Proverbs - Wisdom For Troubled Times

And if you would like to take your bibles and turn to Proverbs chapter 8. The reading is gonna be on the screen as well if you wanna follow along the screen. Proverbs 8. Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice, at the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand.

Beside the gate leading into the city, At the entrance, she cries aloud to you o people. I call out. I raise my voice to all humanity. You who are simple gain prudence, you who are foolish, set your hearts on it. Listen for I have trustworthy things to say.

I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true for my lips detest wickedness. All the words of my mouth are just None of them is crooked or perverse. To the discerning, all of them are right. They are upright to those who have found knowledge.

Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire. Can compare with her. Eye wisdom dwell together with prudence. I possess knowledge and discretion, to fear the lord is to hate evil.

I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine. I have insight. I have power. By me King's reign.

And rulers in issue decrees that are just by me, prince's govern, and nobles all who rule on Earth. I love those who love me. And those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than fine gold, what I yield surpasses Choice Silver.

I walk in the way of righteousness. Along the paths of justice, bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full. The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works. Before his deeds of old, I was formed long ages ago. At the very beginning when the world came to be, when there was no watery depths I was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water.

Before the mountains were settled in place. Before the hills, I was given birth. Before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth. I was there when he set the heavens in place. When he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep when he gave the sea its boundary so that the waters would not overstep his his command.

And when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world. And delighting in the human race. Now then my children, listen to me, blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instructions, and be wise.

Do not disregard it. Bless are those who listen to me watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For those who find me find life and receive favor from the lord. For those who fail to find me find harm themselves. All who hate me love death.

Well, welcome. My name Peter Woodcock. Welcome to you, if you're visiting here and you're new. And if you're online perhaps for the first time and you're watching in then welcome to you. Keep that passage open.

Proverbs chapter 8, here's my question right at the beginning. Is there such a thing as a soul mate? Now you might be saying, yeah, well, I'm sitting next to her. She's not mine yet, but I'm the 1. Is there such a thing as a soul mate?

And how how would you actually find a soul mate? Now, that's the good thing about internet dating sites. Because they they claim to help you to sift through a whole load of people very, very quickly comparing your profile with their profile and then you get a sort of better potential for a soul mate quite quickly. There's 1 site I was looking at and it said it would find a partner and knew I was looking. It said I would find a partner within 3 minutes which is, you know, that saves a lot of effort, doesn't it?

I mean, when you think about it, all that time, wooing anne. I could have done it in 3 minutes. Anyway, On that site, I actually answered a few questions. Again, I knew I was doing this. It asked me 3 basic questions before it really took me into the site, which was my age and I didn't lie about, my sex and the sex of the person I wanna a relationship with.

And it instantly came up with a hundred and 49 people, which is quite a lot of people to swipe But it's not as much as all the women in the world that would want a relationship with me. So, you know, it does it does cut it down quite quickly. Now, I guess if I continued on that site and that there'd be much more sort of important questions. Questions about my background, you know, what work I do, my my likes, my dislikes, my life experiences, the places I've traveled, the things that I've done, where I've been and all of that sort of stuff. But how do you know and this is the question, I guess.

How do you know that others who answer those questions or answering those questions truthfully? How do you actually know that the profiles that you're reading are actually accurate profiles? And that's part of the joke, isn't it, about these things? You're looking for a tall, dark, and handsome 1. And then you have the meet up and he's small, pale and ugly, you know.

I mean, that that's a problem, isn't it? People don't live up to their profile. And it's very very easy when you're writing a profile to play down your bad habits and play up your you exaggerate your good points. So it's very very easy to do that, isn't it? And you can easily manipulate pictures.

So I I know a I'm in trouble, I mustn't say. But I know a no, I don't know anyone, actually. There's a girl. I think I might know who is extremely different to her profile picture. I mean, miles apart, you would never recognize her from the manipulated photo that she puts up.

It's no 1 here, by the way, Yeah. 1 of the profiles I just gotta tell you this. It's a by the way, really. But 1 of the profiles when I was looking at these sites that caught my eye was entitled, I will not murder you. And it says, don't worry girls, I won't murder you.

