Proverbs - Wisdom For Troubled Times

Please open your bibles to Proverbs chapter 9. I'm gonna be reading a whole chapter from verse 1. Problems nine:one. Wisdom has built her house.

She has set up its 7 pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine, She also has set her table. She sent out her servants, and she calls from the highest point of the city. Let all those who are simple come to my house. To those who have no sense, she says, come, eat my food.

And drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live, walk in the way of insight. Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults. Whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you.

Rebuke the wise, and they will love you. Instruct the wise, and they will be wiser still. Teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. The fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the holy 1 is understanding. For through wisdom, your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.

If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you. If you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. Folly is an unruly woman. She is simple and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house on a seat at the highest point of the city.

Calling out to those who passed by who go straight on their way. That all those who are simple come to my house to those who have no sense, she says, stolen water is sweet, food eaten in secret, is delicious. But little do they know that the dead are there and that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead? Thank you very much, Ben. My name is Tom Suitman, and I'm 1 of the pastors here at the church and a very warm welcome to you, whether you're here for the first time, or whether you're a member, and welcome to any who are joining us online as well.

It's great to have you tuning in from wherever you are. This is a series that we've been working through in our Sunday mornings for some time now, and we've reached the end of this first major section of the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 1 to 9, And then the plan is to work through the rest of the chapters or a few few more chapters in Proverbs in our morning series as well. But we're looking together at the whole of to 9. And just to give 1 other quick notice, if you are a new student, and it's lovely to have Isabelle and her family. Here.

She wasn't expecting a public call out. I can tell because she just shrunk into her chair like that. It's great to have you and your family. Welcome to you. And if you are a new student, Then we've got our student group, students on Sunday, which will be meeting for the first time this evening after the evening service where we get together in the hub, which is our building in North Kingston, and we have a bible study and some food together, and it's a great opportunity to get to know other students in the church as well.

Turn back to Proverbs, chapter 9, if you've got a Bible with you, and let's begin by praying again. This is what Paul says about his time with the Thessalonian Church, for we know brothers and sisters love by God that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you, not simply with words, but also with power with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. Father, we pray that as we look at your word now and we think about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that this message would not come to us just with words. But with power and with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. We pray that you would convict us all of our sin and the ways in which we have fallen short of your glory and your ideal for us.

And we pray that you would show us what repentance looks like in our lives and that you would give us the the grace and the power of the Holy Spirit to pursue that repentance, and that we pray that you'd help us to see our glorious savior all over again. And we ask it in his name. Oh, men. Well, here's a This is a TV show, which you you might have heard of. It started in September 2000, and has basically been running ever since then apart from 1 or 2 breaks, and has just come back to TV screens over the summer.

The strap line of the show was that this show has always given us the chance to see what life is really like for the rich and famous when they swapped their stilettos for their slippers. This show gives you the chance to see inside Missy Elliott's 25 room mansion. In Virginia Beach where her own name is engraved into the marble floor. She had her own name engraved into her house, This show gave you the opportunity to go inside Mariah Carey's New York penthouse. It gave you the opportunity to see 50 cents a Ferrari collection The most popular episode ever streamed was 1 with SnoopDOG, which had 3000000 views, And this is the show, of course, if you didn't know already called MTV Cribs.

And for those who don't know MTV is a channel on Teli, and crib just means house or or a palace in in this in this case. And so influential was this show that I was talking to Lauren car on the way here, and she was saying that her and her mates did their own version of it. So, they borrowed a camcorder and went round 1 of their homes in Enfield pretending was something on MTV crib. So this was a very popular show in millennial, for the millennial era, and it's it's is still is still going. And the basic idea of it is that celebrities give MTV and us a guided tour of their house for us all to see.

But as you might expect, with a show like this, with so much money and so much celebrity involvement. This show wasn't without scandal. So in most cases, the celebrities did actually own the houses and the cars and the water slides that they had in their homes, But there were several times when celebrities faked it completely. So they pretended that they lived in homes like this, when in fact they they actually didn't. They didn't own any of it.

And I'm afraid to say that 50 cent was 1 of those fraudsters. So in his episode, he showed off 3 Ferraris claiming that they were his, but in reality, all 3 belongs to a collector who had loaned him the Ferraris for that episode, so he could show them off in his name. Robbie Williams, apologies if there's any Robbie Williams fans in the room. In his first episode, he showed MTV cribs around a house, which he claimed was his own. But he'd actually belonged to an actress friend of his and he was only renting it for the day.

