We're in Proverbs 8 this evening. We understand from this text that wisdom is not situational, but it is actually eternal. Wisdom is how we live moment to moment, day by day. Wisdom is what guides us in every decision that we make. And it is not something that man has come up with, but it is an eternal thing from God. And so, I'll read to you Proverbs 8, the entire chapter. Does not wisdom cry out? and understanding lift up her voice. She takes her stand on the top of a high hill beside the way where the paths meet. She cries out by the gate at the entry to the city and at the entrance of the doors. To you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. You simple ones understand prudence, and you fools be of an understanding heart. Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, and from the opening of my lips will come right things. For my mouth will speak truth. Wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are with righteousness. Nothing crooked or perverse is in them. They are all plain to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge. Receive my instruction, not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her. I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance in an evil way, and a perverse mouth I hate. Counsel is mine and sound wisdom. I am understanding, I have strength. By me kings reign and rulers decree justice. By me princes rule and nobles, all the judges of the earth. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver. I traverse the way of the righteous in the midst of the paths of justice, that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth. that I may fill their treasuries. The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was even an earth. For there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth. while as yet he had not made the earth or the fields or the primal dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he drew the circle on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he assigned the sea to its limit so that the waters would not transgress his commands, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him as a master craftsman. I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in His inhabited world. And my delight was with the sons of men. Now therefore, listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death." Let's pray. We want wisdom. And we pray, O Lord, that you would give it. Supply, O Lord, what we are lacking by the work of your Spirit. Give us wisdom to walk with you, we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. So I have four points laid before us today. The first five verses, we find wisdom's call. In verses 6-21, we find wisdom's worth. In verses 22-31, we find wisdom's origin. In verses 32-36, wisdom's worth number two. I couldn't figure out a creative way of putting that last point, so I just called it wisdom's worth number two. But it starts out here in these first five verses. Wisdom standing up and saying, everyone listen up. And saying how wisdom raises her voice, how she stands at the top of the hill, how she goes to the place where people are. She goes to the top of the hill so she can be seen by all. She goes to the place where the paths meet because that's where people can be found. She goes to the gate of the city because that's where the discussions happen and the peoples cry out at the entry to the city. It's where you go if you want to talk to the people. And that's what she does. She goes and she cries out there to make herself known And she calls out to men, to the sons of men. And she says, listen to me. Fools, listen up. Simple ones, understand. And then she describes the things that she will offer to them. Excellent things, she says in verse 6. Right things. Even truth. And so we see here this call. from wisdom saying, listen up. Again, we've seen this already here in the book of Proverbs, but it's one more call for us to open up our ears, to soften our hearts and to say, okay, wisdom, do your work. Okay, wisdom, show me your path that I can follow it. It's one more call for us to realize the great value of what we've been given in this Word of God and to say, I want to listen. I want to submit to this wisdom as she calls to me. And so then we see again this description of wisdom's worth, verses 6-21. And we've already seen the beginning of these excellent things that she has to offer. This wisdom. Excellent things. Right things. Look at v. 7. Truth. V. 8. Righteousness. And so here's all these wonderful things that wisdom has to offer. That wisdom says this can be yours if you'll simply listen to my lips. If you'll simply listen to what I say, then these things will be yours. Instead of the opposite, instead of the destruction and the lies, instead of the morally wrong and the unrighteous, you'll receive these wonderful blessings, these blessings from God. They are plain to him who understands and right to those who find knowledge. This is the way wisdom works. Unfortunately, in order to have, in order to understand wisdom, you have to have wisdom. In order to get wisdom, you have to have wisdom to begin with. This is indication here pretty clearly that that wisdom is a gift from God. That is not just something that we can just learn or manufacture in and of ourselves, but it comes from a source and that source has to deliver it to us so that we can get more of it. Because you can't get wisdom without wisdom. And if we don't have wisdom, then how are we going to get it? Unless God himself gives it to us. And that is precisely what we find going on here. That's unhelpful. Excuse me for just a moment. And so the text continues by telling us that wisdom is more valuable than silver and gold. If you have a choice to get silver and gold or to get wisdom, wisdom's call is to reject the gold, reject the rubies, reject the things of value here in this earth to get something of greater value, something far more important than gold and silver and rubies, something much more helpful than that stuff. He does later on say in this text that that gold and silver and those kinds of treasures abound in wisdom. And so that you have wisdom that you might indeed get those other things along the way. But the fact of the matter is if you have to choose between having material possessions and having wisdom, wisdom says, forget about that stuff and do the will of God. Forget about those things and do what God wants you to do. Because as you say no to the things of this world, and as you say yes to God, then you are showing that you have the understanding that wisdom has. Counsel is mine and sound wisdom. I am understanding and I have strength. The world says, Strength is found in these things. If you have money, then you have strength. If you have power and respect of man, then you have strength. If you have these things that the world values, then you have strength to make people do the things that you want them to do, for example. But wisdom is saying that's not real