and created you and me knows better how we tick than you know how we tick. Or any Russo or Marx knows how we tick. And when you accept that, that there's a God who speaks and communicates his word to us.

You're on the route for getting wisdom. Store up, he says. See verse 1. Make it accessible. Spend your life getting it.

You know, when there's a panic buy, you know? You remember the beginning of of lockdown, you know, with toilet rolls and people going out and there were women and men and walking down with great big wheelbarrows and there was like, I mean, how much toilet do you do, man? You know, how how how much how long do you spend? Anyway, but, you know, and then the but whenever there's a panic bite, well, listen, store up, have a larder. Put the word of God in your life, in the compartments.

And that's that takes a lifetime. You won't just get that overnight. We grow in this. There's another thing I'll put in my life. That's what a disciple of Jesus is.

It's constantly removing some of the weeds, and putting in the word of God. And then he says, turn your ear to wisdom verse 2. I mean, you know what that is. There's distractions, and there's noise, and and you turn your ear. Yeah?

You've all done it today. You know, I mean, there's only got to be 1 baby cry or a noise at the back and I'm speaking away, and you'll turn your ear because that's much more interesting than that old bloke at the front. We turn our ear. We turn our ear. When when you're when you're when you're in love, when you've got the girl that you want, And you hear her.

Tom could be waffling on about wonderful things, and then you hear the heart of, you know, you hear your your love and and your ear turns. Oh, sorry, mate. I've just got to go. My wife's He could he could in middle of the most profound statement, which I don't doubt it. But but he could be.

It's just high hyperbole, of course. And in the midst please, I'm telling you're profound thing. Oh, sorry, Anne's on the phone. We all do that. We pick up our phones.

You should turn them off when you're in meetings, but all of us on our team, if our wives ring us up, we know that's time to answer. Yeah? We turn our ear. Turn your ear to God's word. So we accept the word of God with readiness, We store up with eagerness, we listen with attentiveness, and we apply our hearts with thoughtfulness.

Look at verse, verse 2 again, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your hearts to understanding. See, 1 of the major ways we miss wisdom is because we don't give it time to work down from our ears into our heart. Brew it up We're living in an age of instant pot noodle thinking, sound bites, memes, YouTube advice, TikTok, They're short and they take up our attention, but the word of God needs to to brew in us. It needs to be applied in us. We need thoughtful thinking.

It needs to be a seed that grows, but so off and we hear the word of God and the bird of the air comes and eats the seed or the weeds grow round and destroy the seed. Well, the sun rises and there's no root because it's not going to the heart and and it shrivels. We've apply our hearts, pursuing wisdom, seek wisdom. You need it. If you don't have wisdom, you've got these men, and we'll see in a minute women outside that will attack us, they're perverse, they're twisted.

They have destroy us, some seek wisdom. Whatever you're doing in life, seek wisdom, store it up. Apply your hearts to it. That's the first point. Second point.

Seek wisdom and it will be given to you. It's not so much that you'll find it, it will be given to you. That's the strange thing about this passage. Seek it and it will be given to you. And you might be surprised what it is because if you seek wisdom, We're told you'll understand the fear of the Lord.

See verse 5, notice there were ifs. If you do this, if you do this, if you do this, if you seek wisdom, then you will understand the fear of the lord and the find the knowledge of God. So listening to the Word of the Father, the Word of God leads to knowing God personally, actually, The fear of the Lord is not just sort of trembling like, you know, you're scared of the dark or spiders or height or something like that. It's honoring his word. Can I can I just show you these words from deuteronomy?

In the in the Bible, fifth book of the Bible. These are lovely words. Let me just read them slowly. So I think it's very helpful on this point of fearing the lord. And now Israel, that's the people of God, what does the Lord your God ask you, but to fear the Lord your God?

To walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, your inner being. Yeah? That's what fear of the lord is. Notice there's love there, there's obedience there, there's there's a warmth there. This isn't just angry, despot God shouting at us.