And then 4 times in his profile, he said, I won't murder you. Now would you go for that 1? I mean, why is he talking about murder all the time? And okay, he's promised not to murder me, but he's not promise to do a lot of other other other things, and so is he going to do them? So strange, isn't it?

Now we're looking at this old testament book of Proverbs. It's amazing. And I hope you found it amazing. The writer of this book and this passage that we're looking at, the writer wants us to see a profile of an extremely beautiful person. He wants us to see the profile of this beautiful person.

Now, proverbs is written for everyone here, all of us. For all generations, but the literary device that is used of proverbs to speak to us is a father guiding his son. That's the literary device of Proverbs. It's a father guiding his son into the choice of a soul mate. And so the profile here is of a woman.

And the idea is to stir up in his son desires for this very beautiful woman. That's the whole idea that he would desire her and not only desire her, would would would go into action. He would date her. He wouldn't swipe left. He would date her and he'd be completely besotted with her and he'd marry her.

He he would have her in his life for the rest of his life. That that's a father son thing. And as I said, problems is for all ages, all sexes, but that's the literary device. And the idea is that you are stirred up not just in your mind but in your heart, your desires, you have a strong desire for this person in Proverbs chapter 8. That's what it's doing.

You want a soul mate Then here here's the 1. That's what it's saying. So here's my first point, the beautiful woman, the beautiful woman wisdom Her name is Wisdom. It's a lovely name, isn't it? I I was at a Nigerian naming ceremony, yes, today, which I've never been to 1 before in my life.

I didn't know what was going on, nor did anybody else as far as I could see. And they were naming this little little kid. It's Steven Telaywa's kid. Do you all know what the name is? Malachi.

Sebastian. Unbugable or unwaglam. I can't say the next word. I was so sorry, but something like that. And then another sort of 18 names to add on to it.

So here's the name, Wisdom. This is the beautiful woman. Don't swipe this profile. Stop here. She's gorgeous.

She's absolutely stunning. She's a head turner. You can't help looking at her face, her looks, her brains, her conversation is stimulating, She is faithful and she's true. And so don't swipe left, stay and investigate. Listen to what wisdom says.

You've got a little recording of her in verse 10. Choose my instructions instead of silver. Knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is more precious than Ruby is, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Nothing nothing, not 1 thing you can desire, can compare with her.

She's gorgeous. She's above all comparisons. Stop here. Don't swipe her. Look at the influence she brings verse 17.

I love those who love me And those who seek me find me with me are riches and honor enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than fine gold. What I yield surpasses choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness. I long along the paths of justice, bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasure full.

She's gorgeous. She influences you. She brings riches into your life. She brings prosperity into your life. She's absolutely desirable.

She's so different from the woman in chapter 7 that we didn't read. The adulterous woman that will bring death. You can swipe across her quickly. But stop here and read more of the wisdom's profile. Beautiful woman.

Let's have a look at a closer look at profile then. What's your family background? Do you wanna know that if you're gonna date someone? What's your family background and your history? Your family background and history?

Look at verse 22 to 26. The Lord brought me forth as the first of his work. Before his deeds of old. I was formed long ages ago at the very beginning. When the world came to be when there was no watery depth I was given birth.

When there was no springs of overflow overflowing with water before the mountains were settled in place before the hills I was given birth before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth. Her family background is impeccable. It's a long history. To know her is to be brought into the center of the universe is to know her is to be brought into the everlasting internal most important family in the entire universe. To marry her is to be brought into that family.

She is from and in and of none other than the Lord of glory, the ruler of all. She's not just wise, but she is the source of wisdom. That's the amazing thing. There's never been a time that she wasn't wise. She didn't get wise by being foolish She didn't have to learn foolishness and then say, well, I've learned that lesson and now I've got wise.

She's always been wise. We talk about people, oh, she's as old as the hills. Well, she's older than the hills. She's before the hills. This wisdom is not an accumulated wisdom of people over the centuries that she's picked up from otherwise.

It's not like 1 of those fought for the day calendar things. Where it's got a quote from Buddha and a quote from confucius and a quote from Jesus and a quote from some other weird person that you know, it's not just sort of an accumulation of ideas that she's gathered. She hasn't accumulated wisdom. She is wisdom. From before anybody was made, before the dust was turned into a human, She's wise.

