Will you take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs, the book of Proverbs. As was the case last week, we will be in a number of different passages, but we will be most of our time in the book of Proverbs. We have begun a series entitled More Precious Than Gold. more precious than gold. And even as I reflected on last week's message, I thought of more ways that our Bibles are more precious than gold, and I thought of how we can make God's Word more precious than gold. Mainly since last Sunday, I hope you found God's Word to be more precious than gold that you opened it through the course of this week. That's one of the simplest ways in America for someone to know whether or not he treasures what God has said more than gold, by opening up your own Bible at home and reading it, studying it, writing in it, writing about it. That's one of the foremost ways. And I even thought of all the ways that we have here, whether it's simply by paying attention in the course of scripture reading, Me as a parent, whether or not I take seriously my kids doing so. I get them a Bible, I get them to the passage, and for some ages that takes some work. Having them follow along in their own Bible, and we give our kids Bibles and such, that's significant. And I would say, over the years, You know, I can walk into a church as a visitor, I can look around, and in the very ways I see the people around me shifting in their seats, what they do when they come to the sermon time, through all of those things, I can tell in a moment whether or not they value God's word. I can tell by the Bible in their hands. Or, if this happens, I set the Bible out and then I forget to put it in the car with me or something, or I forget it in the car, I can tell by the body language of the person sitting in the row, if he is engaged. And it is very, very easy for us to be able to evaluate whether or not we prize the Word of God. Not simply whether or not we are very careful with our copy of the Bible, I would say, but what we do with it in opening it and in utilizing it through the week and especially as we gather as God's people. It is so, so plain and simple. And I would say if someone comes to bring his Bible and to open it and to carefully look through it, that is the mark of someone who is more and more seeing the value of God's word. And as I said, I don't expect that for the youngest, but as you've seen and as we've done together, we teach them over time. And it is a blessing to not have to tell a child now Bring your Bible and open it to the passage of the day that they do so, and even to learn that they do so in their own room during Monday through Saturday. That is a wonderful thing. And we pray that we would cherish God's word and that those we raise would do as much. And I encourage you with that. Now to our topic of the day, because the Bible tells us that there are more things than the Bible that are more precious than gold. So let's consider that today, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord. Today we consider wisdom more precious than gold. Let's pray. Lord, we bow before you again today, and we long to understand you more plainly. And as we consider this value that you set before us, we ask that it would make a great impression on us. In a nation that lives for what it can have and what it can hold in its hand, we pray for this, that we cannot hold in our hand. We pray that you would help us to understand the value of wisdom. We pray for that in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm reminded of a story that Jesus told, a parable, and how he told of a rich man who seemed to be doing really well because his land produced plentifully and he had barns. And he said to himself, as he looked at his farm and he looked at his harvests, he said, you know what? I'm gonna tear down my barns and I'm gonna build larger ones. I'm gonna fill those barns with grain and goods. And then Jesus told how that man was foolish because that man didn't realize that that day his soul would be required of him. In other words, it's possible for people to live and make choices. that in a moment can be shown to be utterly foolish. And that's where we come to in our study today. We come to the idea of how are we going to live our lives because it is abundantly clear that not all of us live the same way. And especially the people who don't know the Lord and how they lead their lives, they choose to lead lives that are incredibly different than us. And there are reasons for that. And what God points out, what makes the difference, it comes down to this key, and it is a life of wisdom. Wisdom. Wisdom is valued more than gold. And as was the case last week when it comes to the word of God, so wisdom is again and again valued above gold. I'll point you to several passages in the book of Proverbs, beginning in chapter 3, verse 13. It says, blessed is the one who finds wisdom, the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than the gain from silver, and her profit better than gold. It says in chapter 8, verse 11, wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. Chapter 16, verse 16, how much better to get wisdom than gold? Not just the book of Proverbs, but even the book of Job. You get to the heart of the book in chapter 28, where it shows the value of wisdom. It talks about how people will mine mountains looking for precious stones, for precious jewels. And Job goes on to say, but where can you find wisdom? Because it is more valuable than all those things that can be mined. And I think of that because, I think of it because of stories like Lord of the Rings, if you know about the stories of the dwarfs and their mining, or you think of those young people who play the