And to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your good. Here's a father speaking for your good. For your good. This is for your good. You'll find yourself.

You'll find your authentic the name of this sermon is finding the authentic you. Look at verse 14. To the Lord, your God belongs the heavens. And even the highest heavens, the earth, and everything in it. Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations as it is today, circumcise your heart therefore Do not be stiff neck any longer.

For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow. And loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners. For you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.

Fear the Lord, your God and serve him. That's what it is to feel. It's beautiful actually. You've got a a lord here that is the God of God's, the lord of lords, and he owns everything. He's the great sovereign, he knows everything, and yet he loves you.

This is a father God. And notice there's no partiality. He's not a racist. He's not cooked like Karl Marx. He's not a racist.

He's steps no bribes. There's pure justice with him. You can't twiddle around with him. You can't say, I'll give you some money. Will you, you know, he's not in it for his benefits.

He's not a faceless God that's hiding away to suck you dry, to work out some algorithms, to get you to look at more things. He defends the cause of the fatherless. Russo, you'd be wise to have listened to him. Of course now Russo, you stand before him as your judge. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow and he loves foreigners.

That's a 1 that's that's the 1 to fear and follow, isn't it? That that would change you, wouldn't it? And our culture? I told you about the 2 men, faceless men, if you like, faceless influences Russo and Marc. Let me tell you about another 1.

This man, he died a horrible death really horrible. The crowds were playing for his blood. And why why did the crowds go against him? And why did they hate him because he stood against the establishment and he spoke out truth and love because he welcomed the poor He welcomed the insignificance, the downtrodden, the oppressed. He really was an authentic man.

He so believed in his teaching that he died for it. He was kind to women and children and outcasts and foreigners, and of course that's Jesus. That's the wise root, isn't it? If there's anyone in the world to base your philosophy and lifestyle on, it's him, isn't it? His approach was much more you find yourself by giving yourself away.

To God. You'll find your authenticity when you know that God is God and you serve him and love him. Seeking wisdom you see is seeking the Lord Jesus Christ. Seeking wisdom is seeking the Lord Jesus Christ, and wisdom will make you what you should be in a world of the false. Look at verse 6.

Let me just read these out. It's hard to have time to comment on them. But verse 6, for the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth comes knowledge and understanding, he holds success in store for the upright. You'll have a success for genuine life.

He is a shield to those whose ways are blameless. For he guards the course of the just and protect the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair, every good path. You will understand He'll protect you in righteousness. Now, the world may hate you and kill you, of course, but you'll be protected as an integral dignified authentic person.

Then you will understand what is right and just and fair, and every good path. For the wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discression will protect you, an understanding will guide you. You'll become a man of God, you'll become a woman of God, and this word of God will transform you wanna be transformed? This is transformer man comes into your life.

We used to have a little I don't know why we don't sing it. Do you remember that song? Transformer man, transformer man, changing you and me to what we ought to be. Jesus has the power to change us instantly, so let him transform a man. You want to be a trans man.

Then you want to be a trans woman. Then you come to this Jesus. I'm actually being serious. I didn't mean to make a a a silly joke. But listen, his his wisdom will transform you into an authentic person, knowing righteousness, knowing truth and justice and caring for the outcast.

This is real genuine. Please, look, don't take offense at 1 little thing. But listen, this is so important. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. You'll enjoy life.

All All the surveys say that evangelical bible believing Christians have a better life, even a better sex life. That the survey I mean, who does these surveys? I don't know. You know, it'd be quite an odd 1 to do as you come in. What's your sex life like?

You know? How many times a week, mate? What? But, you know, we we enjoy life because there's an authentic joy in our very soul because we were made for right made to praise God, made to get wisdom from God, seek wisdom and it'll be given to you. Here's my third point and I've got to hurry.

I forgot that we didn't start at 11 and I finish at 12. So there we go. Here's the third point. I'll I'll try and hurry. Big When you seek wisdom, it will be given to you and then you'll be saved.