There's more and more stories like that, quite a few So MTV cribs, as I say, is not without its scandal. But that was the basic idea of the show. We were allowed or we are allowed to see into these amazing homes, to be amazed by them, to dream about what it would be like if we too had water slides in our house, or more likely just to cringe at the obscene wealth wealth of it all. Those are the different responses. Now, 1 of the things that I want us to try to imagine if it's not too much of a of a mental leap, is to imagine that we've just turned on an episode of MTV cribs But in this case, we're gonna draw it from Proverbs chapter 9.

So in Proverbs 9, we're being invited to look around 2 cribs, 2 homes, The camera crews are saying to us, come on, come on in, I want you to see how they've been built, see who made them, See how they eat, see how they live. I want you to try to imagine what life would be like if you lived here. 1 of these cribs is the real deal. It's well built. Everything is true.

And real and delicious and is in fact owned by the person who is offering you a tour, the other is a scandal. It's an impostor, it's a fake, somebody who appears to be something, but is in fact something else. And the reason we have to watch this episode is because all of us will end up living in 1 of these 2 cribs. You see, when MTV cribs finishes, you can just turn it off and forget it. But in this episode, we're not just looking at them, we're choosing them.

Which 1 is it gonna be for us? Which crib are we gonna live in? Wisdom's or follies. And the first point then this morning is this Wisdom's Crib. And you'll be relieved to hear that I won't be using word crib much anymore after this.

Okay? I'm going to go back to house now. Okay? Let's step inside. First house, versus 1 and 2, wisdom has built her house.

She has built it. She built it herself. She built it from the ground up, overals on hard work. She has set up its 7 pillars, 7 in the bible, symbolizes perfection. This is a perfectly built, perfectly strong, perfectly true house.

She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine. She has also set her table. In other words, she's been careful and she's been generous, and she's thought about her guests. In order to set the table, you need to know who's coming, don't you? She has set the table she has thought about her guests.

And notice that these are all completed actions. She has built, she has set up, She has prepared, she has mixed, she has set her table, and she has sent. She has sent out her servants to invite people in, and all that they have to do is come. They have to pay for a place at the table, They don't. Do they have to earn it?

Do they have to work for it? Do they have to cook the meal themselves? Do they have to bring anything? We bring anything? Should we bring some flowers?

Should we bring a drink? They don't have to bring anything? They don't have to bring anything to this dinner party. All they have to do is come Just bring yourself. Lady Wisdom says.

But the question is, who is she inviting? Verse 4, let all who are simple come to my house, to those who have no sense, she says, come. And we've met these characters before in this series in Proverbs, the simple and those who lack those who lack sense, And it seems to be that the simple, sometimes are just are just the young or the inexperienced, but whatever the age of the person The simple 1 is the 1 who either lacks knowledge or lacks conviction. They lack knowledge or they lack conviction. They don't yet have the heart.

They're not fully persuaded by wisdom. Those who have no sense, is literally the 1 who lacks heart. They don't yet have the will to think and to act rightly. They don't have the heart to learn what is true and to pursue it. They're not committed to that, not passionate about that, not yet.

And so in 1 sense, the simple person has a great opportunity but they are also very vulnerable. They have not yet become a mocker or a scoffer but they're not safe. You couldn't yet describe them as discerning or prudent because they're not there yet. That's who she's inviting. Notice what she wants for them in verse 6.

She obviously wants them to come into the banquet, But look at what she really wants for them. Leave your simple ways, and you will live. Leave your simple ways, and you will live. And actually, that is not just a result. Leave your simple ways, and you will live.

It's another command. There are 3 commands here. Come, leave, live. Come, leave, live. To all who are simple, to all who lack sense, come, leave, live, come and live forever.

So you see, she's very different from the real MTV cribs. Because that program is all about showing off, isn't it? You're invited in, but they're not going to share what they have you. You can look from the comfort of your own home, but you can't eat there. You can't drive that car.

You can't sit at that table. They just wanna show it off. But not wisdom. She has built her house, prepared her meal, invited her guests, and she wants to share it with them. She wants to share it with us.

She invites us to come and live and eat and know the joy of being with her. Of course, this voice of wisdom is the voice of the Lord himself. Isaiah 55 puts it this way. Come all you who are thirsty. Come to the water, and you who have no money.

Come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy. Listen. Listen to me and eat what is good.