Before a speck of matter ever came into existence, she's there. Before all you see and hear and know and feel and experience and learn and touch Before all the universe, all the things in the universe that you see or you will see, that you experience or you will experience or you don't see and never experience before all of the things in the universe, wisdom's there. The Lord didn't begin anything without her. Look at verse 26, before any of the dust of the earth before any human being existed, wisdom has been wise She is so much more stable and so much more established than any frail human made from dust. She can't be blown around by moods.

She can't be taken over by circumstances or tempted by falsehood and untruths and lies, she is so stable in character. So stable, she can take dust that she has made and turn it into a human. Everything came from her life and the universe comes from her. You see her family background? Pretty good, isn't it?

Pretty gorgeous? Okay. Well, who are her sisters then? She's got sisters. Look at verse 12.

Eye wisdom dwell together with prudence. There we are. Sister prudence, dear prudence. I possess knowledge and discretion. There's our sisters.

If she's lady wisdom, you've got princess prudence, then you've got madam knowledge and dame discretion. Yeah? Prudence. What does it mean? It means to be cool headed.

It means to have the ability to reason in the context of the fear of God and to reason and navigate all of life's problems. Prudence doesn't rush in. Prudence has a cool head. That's her sister. Sister knowledge.

It informs wisdom All that wisdom needs to know to make there's no guesswork. There's no guesswork. Sister discretion. Knows when to act and when not to act. What is right and what is wrong and what is right and what is wrong for every situation, discretion.

Isn't she gorgeous? That's her family background. That's her sisters. That's her his Okay. Well, let's ask some more questions about this profile.

What about life experience then? What was what's wisdom got here? Well, look at verse 27 to 29. I was there when he, that's God, set the heavens in place. When he marked out the horizons on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep.

When he gave the sea its boundaries, so that the waters would not overlap or overstep his command. When he marked out the foundations of the earth, I was there. I was there? I was there? We love to talk about that, don't we?

We we love that expression I was there, don't we? I mean, Tom's always telling us that his dad was there at the 19 66 World Cup final when England won. Yeah? His dad could say, oh, I was there. I was there behind the goal.

See, I know all the details because I hear it all the time. And even Tom basks in the glory, my dad was there. My dad. You know, if if you were there last night at at at at the US Open, you would say, I was there. I was there.

Yeah? I was there. I'm not really interested in hearing about people that weren't there. I was there. It's interesting, isn't it?

You get a real life perspective when someone's there. Why why in the 9 11 discussions? Are they always going to people that were there? They didn't ask me because I wasn't there. They asked people who were there.

I mean, I I heard the testimony of 1 bloke this week. Who was there when the airplane went into the pentagon, he was there. It went over his head and went into the pentagon, and then they interviewed a bloke who wasn't there, who was a aspiracy theorist and said, no, it didn't happen. It was this was his idea, a paper play. Why would I listen to the bloke who wasn't there?

Making up your height. And and the evidence is that it isn't a paper plane that went into the pentagon, is it? You listen to the person who's there. I was there, says wisdom. What's your life experience?

Before I date you, what's your life experience? I was there when the world was made. I know and why and how it was made. I understand the big issues of it. I understand the boundaries the waters, the clouds, the mountains, the earth.

I understand the order and the structure of the universe. I know how it fits together. I know how it works properly. All the things that scientists discover. They only discover after me because I was there.

All the things that scientists are grasping at and saying, I wonder, I what, I don't understand. I do. I was there. All the things that philosophers question and ask questions about ask me or is there? All of the things that psychologists are grappling with with the human brain.

Ask ask her. I was there. If you wanna live in this world, if you wanna thrive in this world, if you wanna understand what is right and wrong in this world, If you want to know what's important and what is unimportant in this world, if you want to know who you are and how you tick, ask the 1 that was there. And because she's there, she can speak wisdom to us now. Look at verse 4.

4 to 6. To you owe people I call out, I raise my voice to all humanity, You who are simple gain prudence. You who are foolish, set your hearts on it. Listen. For I have trustworthy things to say, I open my lips to speak what is right.

She calls out. She has precious things to say because she was there She has precious things to say to you right now, right here, right now. She calls out. And if you're simple and foolish, she speak to you as well. She doesn't just choose the, you know, the clever people to speak to.