game Minecraft and they spend hours mining away to find precious metals. And then the Bible has a story about Minecraft. It's Job 28. Go read it this afternoon. And then it goes on to say, for all that people all over the world do in mining precious metals in the mountains, what they really need is wisdom. It's not something you can get with a pickaxe, but it's something you need. Wisdom is more valuable than gold. And therefore, it says again and again in the book of Proverbs, then get wisdom. Get it. Well, if we're going to get it, number one, we need to know what it is. That's the point one today. What's wisdom? Point two, how do I get it? Point three, what impact does it make in my life? That's what we're going to sort out today. We've got to know what it is. What is wisdom? The common answer to that would be that a wise person is a smart person. A wise person is a person who knows a lot. I think that's what many people would say wisdom is. A wise guy is a smart guy. And now it is true that wisdom does include knowledge. Absolutely. Proverbs chapter 15 verse 2, the tongue of the wise commends knowledge. Verse 7, the lips of the wise spread knowledge. Wisdom and knowledge often occur together in the Bible. That's a common thing as you read your Bible. This is because wisdom builds on knowledge. Knowledge refers to objective facts. When it talks about understanding, that's the ability to analyze those facts and see patterns and principles. And wisdom is far beyond both knowledge and understanding. Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge. It's the ability in applied knowledge. That is to say, wisdom is practical skill. It's not about what you know, it's about what you can do. So the Bible says that a tailor and a sailor are wise because they're skillful in a particular trade. Very commonly, the scriptures talk about craftsmen as those who are wise. Perhaps the foremost in our minds would be Bezalel and Aholiab. Those are the folks we learned about in Sunday School, because they were commissioned to craft the tabernacle in the Book of Exodus. These two made artistic designs. They worked with gold, silver, and bronze. They cut stones. They carved wood. These folks, I'm sure, were very smart. They knew a lot about gold, silver, bronze, stones, and wood. But beyond smarts and beyond what they knew about those things, they were skillful. They knew how to work with them and put them together. Was it simply they were book smart? But they made beautiful things. So wisdom goes beyond knowledge. It goes beyond understanding. It is practical skill. I'm taking extra time this morning to show that there is a difference between wisdom and knowledge. Because I think it's easy for us to not know that there is a difference. We think a wise person is a smart person, and that's it. But what we need to know is that the Bible talks about wisdom in terms of skill. It's a matter of ability, not merely intellect. Or you could say it's a matter of what you can do with your hand, not simply what you know in your head. So when God says wisdom is better than gold, he's not saying you all need to get smarter. That's not his point. But instead, he's saying more skillful, more skillful. Now that said, a call to wisdom does not mean that God is calling us all to pursue the trades, as if what he's going for is welders and painters and plumbers. Obviously, they all are very skillful. But the wisdom that God is holding up for us is more specific than that. You might say it's religious. Because wisdom is knowing and practicing what God requires. Wisdom is knowing and practicing what God requires. That means wisdom involves knowing God. One of the most significant verses in the Bible that teach us about wisdom is Proverbs 9, verse 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is an insight. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And this verse is teaching us that the fear of the Lord springs from the knowledge of God. What we know about God is going to direct our response to him. And wisdom begins when we live life aware of God. If we are not living life aware of God, we are not living life wisely then. So wisdom includes knowing God, and it includes knowing and applying what God has said. Proverbs 10, verse 8, the wise of heart receive commandments. Jesus said in Matthew 7, verse 24, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man. Colossians 1, 9 through 10, Paul prayed that the Colossians would be filled with knowledge of his will, that they would know God's will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him. So when we put all those things together, to live wisely is to know who God is and what he wants and to do it well, so that you are skillful at living life. Wisdom is the practical application of God's will, of God's word to the experience of life. More technically, it's your ability to analyze scriptural facts about God and his dealings with his people, to synthesize that data into timeless principles, and to take those principles and to apply them to solving the problems of life. That's wisdom. Wisdom is far more than being smart. It's about skill. Furthermore, biblical wisdom requires God. In other words, you can never be wise without God. You can't be wise without knowing who God is, without knowing what God wants you to do. Wisdom that's more precious than gold is skill in living well because you know God and you know how to apply his word well. There's a full definition. That's wisdom. Wisdom is more precious than gold. It is that skill in living well because you know God and you know how to apply his word well, and you are doing so. That's wisdom. Do you have that? Well, point two, how do you get it? How do you get wisdom? Because