strength. That only wisdom has real strength. That there's only real power in wisdom itself. And so it's showing here this great worth and wisdom. Then he goes on to describe how wisdom has shown itself. By the power of kings. By me, kings reign and rulers decree justice. By me, princes rule and nobles and all the judges of the earth. It's saying here, everyone who rules with wisdom, everyone who rules in this world, has wisdom, wisdom that comes from God. Now, I want you to think about that for a minute. We know the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And true wisdom comes in submission to God. But here this says, all judges of the earth, all the judges of the earth have wisdom. And I think what's going on here is there's this picture of common grace. that God and His common grace have given some wisdom even to those who hate Him. Given some sense of wisdom even to those who rebel against Him. Common grace for our good. Even giving to rulers that rebel against God some sense of wisdom so that they can indeed be a blessing to us. I'm not saying that they have the fullness of wisdom. I'm not saying that they have access to all the wisdom of God. But I'm saying that God in His common grace allows them to have that wisdom for the good of the human race, for the good of the church of Jesus Christ. So it's good for us to pray for wisdom. Wisdom for our rulers. Wisdom for our judges. Wisdom for those who make decisions on a government scale Because God even gives wisdom to others. So wisdom says, I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. This is an incredibly important promise that is connected with wisdom. And God has said it repeatedly. If you lack wisdom, ask, and I'll give it to you. If you need wisdom, and you recognize the value of wisdom, and you see that you don't have it, seek after it. Go to His Word and get it, and seek to live out that wisdom. And if you do, seeking true wisdom from God, from the fear of the Lord, then you will indeed have wisdom from God, because that's what He says. If you seek it, it will be yours. Doesn't mean it'll be easy. Doesn't mean it'll be just like that. But it does mean that God will indeed give you wisdom. Cry out and ask for it and seek it with all of your heart. And he goes on. Yes, my fruit is better than gold. Yes, find gold in my revenue than choice silver. The things that flow from wisdom. The blessings in life that flow from wisdom are better than the blessings that flow from silver and gold. Are better than those things. And so we have this great blessing given to us in this wisdom. Great fruit, great blessings. And so we see here in this section here, the value of wisdom. Wisdom is of great value. Wisdom is a radical change in the way that we look at this world. It's a radical change in the things that we seek after in this world. Wisdom says, don't value what the world values, value what I have to offer you. Don't love what the world loves, love what I have to offer you. Verses 22 to 31 are talking about wisdom's origin. And here, in talking about wisdom's origin, it's talking about the creation of the world. It's talking about when God made the heavens and the earth. And wisdom is saying, I was right there next to him. Like a master craftsman, I was right there with him as he was creating this world. And he goes through all the different steps the creation of the world, the creation of the waters, the determination of the boundaries of those waters, all the different steps in creation. He says, I was right there with Him. It's God using wisdom to create this world. So it's not too hard to figure out. All you gotta do is look at creation. All you have to do is open your eyes. The heavens declare the glory of God. All you have to do is see it, to see the ultimate wisdom that we see in creation. The ultimate wisdom that was used to make the heavens and the earth. How could He make such an intricate system? How could He make such a perfect body? How could He do this without great wisdom? Creation makes it evident that God has great wisdom. But there's something more here. There's something more in this description of the wisdom that was there alongside of God in the midst of creation. And I think part of this, let me just unfold it little by little for you. I think part of this is that wisdom is not part of the created order. It's something that supersedes the created order. God didn't create wisdom along with the world. Wisdom is not something that is bound to this world. It's not bound to this creation. Those who study ethics, they look at ethics in terms of, well, some look at ethics in terms of situation. to what's going on here and what's going on there and how should you respond in these particular situations. And the ethic is really bound up in the situation, not in some ultimate source. And so creation could be indeed that ethic, I mean that situation. Is wisdom bound up in creation or is wisdom something that's bigger than creation? I think we find here in this text a compelling argument that that wisdom is bigger than creation. That wisdom is bigger than our existence. That wisdom is in fact eternal. That wisdom is so connected to the character of God, so connected to who God is, that wisdom itself is eternal because God is eternal. And so this is holding up for us this incredible picture of wisdom that is beyond our understanding, that is eternal, that is from the beginning, from before the beginning. And then we take it one step further. We say, well, if wisdom is eternal, it's from the beginning, then where does this wisdom come from and what is this wisdom? Because if you look here, wisdom seems to be personified. Wisdom is saying, I have this, and I have that, and I do this, and I do that. And it's possible simply to say yes. It's simply this concept of wisdom that is just being personified. It's just this idea of wisdom that is being described as a person with actions of a person and that kind of thing. But honestly, I think it's more than that. Honestly, I think when it's describing wisdom here as this person, it's not a literary device that is being used to describe wisdom, but it's actually the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's actually the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, who was right there with God the Father in the midst of creation. Right there with God the Father. As God the Father was creating, so also Jesus Christ was creating, so also the Holy Spirit was active at the same time. We learn that everything was made by Jesus Christ. That everything that has been made was made by Jesus Christ. And so Jesus is most certainly active in creation. And here, I think in this context, it is in fact Jesus that is being described. But that's not alone here, because if we look at 1 Corinthians 1 verse 24, it says, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. And then a couple of verses later, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30, Of Him you are in Jesus Christ, who