She talks to the eggheads and the peaheads. She welcomes all people. She's a great she'd be great on the door on the welcome team. She welcomes everyone. Listen to me.

God's wisdom isn't hidden, You don't have to go on a long search to try to find it. She's here speaking. It's for all. So her family background, as you're reading this profile, her history, her family, her life experience But what about her work? Look at verse 30.

Look down here, look, verse 30. Then I was constantly at his side, that's God's side. Now The new NOV is gone for a a weaker translation. If you look at the little letter after constantly in your NIV translation, you'll see a letter perhaps e. You go to the bottom of the page and you'll see alternative ways of writing that sentence.

The older and better way, in many ways, is that then I was the master craftsman at his side. I was constantly at his side as the master craftsman at his side. That's what it means. The Lord didn't start without me. He didn't create without me.

I'm the creator. Through me, he worked. If you draw a line under whiz if you draw a line and you've got creator above the line and creation below the line, wisdom comes above the line. Wisdom was there as the master craftsman. I put everything together I made the dust and from the dust made you.

Master a customer. Okay? Fourth little bit of profile. Just quickly, what are you likes, interests, dislikes, Find out a lot about someone, don't you? What you like?

What you dislike what your interests? Well, go back to verse 30. I was constantly then I was constantly at his side, I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in the human race. What do you delight in woman wisdom? She's a rejoicing 1.

She's not a grumpy old stuck up so so and so. It's not that she's so educated that you can't talk to her. She's delighting She's rejoicing. See, verse 30 is an amazing amazing verse because the words can mean this also and you might see this at the bottom of your NIV. Verse 30 can be translated, then I was constantly at your side, or then I was the master craftsman at your side, or listen.

Then I was the child at his side. Now that's strange, isn't it? But all those things can be put together. Wisdom is like an excited child that's just created. Wisdom is not undelighted.

Wisdom absolutely delights. It's like, and you know it as fathers. When father and son make something together, it's the child says, look at what me and dad made? I bet you that happens in the royal family. Look at what me and dad made.

Yeah? That's wisdom. She's not some stuck up person. She's absolutely going, look what me and dad made. Wisdom has this spring of joy over the universe.

The universe is made by personally cited beings, rejoicing, delighting in each other. This world is not an accident as our kids, constantly told. This world is not chance. This world is not a meaningless explosion from cold dark nothingness. What a horror that is?

This is an explosion of joy and delight from father and son with a spirit in there as well. Richard Dorkins, I mean, it's always good to have a bash of him. But it's so ugly what he believes. Atheism is cold and dark and joyless and ugly. Listen to what I mean, he doesn't even make sense this line, but this is from the blind watchmaker.

There's no God that sees anything. It's a blind chance. He calls it chance. Listen to him. Chants, with natural selection, chants smeared out into the innumerable tiny steps over Eons of time is powerful enough to manufacture miracles like dinosaurs and ourselves.

They can't even not use words like manufacture and miracles, but it's chance. It's dark. It's meaningless. It's cold. Over eons and eons of meaningless time, you are here.

No wonder young people are confused about who they are and what they are and what life is about. We're just accidents, but not when you opened the bible. You got a happy wisdom Happy day, delighting I was filled with delight, day after day after day. The 6 days of creation and the day of rest, Really happy. Really happy.

Really happy. It's not like, you know, when people are born, you know, what is it when Wednesday is the child full of whoa or whatever it is, Fridays or sausage each other or whatever it is. It's Monday, happy, delighting, Tuesday. What do you like wisdom? Happy and delighting.

What about Wednesday? Happy and delighting. Are you living for the weekend? Oh, yes. But I'm living for now as well.

Thursday, what's Thursday like? Happy and delighting. What about Friday? Happy and delighting? What about Saturday?

I'm happy and rejoicing and delighting. What about Monday, Monday blue? What about that Monday? In January, where's the worst blue Monday. Not for me.

Happy and delighting. Rejoycing what a wonderful world. I see trees of green. Red roses too. Trying to remember it.

Look at his look at her dislikes. Verse 7, my mouth speaks what is true. For my lips detest wickedness. You're gonna go out with her. She doesn't want any wickedness.