there are many who unsuccessfully try to get wisdom without God. To many people, being more informed is what makes someone wiser. If you're going to become wise, you've got to read books. Keep up with the news. Wisdom is simply a matter of learning. And as we read the Proverbs, we know there is some truth to that. A wise person is a learner. He will increase in knowledge. But that's not the whole story. It's not about being more informed than the next guy. It's not about being smarter. Furthermore, some believe they're wise simply because of age. Wisdom is a matter of aging, having experience. And yes, again, the Bible does speak of those who are old as those who are wise. But without knowing God, academics or age won't be enough to make you wise. Wisdom comes from God. Proverbs chapter 2 verse 6, the Lord gives wisdom. Or think of what James said in chapter 3, the wisdom that's from above. Wisdom comes from God. And you'll see on the screen here in a moment that there are sources of wisdom, this wisdom that comes for God. The first and supreme source of wisdom is God's word. Psalm chapter 19, verse 7, just a few verses before last week's key passage. The testimony of the Lord, referring to his word, is sure. It makes wise the simple. So here we have a couple of things coming together. The Bible, which is more precious than gold, is the chief source of wisdom, which is more precious than gold. These go hand in hand. Your relation to your Bible reveals how well you live your life. So you might say, if you don't have a relationship with the word of God at all, your life is in ruins. Because you're not living your life aware of God and what He wants. Because there's no relation between you and the Bible. But the other is obviously true as well. As you know the Bible more and more, you know how to live your life before God in a way that pleases Him, as Paul prayed for the Colossians, chapter 1, verse 9 and 10. So the supreme source of wisdom, of knowing how to be skilled in living life, is God's word. There's another source of wisdom. It comes to us in James chapter 1, and that source is prayer. It says, if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him. So this prayer that James is talking about is not one for knowledge. God, I don't know something, please tell me what I don't know. This is not what a student prays before his test. Lord, I'm sorry I didn't study, give me wisdom. That's not what it's about. This prayer here is for spiritual ability to act in accordance with the will of God. God, I have this problem. I know what you've said. And I need wisdom to know how to walk in the way that pleases you. I have choices to make. And the choices that I make today are going to show whether or not I value you most in my life. I want to do your will. Lord, help me to do that. This prayer for wisdom is trying to live in a way that brings glory to God. So prayer is a source of wisdom. There are other sources of wisdom. We might say that God's word and prayer show that God is kind of the direct source of wisdom. And now the examples turn, because another source of wisdom is the experience of God fearing people. Wisdom doesn't just come from God, it comes from those who walk with God. That's why Proverbs says again and again that the wise take godly advice. It says give instruction to a wise man and he'll still be wiser. I mean, these people know how to listen. They know how to take advice. They get the hint. It's the unwise. It is unwise by comparison if we take advice from people who are ignorant, people who are inexperienced. And there's a wonderful example to admonish us in the scriptures from 1 Kings chapter 12. You might remember the king named Rehoboam. He was the son of Solomon. And when Solomon died and Rehoboam took the throne, he began his administration and he was faced with a problem. And he went for counsel. You remember that first he heard the counsel of the old men who stood before his father Solomon. And then he heard the counsel of young men whom he grew up with. And the sad story is, is that he sided with the counsel of his peers. And the result of that was that the kingdom of Israel was divided. It ruined the nation. You say, why does that matter to me? Well, the Proverbs tell us why. It says a companion of fools will suffer harm. You want to wreck your life? Hang around fools. But then the other side, whoever walks with the wise becomes wise. So this is super practical. Source of wisdom is other people. So we need to ask ourselves in a very serious way, with whom am I walking? Because I promise you, we're all walking with someone. That someone may be someone at school. It may be someone on the team. It might be someone at work. It might be someone around town. It may be someone in a book. It might be someone on a reel. That's a term for some social media thing. It might be someone on TV. But our circle, whether it is a in-person circle or a virtual circle, it rubs off on us. And I would say that is certainly one of the reasons that we are commanded as God's people to gather together. God wants people who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, who are becoming more like Jesus Christ, to rub off on one another. We call it iron sharpening iron. Indeed, that's why God wanted his people to get together and why we have Sundays and that's why we gather. And that's why we must never forsake gathering together. It is obvious, it ought to always be obvious that we prioritize the saints, because that's God's plan. That's God's plan for God's people to be wise through our iron sharpening iron. That said, We need to be really honest about our lives and the time that we live in and the place that we live in. I think we'd all agree, even