Tonight we are going to be looking at Proverbs Chapter 8. And the last lesson that I taught was Proverbs Chapter 5. And the nice thing is Proverbs Chapter 8 is kind of a good balance to Proverbs Chapter 5 that I taught before. So remember, Proverbs Chapter 5 spent a lot of time talking about a lot of the really negative, bad, terrible effects of living in a foolish way, right? Listening to, in that, in chapter five, it was listening to a foolish woman that tried to convince you to go on her path, right? That's what it was saying. And that led to a lot of bad things, a lot of disaster. And eventually, it even said that that way can lead to death. So kind of the ultimate negative consequence of living foolishly. Well, tonight we're going to talk about wisdom. What does it look like? What does wisdom sound like? And again, in this chapter, it's talking about wisdom as a woman that you're listening to who is telling you some things and speaking out. We're just gonna go ahead and start reading and then we'll stop and just talk about a few things as we go through. There's actually quite a few verses in this chapter, so I'd like to try to get through the whole thing because this chapter is a whole speech. that is given by Lady Wisdom, okay? So this is Lady Wisdom and she is telling you, this is what I'm all about and these are the things that I bring into your life if you listen to me and follow me, okay? So some really important things. So chapter eight, verse one says, does not wisdom call and understanding lift up her voice? On top of the heights, beside the way where the paths meet, she takes her stand. Beside the gates at the opening of the city, at the entrance of the doors, she cries out. That's kind of the introduction there. Now I wanna point out a couple of things there and they're gonna apply to some of the things that we talk about later. What does it mean, where is wisdom at? Based on those verses, where can you hear and find wisdom? You know? All right, in heaven, yes. Wisdom ultimately comes from God. We're gonna talk about that later. But based on those three verses, where was wisdom? Let me read them again. At the top of the heights beside the way where the paths meet, she takes her stand beside the gates at the opening to the city. At the entrance of the doors, she cries out. So if you were traveling to a city and Wisdom was a person that you were going to meet, where would you meet her? Where would you meet Wisdom? She like hidden away and you got to really search for a long time and go through the whole maze of the city? Anywhere? It describes wisdom as somebody that's right there. You can't miss her. She's right at the front door. She's calling out. She's saying, ''Hey, listen to me. I'm right here.'' So does wisdom sound like something that's really hard to find, really difficult to know what wisdom is or where wisdom is at? No, not the way it's described right there in chapter 8. So what is she saying? If she's standing there and she's calling out to the people that are coming to this city, what is she saying? Well, the rest of the chapter is what she's telling those people. She says, to you, oh men, I call out, and my voice is to the sons of men. And some translations say the children of men. So it's talking about everybody. I'm calling out to everyone that comes by. Verse five says, oh naive ones, understand prudence. Now, that has a couple of words that are a little bit tricky. So do you know what naive means? I'm bringing up a different translation here. What does naive mean, Miranda? Okay, what's your guess? Okay, yeah, that's a really good definition of it. Maybe you are easily taken advantage of, right? Naive, you're fooled easily. Another translation calls them, says simple ones. If someone is simple, That means that maybe they get confused easily or things are complex. It's hard for them to understand. So wisdom is calling out to people who don't have wisdom, people who are simple. That's the first thing we hear. She's not saying, hey, all you smart people, everybody that thinks they're really smart, come over and listen to me. Why do you think she doesn't say that? Hmm. Well, we're going to find out. Then she says in the next one, she said, oh fools, understand wisdom. Here's my question. If somebody thinks they're really smart and they have all the answers, are they going to go try and listen to someone else who's telling them to come listen to them? Not usually. Someone who thinks they know everything, it's hard to tell that person something. They don't want to learn. They already know it. So wisdom is there saying, hey, the people who know that they don't know everything, the people who know that they are foolish sometimes, the people who are not wise, come and listen to me. Now, how many of you think that that includes you and me? Is that who she's talking to? You and me? Yeah, she's talking to everyone because, remember, wisdom comes from God. Are any of us as wise as God? No, none of us are as wise as God. So all of us are foolish compared to God. We all are simple compared to God, okay? So that's the first thing we learn here. She's calling to the simple, calling to the foolish, and by doing that, she's really calling to everyone. Every person that's ever lived needs to come and hear God's wisdom, all right? So what is she going to tell us? If we come and listen, what will she tell us? Well, this is what it says in verse 6. It says, So the things that we know come from wisdom are right, they are true, We don't have to worry about, oh, maybe wisdom is trying to trick me into believing something that's wrong. No, that's the opposite. She can't. Wisdom cannot tell you, true wisdom cannot tell a lie and cannot fool you. All right, and it says here, even when you go into verse seven, it says, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing crooked or perverted in them. They are all straightforward to him who understands and right to those who find knowledge. So wisdom tells the truth, and that is one way that you can tell if someone does or is following God's wisdom. Do they tell the truth? Do you tell the truth? Well, this says if you're listening to God's wisdom in your life, then you're gonna be someone who tells the truth. You're gonna be someone who is honest. Okay? That's one of the things that wisdom brings into your life. It brings truth and honesty. But it also brings Righteousness. So it means that the things that you'll talk about are not just things that may be true, but you will talk about good things that are true. You'll spend your time talking about righteousness and good. All right, so then in verse 10, she says this. She says, take my instruction and not silver, and knowledge rather than choicest gold. For wisdom is better than jewels, and all desirable things cannot compare to her. How many people would love to have some silver and some gold and some jewels? And how many people would trade those immediately for wisdom? Oh, that's a good answer. You've been listening to our lessons on proverbs. All right. So what she's saying here is those are all the things that could make your life easy. In the time that Solomon was writing this, if you had silver and you had gold and you had jewels, You could have an easy life. Those things were very valuable. What Solomon is saying here is