Look at verse 13. To fear the lord is to hate evil. We saw that last week brilliantly. I hate pride and arrogance. Evil behavior and perverse speech.

There's your profile. There's your profile. Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful? Isn't she precious?

But is it true or is it fake? My third point is this. Wisdom walks into the room. We have a face to face with her. Is the profile true?

It's a great great profile. It's got me not swiping, but is it true? Or is it just poetry? A poem about a dream woman to desire, but no 1 really ever fits that bill. Centuries after Proverbs 8 was written.

A man walked into the earth. A man walked into the room. He could have a face to face with him. And as he taught, his heroes were amazed. He like had authority from the beginning.

He stilled a storm with 1 word And people said, what sort of man is this? He has power over creation. It's like he can make stuff and rule over the oceans and the boundaries and the He said of himself before Abraham was, he was born about 3000 years before he said it. I was. I am.

Like agents of days. He said of himself, 1 and he was talking about himself 1 greater than Solomon, the 1 who wrote Proverbs. 1 greater than Solomon is here. Talking about God, he said, God an Iowa 1. Wherever he went, he brought blessing in life.

He made the blind to see the deaf to hear, the the dumb to speak, the dead to rise. He brought the outcast in as he healed the lepers. He had compassion and love on anyone that came seeking him. He turned a bunch of ordinary simple blokes into a band of proclaimers of God's word that when people heard those ordinary simple blokes speak God's word, they said, he's they've been with Jesus. As people watched him and heard his claims and saw his sinful life, and saw his powerful works as they saw him crucified on a cross as they saw him raised to life on third day.

These eyewitnesses, the people that were there who saw this as he walked into the room, put 2 and 2 together and came to the conclusion that Proverbs 8 is not some romanticizing poem, but the foreshadowing of reality who's walked into the room. The poetic personification, the making of a person, of wisdom as a woman, as a beautiful woman, is turned into reality As wisdom is personified in Jesus as he walks in the room, so much so that Paul called Jesus in 1 Corinthians the wisdom and power of God. In colossians, the firstborn overall creation. We'll come back to that in a minute. Look at 1 John chapter 1.

Here's John, a disciple. It should come up. In the beginning, what's the word? Oh, I'm supposed to be doing it in my hand. Gosh.

Oh, don't forget it. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him, all things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.

In him was life and that life was the light of all mankind. Hebrews chapter 1, the writer is saying, he is the son in whom the heir he's the heir of all things through whom he made the universe. Jesus walks into the room and he fulfills the foreshadowing of Lady Wisdom. He fits the profile perfectly. This isn't just poetic.

This is real in his life. He made the world. He loved the world. He delights to save the world. And in case you were worrying, that identifying as some people are, identifying lady wisdom or a woman wisdom with Jesus.

Jesus does it himself In Matthew 11, you can go and find out. He talks about himself and he says wisdom is proved right by her deeds. He's talking about himself. Wisdom fully embodied in Jesus. Wisdom personified.

Wisdom there. Walking amongst the disciples. The eternal word walks into the room. This is the 1 you need a relationship with. He's your soul mate.

He made your soul. He's your soul mate. To swipe him is madness. To swipe him or go back to chapter 7, and start groping at her is utter craziness. There was a man Bear with me there called Arrius.

He didn't believe the profile when Jesus walked into the room. When Jesus walked into the room, he walked out. He swiped left. He wanted some other Jesus. He didn't like this Jesus.

It's a very very important part to history. That's why I'm telling it to you. He tried to convince areas. The whole world that Jesus was not what he says he is in the Scriptures. Arrius was a a Libyan church minister way back in the fourth century.

And he says, Proverbs means that Jesus is a created being. He's the first Jehovah's Witness. The Jehovah's witnesses that knock on the door don't believe who Jesus is. They don't believe the profile. And areas tried to convince, as Jehovah's Witnesses will try to convince you that Jesus does not fulfill the profile, but there was a man called Athhenaeus, a faithful man who stepped in and said, no.

Look at him. And confronted areas. An athanasius showed that Proverbs ate When it says that he was born, doesn't mean that there was a timeline when Jesus was born, but actually that he proceeds, he comes forth from the father. It's as if the father takes the son and and says, I'm presenting the son to be the master workman who's continually been at my side, but I'm presenting him to the world. Right the way down through Christian history, some of you will like this and some of you won't, but you need to hear it.