though we enjoy Christian fellowship right now, as we look at the rest of our lives, as we leave this place, we live in a dark world. We live among people who run from the light of God. Given that's the truth, and we're often rubbing shoulders with them, This last source of wisdom is really, really important. The last source of wisdom that I'll bring to your attention, we find in the book of Proverbs, is observation. Say, what's that? That's what happens in you. A wise person will learn by observing, for example, the mistakes of others. I chuckle to myself and I say, well, that's in part why us middle children are so well-adapted. That's why we get it. We saw that our siblings crossed mom and dad, and that was bad. And we know better than to do what they did. That's why us middle kids are so well-behaved. At least I like to think that. And that's really important in the idea that, You don't have enough time in life to make all your own mistakes. You better learn from the mistakes of others. You're learning by observation. Solomon talked about that in the book of Proverbs. He talked about taking a walk. You can get wiser by taking a walk, not only healthier, but wiser. One day he was taking a walk, and he passed the property of a lazy person who had an overgrown field. Talks about the wall being all broken down and it's like he took a moment to look at that man's property and he said this, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come upon you like a robber and want like an armed man. So in other words, Solomon learned a lesson that no one taught. He learned a lesson by looking around. He learned wisdom by observation. Job did the same when he looked at the life of the wicked and he saw the destruction that met them. You see, a wise person will learn by looking around. He'll observe the mistakes of others and say, I'm not going to do that. He'll observe those who do well. They'll say, that's good. Proverbs chapter 22, verse 29. Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings. It's almost like saying, yeah, the guy who worked hard, he got a job and he provided for his family. Turned out good for him. I better make note of that for me. A wise person will become wiser through godly observation. And I'm bringing that up, young people in particular, and the rest of us, but I bring that up because we live in a dark world. As a very young person, I realized that I would not have close friends because none of the people my age were Christians. That's something I had to sort out by myself growing up. The only Christians were my siblings and such, basically. And your siblings are never your friends. So I realized very young that I would not have friends. Those people at school were not encouraging me to know God. They were not encouraging me to be more like God. They were pulling me down. So in order not to get sucked into their sinful lives, in my heart and in my mind, I had to look at them in light of what God had said about them. So for example, When the kid in class refused to listen, refused to take notes, wouldn't turn in his homework, bombed every test, I had to look at that person and say, he's lazy and it's gonna ruin his life. Because if I looked at that person and admired him and laughed at him and his foolishness, I'd become like him. Or the person that school who would talk about other people when they left, those people were gossips. Those are the kinds of people who destroy relationships. I couldn't talk like that. So in other words, young people, if you are going to lead a life in a dark world, you're gonna have to be careful to observe what's happening around you and not get sucked into it. but be able to say, that's wrong, that's sinful, I must not do that. And it's not just like school is the only place that sinful people live. Sinful people even happen at church. Sometimes we don't do what we should. And we have to say to ourself, I can't do that either. I'm not going to talk to anyone about it. I'm going to go pray about that because that's what's needed most. So we have to do very, very well to be people who become wise through observation. And I'd say, especially in the world that we live in, I feel like almost every moment of every day, this is what we do. We are taking what God has said. We're looking at the things around us. And again and again, we have to be able to say, that's what God wants or that is not what God wants. I say that. I say that just so you know. I grew up in a public school in a small town. That's not to say I did everything that everyone else did and I just observed it and said, well, that's a bad idea. No, I actually did not go to parties. No, I didn't go to certain people's homes. No, I did not go in the locker room when everyone else did, but I waited to the last moment before the game because I didn't want to be in there any longer than I had to. We live wisely as well. making some wise calls. But when we are coming in contact with it, we must not get sucked into it. We learn by God's word to be wise, by prayer, by the experience of others, by observation. Here's a source of wisdom that you will not find. Here's a source of wisdom that God says is no source of wisdom. Proverbs 3 verse 7, be not wise in your own eyes. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. Chapter 12, verse 15, the way of the fool is right in his own eyes. Chapter 26, verse 12, do you see a man who's wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Verse 16, the slugger is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. So in this whole idea of how do we live a wise life, it will not be by following your heart. by going on what you know. It will not be a godless solution. Living well never comes by that. It only comes by relying on the Lord. Let me draw your attention to what the prophet Jeremiah said in chapter 8, verse 9. He talks about those wise men who will be put to shame. They'll be dismayed and taken. It's because they've rejected the word of the Lord. So what wisdom is in them? It's as if to say, God gives wisdom, you've rejected what God said. So you have no wisdom. And that's what we need to know at the core of us. To live life well, to be skillful at living, will not come from anything within us. It will only come from the wisdom and the light of God's word, the wisdom that he gives. And this wisdom that God gives is going to make a tremendous impact on our life. Some of you remember the story of the Queen of Sheba who went and visited Solomon. And she said dogmatically, wow. All that I heard, the half has not been told. And the same kind of thing is true of a Christian who lives wisely. It will make a major impact on his life. First, wisdom will give discernment and discipline. A wise person is one who doesn't lose his temper. Proverbs talks about that so many times. He's going to have good sense. He's going to close his mouth. He's going to maintain his dignity. He's even going to be so wise as to be able to say something that will diffuse the anger of others. That's what wisdom looks like. And when you see someone do that, it's almost dumbfounding to see someone who knows how to give a soft answer. But that's what wisdom does. It teaches us in what we say. It teaches us in our discernment, in our discipline. It'll actually guard the things in what we say. Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 2. Proverbs 15 verse 2, the tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of fools pour out folly. Very quickly, you can learn whether or not someone is wise, often by how much he talks. Fools talk too much. Wise people know better than to do that. Wise people know not to slander. Wise people know not to cut down other people. Wise people know not to speak without thinking first. This is what Proverbs says through and through. Strangely enough, wise people know that there's value in not saying a word. They know when to be quiet. It says in chapter 21, verse 23, I remember pointing this out to the kids recently, Proverbs 21, verse 23, it says, whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. And I just said, have you ever observed that what people say often gets them into trouble? A wise person won't get into trouble by what he says. Wisdom will guard what you say. Third, wisdom will govern your appetite. It'll teach you that you ought to be disciplined in what you take into your body, whether it's a whole bunch of food or intoxicating substances. Wisdom will teach us not to be lazy. It'll teach us to be diligent. Wisdom will also teach us that you shouldn't be so picky. You shouldn't be so strict. Also, you shouldn't be laissez-faire about life. That's what Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verse 16 and 17 teach us. You shouldn't be either one. It'll teach you to be a well-balanced person. Wisdom will guard your life from sin, because it protects a man and his heart from sin. Chapter 4, verse 23. Again, the book of Proverbs. Chapter 4, verse 23. The Bible says, keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flows the springs of life. Wisdom will keep you from sin. It'll keep you from the adulterous woman, chapter 2, 5, and chapter 7. It'll protect you against wicked men, chapter 2 in particular. It'll protect you from harmful situations, from making stupid mistakes. It's the wise person who foresees evil and hides himself. It's the fool who passes on and is punished. You see, if we live lives of wisdom, It'll make our lives so much better. And I'm saying that not just because the Bible says that the wise person lives longer, he often will. I'm saying the wise person will live better. And I hope we'll get to that together in the book of Ecclesiastes soon enough. Brothers and sisters, I commend to you wisdom. I want us all to know this first of all, wisdom is not simply you need to be smarter. It's not about being smarter. It's about being skillful. And beyond that, you'll never be a wise person if you don't know who God is and what God wants. Because to live a wise life is to live a life submitted to who God is and what God wants. And if you live that kind of life, if you have that kind of wisdom, it is far greater than gold. There's a whole lot of people with a whole lot of money living terrible lives, wasting away their money, like the prodigal son. And they're all over America. They're in our classrooms. They're on your team. They're your co-workers. We see that all the time. They ruin their life. They rant on social media. Whatever all those things are that we just cringe at, they ruin themselves. God doesn't want that for us. He wants us to live lives of wisdom. And the wonderful news is God gives wisdom. God gives wisdom. So we just need to go to him for it. Lord, we ask that we would. we would understand the value of your wisdom and insight enough to go to you for it. That we would be careful through our lives to take some advice from godly men and women, and to not follow in the paths of those around us who are ruining their lives, but be able to set up even godly role models and model our life after them. That's what you commend us to. And Lord, this kind of living, setting this kind of trajectory is what you want for us. You don't promise a perfect life for your people, but you promise light for the way and help to walk in such a way that pleases you and such a life that we can enjoy as a gift from you. So Lord, we pray that we would walk in wisdom, that we'd value it more than gold in Jesus' name. Amen.