You'll be saved from perverse men. We saw that in verses 12 to 15. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in perverseness of evil. Whose paths are crooked and those who are devious. You're going into a world that isn't teletubbies world, young people, and you need to know Christ to survive that.

But also it will protect you from the morally loose people from perverse women it's put here. Look at verse 16. Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirit of the dead. None who go to her return or attain paths of life.

You see Russo and and Freud and all those people attacked the family. They attack the family. And part of their attacking the family was to say that you can be sexual. If you want to be an authentic person, You find yourself sexually. And no wonder there's 90 percent of girls in our schools.

That have known known something of sexual abuse. Our country is so bizarre, isn't it? It laughs at Christian It wasn't long ago. It was only a few years ago. When Christians at Cambridge and Oxford University were doing a week called pure and they were challenging people to be pure and and keep themselves for marriage and they were tried to be locked down.

The the Christian Union said, we don't want to hear this. No 1 can sort of tie in, can they? The loose morality, then they suddenly go on about 90 percent of girls at school. Having some kind of sexual abuse. Isn't this terrible?

What's gone wrong? Can't you put 2 and 2 together? It's extraordinary the whole Matt Hancock thing, wasn't it? Absolutely extraordinary. Here was a man.

Hedy on our TV every day and he fell for this old trick. It's pathetic, isn't it? Audultery ruins life. It ruins grandparents don't see their grandkids. It ruins life.

It devastates. No wonder we've got a whole load of young people with mental illnesses we never heard out about before because we followed Russo. We followed the way of self. We've been unwise. I mean even the Bishop of Manchester who's supposed to be a spiritual leader and needs to be sacked instantly.

Talking about Matt Hancock said, well, I don't worry about the middle aged fleeing that he had. I worry about See, that's genuine. Because he finds himself as he commits adultery in his perverse way. You see that? You find yourself sexually.

What was the real thing was that he broke the bubble. And that's what the bishop of Manchester said. I don't mind his middle age fling. Try telling that to his wife and kids. It's a man's world, isn't it?

As they're put down and they have to regroup and wonder what to do, adultery ruins the fabric of society. Sexual freedom is never sexual freedom. The Holly Hollywood have nothing to tell us on the whole area of sexuality at all, except that's not how to do it. There's ruination in our world at these liars, but look, the authentic life. See verses 21 20 and 21, thus you will walk in the way of the good and keep the paths of the righteous.

For the upright, we'll live in the land and the blameless will remain in it. There is ways of good, there's ways of righteousness. It's a wonderful thing. When Christ comes into your heart, you know which way to walk, your kind. If you were at the prayer meeting, you heard what I was talking about revival in in Wales.

There we are, brother. Good old wales. And there was a there was revival in wales because most welsh people are down the pit. And they were down in the coal mines at this time of the revival. And when those men, those hardened men turned to Christ, they went down the pit and it just nearly ruined the coal mines.

Because the donkeys and the horses that worked down the pit were used to the men swearing and cursing at the donkeys. But they'd been converted to righteousness. So when they went down the pit, they said, come along now, donkey, instead of effing and blinding at the thing. And the donkey didn't know what to do. What's going on?

What? You have to swear. In the Harland and Wolfe in Northern Ireland, had the privilege to preach in their canteen once, versus another story. In the Harland and Wolfe, there was such a revival in the Harland and Wolfe back in the 19 forties, fifties. By a man called WP Nicholson, who is hilariously funny.

So many people were converted from Holland and Wolfe. They were bringing back stuff they'd nicked. They had to open up a warehouse to put the stuff the blokes were bringing back. And in the end, they gave a command saying, if you've nicked anything, please don't bring it back. We haven't got enough space.

Christ in the heart changes people for good, for love, for righteousness, the power of God in the wisdom of a cross shaped life. Not living for me, but living for God makes you an authentic self. But those who don't follow will be under the judgment of God and cut off from the land as verse 22 tells us. So come to Christ. Step out into this world with Christ in your heart.

