The purpose of this paper really today is to demonstrate the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ are at the heart of the Book of Proverbs. Indeed, I want to argue that the person and work of Christ are foundational to both our preaching and the reading of Proverbs. Now, the Proverbs, I believe, are often the correlation of the wisdom literature that we have in Scripture. Few of us would argue with preaching Christ from the Psalms, but some of us would perhaps be a bit more squeamish with preaching Christ from the Proverbs. Additionally, with the rise of Old Testament studies done in the light of the ancient Near Eastern literature that has become so popular today, I believe that has further reduced our evaluation of the Book of Proverbs. It has reduced it. So my idea is to elevate the provost in our midst, if they need elevating, from their position as a correlation of the wisdom and literature of scripture, and to show that there is much more to them than just sanctified good advice. And I hope to demonstrate legitimate ways in which we see our Lord Jesus Christ in the provost. I'm just going to hand up point two, a declaration of customs. These are really foundational issues I want to deal with, which sets the foreground, if you like, for us before we dive into the Proverbs themselves. The first declaration of customs is this, that Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of covenant history. Graham Goldsworthy writes in his useful entry-level work, According to Plan, he writes this, the one problem we have in the interpretation of the Bible is the failure to interpret the text by the definitive event of the gospel. This has its outworking in both directions. What went before Christ in the Old Testament, as well as what comes after him, finds its meaning in him. So the Old Testament must be understood in its relationship to the Gospel events. Goldsworthy's assertion is that Christ is the centrepiece of redemptive history. And that assertion appears well-founded given our Lord's statements in Luke 24, verse 44. These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Or John 5, 35, if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. Indeed, were it not for the text of Genesis 3.15, the Proto-Ewangelion, not one word of Scripture would either be necessary or meaningful. In essence, what I'm saying is that the message of Scripture is chiefly the triune God in Christ saving the elect, and thus we need to read all of Scripture with a Gospel-centred mindset. Yet inherent in this gospel-centred approach to scripture is the danger of seeing Christ where he is not legitimately to be found, a kind of biblical where's Waldo, as such is to be avoided at all costs. Furthermore, an overemphasis on the redemptive historical nature of scripture can also leave us in danger of not seeing the trees for the forest. With this high-altitude approach to scripture, the pastor, let alone the person in the pew, rarely becomes acquainted with biblical imperatives, the duty that God requires of us. So my first declaration of customs is that Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of redemptive history. Second declaration of customs, proverbs, as a covenant document. The Proverbs are first and foremost products of God's revelation to his covenant people. It is a book, at least as we have it now, of covenant sayings, wisdom given by the covenant God to the covenant people of the old and the new covenants. If we situate this point in our hearts and minds from the outset, it will easily establish two factors for us. First, that Christ most certainly will be present in Proverbs. The second effect is that we will probably weigh the book as a covenant book rather than a collection of sayings which find their significance in the wisdom of the ancient theories. Trevor Longman finds another emphasis other than this. He writes, studying Hebrew wisdom in the light of the broader ancient theories gives us a much deeper understanding of Proverbs. While not doubting some limited similarities between the biblical Proverbs and A&E material, we should not doubt for one moment the provenance of the book of Proverbs. As we have them, they are inspired by the Holy Spirit and are profitable for doctrine, reproof, and so on. Modern academic analyses of Proverbs place far too much weight on comparative A&E material, and far too little on the covenant problems of Proverbs. Doing such places something of a socio-historical straitjacket upon the Proverbs and has the effect of limiting the covenantal and thus the Christocentric focus of the book. Longman again in his commentary on Proverbs writes, The book's teaching majors in practical advice and observations and seems distant from the theological concerns of the bulk of the Old Testament. We look in May, for instance, for any connection with the events of redemptive history, says Longman. While there is some truth to this assertion, it does overlook the plain evidence of the book itself. The Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, King of Israel, chapter 1, verse 1. This clearly sets the Book of Proverbs within the redemptive historical framework of the monarchy of Israel, which itself points us to the kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we may ask the significance of the ten father-to-son discourses that we find in Proverbs. Not only should we be looking for a poetic perspective on these, but an historical, covenantal, and eschatological perspective. Not only do we find the word covenant in 2 verse 17, but also frequently the language of the covenant throughout the entire book. The words chesed or emer, mercy and