Right the way down through Christian history, bible teachers and theologians have spoken about the son Jesus being eternally born from the father. Meaning that there was not a moment when he was born like I was born and you were born, but he's eternally born. He's eternally proceeding being begotten from the father. And the idea of that is there's this constant, real refreshing, new relationship at the center of the universe in the trinity. He's always giving birth to Jesus.

You know, I held yesterday a little 7 year old 7 day old rather baby in my arms. Little 7 day old baby. Everybody wants to hold the baby. Yeah? There was a bloke there who said, well, we can't hold the baby because COVID.

The baby had already done the rounds about 18 times. Everybody was holding the baby going like this into COVID into its little face. Yeah? And it's and that's the father. He says, constantly, if you read the gospels, this is my son.

Then this is my son. This is my son. That's my boy. That's him. He's born, he's birthed, he's new, it's fresh.

It's the constant fountain of fresh eternal water. The water's always there, but it's spurts out of the fountain at creation and spurts out of the fountain at the incarnation and spurts out of the fountain on the death as he dies and rises again and spurts out of the fountain when he comes back in all his glory. It's the eternal father saying, my son my son my son this relationship of freshness and life and eternal spring. Areas thought he was just like a made sort of superhuman. And even though wisdom is before the hills, She's ever fresh.

By the way, if arius was right and wisdom was created, who created wisdom? Was God stupid before he made wisdom? And how could someone who's stupid make wisdom? Anyway, there we go. Arius walked out from the date, and he never returned to the Lord Jesus Christ.

If Jesus is not the eternal, Second person of the blessed try you and God, then God didn't create you. Some created being created you. And you are distanced from God immediately. You will turn God into a distant dayest God who's far away. From his creation, but you can't do it if Jesus is who he claims to be.

There will be no delight because there's no trinity, no sharing of rejoicing. The cross loses its power because Jesus, who is both man and God, isn't God, and therefore cannot unite man and God. Areas. It was a very, very, very serious historical event. That caused something called the nicene creed, which we're gonna say in a minute.

No. Jesus is who he claims to be. Look at colossians 1, is it coming up of no idea. Colossians 1. The son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn overall creation.

See, born, fresh, another 1. Here he comes. For in him, all things were created, all things, things in heaven and on earth visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together and he is the head of the body of the church He is the beginning and the first born from among the dead. See that first born again?

So that in everything, he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether things on earth or things in heaven by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. That's who Jesus is. That's who Jesus is. Now here's my last point.

Will you swipe or meet him face to face? Will you love wisdom? What are you gonna do with him? That's the question of the universe. Look at verses 32 to 36 of Proverbs 8.

Now then my children listened to me. Bless are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise. Do not disregard it. Blessed are those who listen to me watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.

For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord, but those who fail to find me harm themselves. There are so many self harmers, aren't there? So many young people self harming it's extraordinary. But find Christ. Looked to Christ, settling Christ.

But those who fail to find me harm themselves all who hate me love death, don't hate him. Find him. He's your soul mate. He's stunningly beautiful, stunningly beautiful. He knew you before the foundation of the earth.

He's a soul mate that knows you more than you know you. He was there. He'll bring prudence, knowledge, and discretion into your life. He loves and delight in you. Don't try and be your own creator.

Isn't it awful? Try and create yourself. Find yourself. Make yourself, be what you want to be. It's all so dark and it fails in light of when you see this lover, when you see this 1 that loves you so much, it'll die for you.

When you see that he's so wise, he knows what you need which is his blood. And you see that he has so much wisdom he rises from the dead He's paid the price for your sin to bring you into the family where you can call God not just God but Father. Father God. Father God. Come to him.

Come to wisdom. Don't swipe left. Meet up with him. Discover him. Love him.

Now here's love to wash you. Let's have a moment of quiet, and then Dean will take over. Father help us to be obsessed with Jesus, looking into who he is, as as the angels are looking into his gospel, his love for us, Help us to never get bored of plumbing the depths of your word. Lord and and for those who maybe are just starting their journey, we pray that they would want to discover who he is in Jesus' name. Oh, man.