If you've never listen, Look, I'm not saying you gotta know all the bible and stuff like that. You may do that. I'm asking you whether Christ has come into your heart. Have you been born again as we were hearing last week? Has Christ come in, he's your lord, He's your savior.

He's what you live for. He's what you dream of. It's how you step out into the world. Have Christ in your heart and store up Christ in your heart. Come to Christ.

If you haven't done that, do that now. Ask him. Knock on the door, seek. Let's just take a couple of minutes to to pray, and perhaps you'd like to just pray quietly about anything that you've You've been struck by, challenged by as we've looked at this incredible chapter together, and then I'll lead us in some prayers of response. Fatherly, thank you for reminding us this morning that we don't live in a in a cartoon fairy tale fantasy world where everything is nice and kind and the sun shines every day, and everybody is out to do you good and to rescue you.

But we live in this this world that is fallen, a world that is cursed and scarred by sin. And as it's described here, we live in a wicked world where people do not always want to do good. There is deception. Instead of life, there is murder. And violence.

Instead of faithfulness, there is adultery and broken promises. Instead of the worship of God, there is the suppression of God and we we need wisdom in order to navigate this life. We need wisdom in order to save us from these perverse and crooked ways And we we need wisdom even to see that they are crooked in deceitful ways. Very often, we think that we've got the knowledge to discern what is good and what is wicked. And yet, so often we don't.

We we don't see things as they really are. We're easily tricked and deceived. And we pray that the more we study your word and seek wisdom, the more we would be able to weigh and discern the messages of the world and that choose life. And righteousness and wisdom. And so help us, lord.

We we thank you that you know all of us here, and you know the different battles that we have. And the situations that we're in, whether that be pressures at school or work or physical sufferings or work troubles, or you you know our problems intimately. But yet, altogether, we need this 1 thing. We need wisdom. To survive and to walk your way.

And lord, we thank you for the promises here in Proverbs 2, that those who seek wisdom, those who search for understanding, that it will be given, that you are a God who loves to give generously without finding fault, you give wisdom. You provide knowledge and understanding to those who seek it. And we thank you that ultimately that wisdom is the fear of the lord. To know you as our creator God, to serve you, to love you with all of our hearts and souls and mind and with our strength. And we pray that you would help us to walk in the fear of the Lord.

We thank you for our great Lord Jesus Christ, who is the wisdom of God. We thank you that your words says that in him, are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and understanding. That if ever we are lacking in knowledge, or if ever we are unsure what to do, we must just simply look to Jesus and in him and in his words and in his cross and in his resurrection. We will see truth. Clarity will be ours.

We will know where to walk and what to do, and help us to keep our eyes on Jesus to fear you by trusting in your son as our Savior. And, lord, we thank you as well that wisdom when we walk with Jesus, it will not only save us from wickedness, but it will provide this life of contentment and satisfaction that we will live fruitful lives, that it is the path to joy and more and more understanding and more and more fruit bearing for your glory. And so please lord help us. As I say, you know you know us. You know us so intimately.

You know our battles. Help us to keep looking to you help us please, not to be wise in our own eyes, not to lean upon our own understanding, not to think that we've got it inside ourselves. To know what to do and how to do it, but that we would just simply acknowledge that we need you for everything. We need to come before you on our knees and say, oh God, lead me in the right ways. I want to serve and love and please my Savior, but I don't know how I know I'm vulnerable.

I'm likely to fall. I'm prone to giving up. I'm so easily deceived. Lord give me wisdom by your spirit to walk faithfully. And to walk in the paths of righteousness, lord, we need this help.

So please, we've just been hearing that just for 1 hour or a week, the window is opened, and the light of truth is shed on us. But for most of the time, we are just drinking in the messages of the world. And some of them will be good and helpful. And in your common grace, not all is bad. There is much that is good, and yet so much is Antichrist.

And to you, and to your word, and we we need help to survive. So help us, Lord. And thank you for speaking so clearly to us in Jesus' name. Oh, men.