faithfulness, occur on many occasions through the book. It's the language of the covenant. Charles Bridges writes, the great end of this inestimable book is to teach not secular or political wisdom, but that knowledge of God which, while it make it wise unto salvation, perfects and finishes the man of God unto all good works. Bridges, then, rightly encapsulates the thrust of the book, to make us wise in the knowledge of God unto salvation, that we may be perfected to do all good works. That is the correct covenant focus of Proverbs and, I believe, all of Scripture. My third declaration and customs, after which we'll take a break and pause for questions. And perhaps this is the most important of all three of the declarations, Proverbs as law and Proverbs as gospel. Now, with what I said from Britain in mind, it is one more declaration at customs. How do we relate Proverbs to the thorny subjects of law and of gospel? Anyone who has spent any time in Proverbs will quickly notice that Proverbs is, at one level, a practical and detailed exposition of the Ten Commandments. Take, for example, Proverbs 3.29. Do not devise harm against your neighbor while he lives in security beside you. This proverb coheses well with our Lord's summary of the second table of the law. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Yet in other respects we see the grace of the Gospel writ large on the pages of Proverbs. Proverbs 8 verse 17 and verse 35. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Blessed is the one who listens to me, for whoever finds me finds life. How then should we rightly preach the Proverbs as law and as Gospel? On the one hand, I find it unsatisfactory the language of a law-gospel hermeneutic, which speaks of all of Scripture either as law or as grace, where never between shall meet. In this scheme, law is so often portrayed as our enemy, the thing with which we do battle, which when in reality it is sin and not law that is our enemy. The antidote to this law problem, we are told, is the preaching of the Gospel, and very often only the preaching of the Gospel. The result of this, as one writer states, is, the whole counsel of God is buried when the grace formula is imposed on every text of scripture. All the Bible's sharp edges, he writes, have been blunted or ignored in the name of grace preaching. This is true. At the other extreme, however, I find imperative, heavy preaching with its constant demand to be the way of Christian living equally unsatisfactory. To overemphasise the imperative of a Christian life is to leave the Christian without the firm foundation, firm and necessary foundation, upon which to build his Christian walk. Attempting to live a life of holiness without first laying the foundation of our holiness in Christ and in union with him, cruelly and irresponsibly deprives the believer of the capacity to, the motivation for, and the gospel requirements of holy living. All too often, such preaching sounds like moralism, and moralism simply will not do. Regarding these matters, scripture does not always neatly divide itself into strict law gospel categories, and Proverbs is no exception. Proverbs clearly exhibits a threefold use of the law, but we can also be guilty if we are not careful, and especially in Proverbs, of the twofold misuse of the law. Rarely preaching law and only gospel, and then only preaching law and seldom gospel. In this law gospel debate, we should readily acknowledge that Proverbs presents us law, often in the form of counsel, which is to be obeyed as an outworking of a relationship with God characterized by the fear of the Lord. How do we find life in Proverbs? By law-keeping, no. but by a relationship in which the Lord is feared that leads to the law-keeping of Proverbs. Then the fourth declaration of customs, the tone of our preaching. In my earlier days of seminary, I was critiqued in a manner which has never left me. I was told that the tone of my sermon did not quite match the tone of the text. What the critique was saying to me is that I had preached an imperative, a command-heavy sermon when the text was primarily in the indicative mood. When it told us about what God had done for us, my sermon, in a sense, misrepresented the tone of the text by preaching too many commands. Now the Book of Proverbs contains both indicative and imperative, what God has done for us and what duty God requires of us. But we often find the indicative carrying an imperative, a command-like tone. Implicit in the counsel or advice given by the writers is the idea that the counsel of the Proverbs will be acted upon. Take, for example, Proverbs 16.12. It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness. Clearly, this is an indicative. It's stating the case. but its thrust is imperatival. Essentially it's saying, kings, don't engage in evil, but do righteousness, let your throne be established. Now, if we jump immediately to Christ, to preach how this relates to Christ as the king who lived righteously and had his throne established by righteousness, which I think is a legitimate application of this text, We miss not only the content of the indicative, what the text is actually saying there on the ground, as it were, in Proverbs, but we also miss the imperative given to all those in positions of authority. If the text is predominantly imperatival and we do not preach as such, I think we have mispreached the text of Scripture. In my recent sermon series on Proverbs, I think perhaps no more of my sermons than 30% was taken up with the Christological perspective. My endeavour on every occasion was to encapsulate the meaning of the text the direct application of the