And you will delight in the richest affair. Give ear and come to me. Listen that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. My faithful love promised to David.

It's interesting because the Lord, he almost sounds desperate there, doesn't it? He's pleading with his people, not because he's lacking anything in himself, but because he's desperate to share with his people. He wants them to come in, to buy, to eat, to spend time with him, to listen to him, to learn from him, to love him. Come. Says lady wisdom.

It's interesting that mixed wine there in verse 1, is probably a mixture of wine and spices. I think the closest thing that we would be able to imagine is mulled wine. It's that kind of thing wine mixed with spices. But in this wisdom literature, that drink is often about love. So in the song of songs, for instance, the wine is mixed with spices, and the bride shares it with her lover.

This mixed, spiced wine is a picture of love and intimacy and relationship. In other words, this meal is not just expensive. It is a gift of love to us, to all who will hear her call. Wisdom, the living God wants us to come, leave, and live. That's not a bad crib, is it?

Not a bad house. Let's have a look at Folly's house. And the truth is it couldn't be it couldn't be more different. In verse 1, you may have noticed, as we read through it, we discover what wisdom is like through what she's done. We learn her character through her actions, but God just goes straight for Lady Folly's character in verse 13.

She's virtually done nothing. And so he goes straight for her character. Folly is an unruly woman, verse 13. She is simple and knows nothing. So you see, in some ways, she is like those she calls.

She is simple. She doesn't have the heart for wisdom, the conviction about wisdom, and yet she's far harder than they are. She is also foolish and unruly. The word is sometimes used of the raging sea or of wild animals that can't be tamed. She is without discipline or principle.

She is given to anything. And when you point that out, she's furious at you. Verse 14, she sits at the door of her house. Wisdom has no time to sit down. She's building.

She's cooking. She's getting things ready. She's setting up the perfect pillars. But not folly. She sits down.

And notice where she sits on a seat at the highest point of the city, Now, that word seat is interesting. It's used hundreds of times in the old testament, and it can mean lots of different things, but nearly every occasion has it referring to a throne or to a place of authority? She sits on a throne. In other words, she's playing the queen. She's an impostor, she's a fake, she's a scandal.

She pretends that she's got an authority, a kind of pretend authority. She claims that she's got something good, she pretends that she owns the place like Robbie Williams, shows everybody around, claims that it's hers, claims that she's got authority that she's worth listening to, but she's a fraud, an impossed her. And just look who she's after, calling out to those who passed by, who go straight on their way, Let all who are simple come to my house. It's exactly the same person exactly the same invitation. She is after those who have both a great opportunity and a great vulnerability.

Let all who are simple, who lack conviction, who lack knowledge come to my house. And why verse 17? Because stolen water is sweet, and food eaten in secret is delicious. So that's the choice. Mixed wine, The very best, spiced wine, prepared meats, prepared meats are wonderful meats, aren't they?

I went to Paul Whitfield's house this week for dinner, and he'd been cooking a shoulder of lamb for 5 and a half hours. It had been cooking all day. It was a prepared, seasoned, well treated meat, and you can taste it. Prepared, meat versus bread and water versus bread and water. Now you may think, well, the choice is so clear and the choice is so obvious that I don't even need warning about it.

I don't even need to hear the invitation again. I know which house I'm gonna be living in. Why would we need to even consider the options? Well, because it's not as simple it's not as simple as that. I was thinking about that great theological work, the Lion King this week.

And if you've seen the Lion King, you will remember that scene where Mufasa. The great lion is talking with his son's symbol about their kingdom. And there's that famous scene where they're sitting together on Pride rock, and they're looking over the over the Pridelands or over the Savannah. I did have a picture of it, but it maybe it's not coming up Anyway, you can imagine, there it is. And if they sat there looking over looking over the kingdom, and Mufasa says to him, this is a lightly edited script.

By the way. Mufasa says to him, everything that the light touches is our kingdom. Everything the light touched. But what about that shadowy place way out there? That's beyond our borders.

You must never go there, Symbba. And then later on, SYMBba picks up that same conversation with his uncle scar, who again, if you've seen the film does not have his best interests at heart, and scar says to him, so your father showed you the whole kingdom, did he? Everything. He didn't show you what's beyond that rise at the northern border, though, did Well, no. He said I can't go there.

And he's absolutely right. It's far too dangerous. Only the bravest lions go there. An elephant graveyard is no place for a young prince An elephant, what? Oh, 0, dear.