that wisdom, having wisdom, is worth more than all of that. If you can't buy wisdom, that's the sad thing. There are a lot of very wealthy people that do not have wisdom. So, you know, it's not something you can buy, but she's saying here, if you had the opportunity to give up your wealth to gain wisdom, you should do it. It would be that valuable to you and your life. For I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance, and the evil way, and the perverted mouth I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom I am understanding. Power is mine." Wisdom is very valuable, that's the first thing we find out there. And now we're finding out that wisdom is also very powerful. Well, how is it powerful? Sometimes we think being really smart or having a lot of knowledge can be powerful, right? And that's why you're in school, right? Is to gain knowledge, to learn so that you can hopefully be able to get a job and earn money and take care of yourself, take care of your family later on. And there is a certain amount of power that you can gain by learning a lot of things, having a lot of skills. But what she says here is that wisdom is even more powerful. It can be even more powerful in your life. This is what it says in verse 15, it says, So that might be kind of hard to understand, but what it's saying there is that anyone who makes just and right decisions when in their place of power, they're actually doing that because of God's wisdom. The sad thing is sometimes people don't even know that it's God's wisdom that they're using. They think it's theirs. And so then You know, sadly, that doesn't benefit them. But any of those right decisions that are being made by people in power, those good and just and righteous decisions, those are, because God's wisdom is so powerful, it can even overrule our sinfulness, our failings. All right, verse 17, it says, I love those who love me and those who diligently seek me will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, and my yield better than choices silver. I walk in the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of justice to endow those who love me with wealth that I may fill their treasuries. All right, so that section, that sounds Like maybe, ooh, if I can get wisdom, then I'm gonna become rich, right? That's what it sounds like there in those verses. It says, if you can gain wisdom, then God is maybe gonna make you wealthy. But that may be true. Oftentimes, though, when the Bible talks about having riches or having your treasuries filled, that means that God is blessing your life in maybe other ways, too. He's giving you good relationships with people. That's one thing that wisdom brings into your life. Wisdom can help you to have right and good relationships with other people, especially if they are also pursuing wisdom, which is what we should be doing. It can also help you avoid some of those things that Mr. Gregg talked about in one of his lessons. Wisdom can help you avoid being in debt. And having that be something that is a difficulty in your life, it can help you avoid some of those sinful decisions of following the wrong people and making bad choices that can lead to a lot of pain and suffering in your life. So those are all things that when we follow wisdom and those don't become a part of our life, then our life is full. And it feels like we have wealth, even though it may not be money. We feel rich. Our life is rich. Okay, so where did wisdom come from though? All through this, it sounds like wisdom is this kind of like this person that's just out there and we have to try to figure out where she's at. She says, you know, seek after me and you'll find me. She says, I'm standing at this, the entrance of this gate or this city. Well, verse 22 kind of tells us this is a picture, this picture of wisdom as a woman calling out is something that God is using. It says, verse 22, The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old, from everlasting I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth. When there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no springs abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth. while he had not yet made the earth and the fields, nor the first dust of the world, when he established the heavens I was there. when he inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when the springs of the deep became fixed, when he set for the sea its boundary so that the water would not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him as a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the world, his earth, and having my delight in the sons of men. So there we find out where does wisdom come from. Wisdom has always been from God, from the beginning. The wisdom that God offers us today is the same wisdom that he had when he was creating the world. That's a lot of power, isn't it? It's a lot of ability. That's what we can have access to when we turn to God and look to him for help. If you were asking for help, wouldn't it be good to ask for help or ask for wisdom from the person that created the entire world and knows how everything works? Wouldn't that be the best person to ask for wisdom from? Yeah. All right, so we'll finish up here at the very end. We've got just a couple more verses. It says, now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways, heed instruction, and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts, for he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me injures himself, and all those who hate me love death. So again, at the end there, we see a warning. If we choose to say, well, yeah, wisdom kind of sounds good, but I really would rather just kind of find my own way and decide things for myself and figure it all out with my own mind and not listen to God's way. Wisdom gives us a warning there. She says, if you do that, there are going to be some hard things that come into your life. And in fact, she says, eventually, death is at the end of that road, just like we saw in chapter 5. When you ignore wisdom, when you decide not to listen to the things that God has told us in His Word, then that leads to death, spiritual death, definitely, and sometimes even physical death, depending on the decisions that you make, the consequences for some of those things. So it's, again, a very big warning for us to remember that we do need to listen to what God has said. All right, well, thank you for listening, and we'll go ahead and close in prayer, and then we will work on our memory verses, all right? Father, we thank you for this chapter, and we thank you for just the descriptive way that you show us how we can look for wisdom, how we can understand what wisdom is, how we can tell in our own lives, are we being wise? Are we following what you've told us? And some of those clues, are we being honest? Are we being truthful with people? Are we staying away from evil? And are we drawn to talk about righteous things? Or do we constantly spend our time talking about evil things? I pray that you would help us to see that and to change our words and our behavior as we recognize those things and I pray most of all that you would help us to trust you for salvation and know that wisdom only comes by following you and ultimately trusting Jesus as our Savior. In Jesus' name, Amen.