became for us the wisdom of God. So these two verses in 2 Corinthians 1 are talking about the fact that Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God in the flesh. And then again, Colossians 2 verse 3 says, "...in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." And so this picture here is that Jesus is in fact the perfect personification of wisdom. That Jesus is in fact wisdom in the flesh given to us. So that if we want to know the wisdom of God, we look at Jesus and we find Jesus being that wisdom shown to us. Now, does that mean with absolute certainty that in this chapter 8, that when it's talking about wisdom, it is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ? I can't say with absolute certainty, and one of the reasons why I can't say it with absolute certainty is because earlier on in the chapter, it does refer to wisdom as a she, and Jesus is not a she, and so that does sort of push against that idea. And still, even without that, I don't think we can say with absolute certainty here that Jesus is exactly what is being spoken about. But I do tend to think that's the case. Nonetheless, especially connecting the fact that Jesus was active in creation, and so here wisdom is described as the chief, the craftsman working right alongside of God the Father. I think especially considering the New Testament references to Jesus being the wisdom of God. It seems that it that it's at least leaning in that direction. That wisdom here is actually Jesus Christ himself. Again, why is this important? Who cares whether it's Jesus or not? Well, the reason why this is important is that if wisdom and Jesus are the same, if Jesus is in fact the wisdom of God, then when we need wisdom, we go to Jesus. When we need help, we go to Jesus. When we desire more wisdom, then we are desiring more of Jesus. And so this is a focus for our hearts and for our minds. It's a focus for our eyes to look to Jesus and realize that He is the one who is more precious than gold and silver and rubies, that He is the one to be sought after with all of our hearts and all of our minds. And so it's not just this general idea of wisdom that we should seek after, but it is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ that we should seek after. That's why I think this is important. But as we seek after the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we say, in Him is true wisdom, we also get to understand who this Jesus is. Jesus, the one who stood at the city gates, the one who cried out from a high hill, the one who went around in the towns crying out to people that they would listen to Him, that they would follow Him, that they would trust in Him. This very same Jesus who said that He would come and bring life as He spoke to the crowds, as He spoke to the people, showing the love of God the Father and calling them to repentance. This is the wisdom of Jesus. The wisdom of God shown to us loud and clear. But this wisdom of God, this wisdom that is given to us without finding fault, It's very important for us to see the way that wisdom is given to us without finding fault is that we have forgiveness in Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ Himself, wisdom Himself, sacrificed Himself on the cross so that we could be forgiven. So that we could have life, so we could have wisdom, without God blaming us for all the wrong that we've done. We deserve blame. Even in terms of wisdom, every one of us deserves blame. There is wisdom that we should have done that we didn't do. There's wisdom that we should have paid attention to that we ignored. How can God not find fault when we cry out for more wisdom? Because honestly, He could point to us and say, I gave you wisdom and you ignored it. I gave you direction and you turned away from it. but for Jesus Christ who took that sin on Himself. But for Jesus Christ who took the blame Himself so that you and I don't get the blame when we come saying, I need wisdom. I need Jesus. I need this help. And so we come and we say, Jesus, help me. Jesus, give me that wisdom that I'm so desperate for because I can't do it without You. And so here we have this picture. At very, very least, we have this picture of wisdom being so connected to who God is that it is not at all even created, but just part of the character of God. And at very best, wisdom is Jesus Christ Himself given for us that we might have life. And so, at least in my own thinking, this contributes to the incredible value of wisdom. Because here is wisdom. Jesus Christ Himself, eternal God, come in the flesh for us. Not just some good person here to give us wise advice. Not just some sage learner who has come up with some pretty good proverbs to help us think. But Jesus Christ who gives us eternal life, Jesus who takes away the consequences of our sins and shows us the love of God in all of our lives, that's why wisdom is so valuable. Because wisdom is God giving Himself to us. And that is a great blessing. So listen to verses 32-36. Now, therefore, listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise. Do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death." So you see this call to pay attention. You see this call to listen, to watch daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. To take your attention and focus on Him every day saying, give me more wisdom, give me more of yourself. And when you find me, you find life. Again, this can't just be talking about some good ideas. This is more than just good ideas that when we find them, we find life. Because remember, Jesus is the life. He is the only source of life. He is the only real life. And it's more than just ideas that He gives to us. It is redemption and grace and life. Those who sinned against Him, sinned against His own soul. And those who hate Me, love death. This is a picture here of rejecting God, rejecting what God gives, and finding death and destruction in its place. But instead, we ought to love God, to love the wisdom from God, to love the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the exemplification of that wisdom, and find in that real life. Let's pray. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, You have given to us precisely what we stand in need of. Redemption. Without finding fault, You have invaded our lives. Without finding fault, you have come along and pointed us in the way that we should go. Not just pointing, but you have changed us so essentially that we love you and we love your word and we love your wisdom. You have changed us so essentially that we have no choice but to follow you. imperfectly, yet no choice but to follow you. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for sending your Son, Jesus, and the Spirit to make this change in us. Please continue to work out that change in us with fear and trembling that we might work out our salvation. knowing your wisdom, seeking after that wisdom, living according to that wisdom, loving that wisdom. Give us grace to do this, we pray in Jesus' name.