I've said too much, says scar. Where I suppose you'd have found out sooner or later, just do me 1 favor, promise me you'll never visit that dreadful place. Remember, it's our little secret. And if you've seen the film, you'll know that Symbba just cannot resist going to have a look, and it nearly costs him his life. But the question is, Why would he do that?

Why? When he's got all the fruit and life and light of the land to look forward to when it all belongs to him, what would attract him about an elephant graveyard? Why would somebody choose bread and water instead of a feast? Because It's secret. And it's out of bounds, and it's stolen.

And there is something very, very attractive to the human heart about that. Think of all the sermons that we've had on adultery in this in this series. This can apply to all sin, but this is a big theme in proverbs. If you put it in these terms, why would somebody break the covenant of their youth? Why would somebody trade the wife or husband of their youth for another.

What is the ultimate attraction in that? Is it the final act that drives people, the actual final act of adultery. Is that the thing that drives people? The moment it happens. Or is it the bit between now and then, the secret meetings, the shadows, the stolenness of it.

Being in the elephant graveyard, is nowhere near as good as the first thought that you could go there. The secret journey, the chance to prove myself to show that I'm brave, that I've still got it, that I can sneak around. Lady Foley knows that. Her meal is unprepared, ungenerous bread and water. That's not going to draw anybody.

But if you call it stolen, if you call it secret, all of a sudden, it becomes very appealing. Synn is like that, isn't it? 1 person said that sin will take you farther than you expected to go. It'll keep you longer than you ever intended to stay and that will cost you more than you ever expected to pay. It'll take you farther than you ever expected to go It'll keep you longer than you ever intended to stay, and it will cost you more than you ever expected to pay.

And yet despite knowing that from experience sometimes, we are so easily let. Why? Because of that excitement. We tell ourselves that this stolen thing will deliver something sweet. Some excitement, some power, some pride, something that God can't or won't deliver.

But look where it leads. Verse 18. But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead. You see, God is so gracious to us. Because he shows us the end before it's too late.

He says, this is where sin will take you. This is where that impostor excitement will lead you into the shadowy world called Hell, where we will become a ghost of what we once were. And so the choice is really that simple. Live verse 6 or die forever. Now look, before you decide, which house you want to move into.

Before you make your final decision, there's just 1 more thing to look at. Because as we can see here, not only does God tell us where these choices end up. He tells us what kind of people will become when we've made the choice. If we accept wisdom's invitation, we will become 1 sort of person, If we go and live with folly, we'll become a different sort of person. God shows us not only the end, but the people will become.

And after that, we'll make our decision. So thirdly, meet the residents. Verse 8, do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you. Rebuke the wise and they will love you, instruct the wise and they will be wiser still, teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. So if we choose wisdom, what sort of people will we become?

That's the question. If we choose wisdom, what sort of people will we become? And the answer is, we will become those who are glad for any opportunity to shut out foolishness. When a wise person is corrected, They try to put away the inner lawyer. Do you remember Ben Sermon on that last week?

A couple of weeks ago. When he was saying that often when we're corrected, we've got this inner lawyer that rises up to defend ourselves straight away, to put our case forward to justify ourselves. The wise person tries to see the positive side of correction. It may be painful for but they're thankful because it's an opportunity to grow. See, if you had a pair of scales, And on this side is how I look, and what people think of me, and how I come across, and on this side is living a wise life before God.

The wise person says, this 1 is this 1 is heavier. This is the 1 I care about most. And that means that anything that will help them grow is worth hearing. It means that I can stop being so easily offended. I can stop being so offended all the time.

I can stop being so defensive, and I can learn something. Now, of course, it is true that sometimes people might correct us badly, that can happen, can't it? Even if they say the right thing. It might be said in a harsh way, I've certainly been guilty of that. And it's quite hard to love that kind of correction, isn't it?

Or sometimes people might try to correct us in a loving way, but what they say is actually either untrue or they're mistaken. And so a wise person will be thankful for that person, but they will need to weigh it with the word of God and with prayer. But still, the question is, if the simple person chooses wisdom, what sort of person will they be 1 who relishes any opportunity to get wiser, even through correction and rebuke. And I have to say, if I look inside and ask myself a question, how does my heart respond to wise If that is the measure of a wise person, then very often I'm more like the fool than the wise person. And that's what we see now.

Let's say that we do reject wisdom. Let's say that we go into Folly's house, what sort of person will we become in that case? Verse 7, whoever corrects a mocker invites insults, whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. Make that choice, and the simple person goes from being simple to being very proud In fact, a mocker is so proud. He doesn't just ignore wisdom.

He sees it as an insult. He is insulted by wisdom. He has got himself to a position where wisdom offends him. It defends his pride. It defends his character.

He no longer has the sense to weigh a correction. They simply lash out at the 1 who's trying to help. They can't even be bothered to assess it anymore. They just think, I'm going to insult the 1 who loves, rebuke the 1 who's trying to help which is why verse 8 eventually says, do not rebuke them. Don't do it or they will hate you.

Quite frightening that, isn't it? If their advice is thrown back at them time and time again, If they are intact and insulted and pushed away, if wisdom is met with rejection over and over again, eventually, she stops. And the mocker is left to their foolishness and to the hell that they are making for themselves. There we go. You've seen what's inside?

We've learned where it leads. We've seen what kind of people we will become, if we go through this door or that, And so the question is, what will it be? What crib will we live in? Well, if we want to go to the banquet and spend our lives exploring the House of Wisdom if we're attracted by the sort of person that lives there, which I hope I hope we all are. Then there's just 1 thing left to look at very briefly.

In fact, just 1 word left to look at. I just wanna look at 1 more word with you. It's the word which makes all the difference. It's the word which folly doesn't say, but wisdom does say. And this is the fourth point.

Over to you, What is that word? It's the word leave in verse 6. Leave your simple ways, and you will live. Lady Folly doesn't ask people to do that. And that is partly why she's so appealing.

Because she says to us, your default is true. What you think and what you feel, and what you do is right, nothing to leave behind, nothing to change, nothing to forsake, just come as you are without change, and eat. But wisdom says, in order to leave, in order to live, you must leave. Earlier, I mentioned that Lady Wisdom just wants us to come. She doesn't want us to work for the dinner, or to pay for it, or to earn it.

And that is true, but to come to her means leaving simple ways behind, which when you think about it is the heart of verse 9, isn't it? Chaptors 1 to 9 are topped and tailed with this. The fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the holy 1 is understanding. To fear the Lord is to leave and live. It is to say that I am not Jesus.

I was not there with him in the beginning chapter 8. I did not create the universe. The world is not sustained through me. I am a creature, and I must listen to my creator. And what is that going to mean?

Turning from my own understanding and trusting in his way. When the Lord Jesus Christ began his public ministry, he did it with the words, repent and believe, or in Proverbs 8 language, leave and live. Repent, believe, leave, live. He went on to tell the story in Matthew 22 of a king, who prepared a banquet for his son. And when everything was ready, he said, I have prepared my dinner my oxen and fat and cattle.

They have been butchered, and everything is ready, come to the wedding banquet. The meat has been prepared. The wine has been mixed. The kingdom house has been built. It is perfect in every way, and I am here to invite you, says Jesus.

I'm here to say to everyone who will hear, leave and live. I have died to make it possible. Taken your folly on the cross, satisfied the justice of God in your place, risen from the dead 3 days later, written an invitation with your name on it, and I stand at the door waiting. Come, leave. Live.

You see, Jesus Christ is so good, and the gospel of his grace is so good. That even repentance becomes a feast with him. It is a joy to turn away from sin Because on the other side of the door is always life and joy and growth. Not just the first time we repent, But every time, Jesus turns repentance into a banquet, it's always a feast when we turn from our sin. And trust in him.

So what sort of person do you wanna be? What sort of person do you wanna become? In the short life that God has given you. What sort of house do you wanna live in? What sort of house do you wanna raise kids in?

What sort of future do you want in front of you? The Lord Jesus who loves you says to us all, come, leave, live, over to you. Let's bow our heads and take a moment of quiet for you to respond to God's word, and then I'll leave it to Ben to close us in prayer. Come leave and live. Father, what an amazing invitation to us who are simple, to us who lack sense.

It's not to the smart or the clever or the already wise that you call, but you call specifically to those who are not wise. Who are not perfect, who are in desperate need of mixed wine and roasted meat people who are in desperate need of fellowship with you. And that's us, father, thank you that you call to us. Forgive us when we are more like the women of Foley, And when we're rebuked, we're harsh, and we're ungrateful, and we have no desire to change Give us a love lord for repentance. Give us a love to leave our old lives behind.

Help us to have eyes to see the beauty of Jesus as well. It's a joy to obey his call to come. We ask this in Jesus name, amen.