text to us, and then to preach Christ, but not always in that order. So there's our four declaration customs before we move on. Any questions or comments? Just giving us the way you preached the Proverbs, it sounds like 70% of the time you made a beeline to Christ, it sounds like after you, so what did that look like practically? We can answer that now. Yes, the beeline to Christ sometimes came at the front end of the sermon, sometimes in the middle, sometimes at the back end of it. And there was a beeline to Christ, though, very definitely. It just is not monolithic in the way we do it, because certain texts demand different approaches. I'll come to that in one moment. When you said 30% of your sermons were about Christ, you meant explicit verses that you thought were historical, prophetical, or explicitly speaking of him like Proverbs 30, what is his name? What is his son's name? If you know, you didn't mean in the other 70%, they didn't have a relationship to him. Now, Christ is, if you like, the gel, the glue of the series I did on Proverbs. It's what coheres the indicative and imperative of Proverbs. He is what adheres, if you like, the indicative and imperative of Proverbs. And I'm arguing in this paper that if you leave Christ out, you miss the boat. You miss the point. You have a three-fold proper use of the law and a two-fold misuse of the law. And maybe I just missed one or two of them. Could you just very quickly... The proper use would be as counsel working through... Well, I didn't go into the future use of the law per se. But the twofold misuse was more my point then, that we either over-emphasize law or we leave law out altogether. And that seems to be the, by and large, that seems to be the spectrum of reform preaching at the moment. I guess I'm arguing for a middle way, that law is not everything, that law is not nothing if at least it's is that there has to be an appropriate use of the law. This is very new for the Christian. And I'm arguing that there's a neglect or an overemphasis on the third use of the law, essentially, a rule for holding the thing is right. OK, let's move on. So the third point there, as you can see, preaching Christ in the Provo is a systematic approach. It could be a synthetic approach either way. First of all, we have to acknowledge that there are many voices on this matter of preaching Christ from Proverbs. I've got more material here that I'm going to give you, some quotations, and then leave out for the purposes of time. But in the Reformed world, there is by no means unanimity about whether we even should preach Christ from Proverbs. I had a conversation recently with a fellow pastor who told me that he felt no need to preach Christ and Proverbs, because of the Proverbs similarity with ancient Near Eastern material. He was arguing, therefore, that it's really just sanctified good advice, that that's all it was for him. And I profoundly disagree with that, of course. But there are other men in the world, their names you will know in the reformed world, better educated than I am, certainly, who would profoundly disagree with what I'm going to propose. Next, Bruce Waltke, for example, many of you will know his name, whose two-volume work on Proverbs is as thorough as you will find. This is one volume. of the two volumes. It's as thorough as you'll find on Proverbs. He would profoundly disagree with what I'm about to propose to you now. He finds only two legitimate means of preaching Christ in Proverbs, by contrast to which we will come right at the end of the talk, and then by type and anti-type. And I disagree with his typological analysis. So we'll go there. He argues vehemently against finding Christ in Proverbs 8 and 9, arguing only for a typological relationship between wisdom and Christ. He further distances the wisdom of Solomon from the wisdom of Christ, and he writes, and I quote him, the sayings of the book of Proverbs have a direct relevance to Christian even while being superseded by the fuller revelation of Jesus Christ. Superseded is essentially his way of seeing the Old Testament. The Christian prizes Solomon's wisdom as hidden treasure, he continues, but he prizes life in the present kingdom of God even more. You can see how he sets the two in opposition. Now, he qualifies that. He says while he feeds on Solomon's wisdom, he recognises that he feasts on a great evacuate in the Kingdom of God. Almost as if the Kingdom of God wasn't back then. He learns Solomon's Proverbs in the full light of hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge found in Jesus Christ. That's fine. In other words, he does not substitute Solomon's traditional wisdom for the person and work of Jesus Christ. And this is what he means by that. Christians already live at the end of the ages nevertheless. Even though Christ's wisdom is so much greater than Solomon's, we do not discard Solomon's any more than we would throw away a $5 bill if we owned a $20 bill. Trevor Longman, another noted Old Testament scholar, goes somewhat further than Waltke is prepared to. Contrary to Waltke, Longman argues for the personification of wisdom in Proverbs 8 and 9 to represent Christ. citing then such texts, and we'll come to these in a minute, 1 Corinthians 1.30, Colossians 2.3, Colossians 1.15-17, and Matthew 11.18-19, and the prologue of John's Gospel as evidence of the strong connection between the wisdom of Proverbs and our Lord Jesus Christ. He also argues for a principle in interpreting Christ, and I quote him, as the fulfilment of wisdom and how he might illustrate the wisdom of the passage you are reading. Here Lowman comes closest to what I'm going to propose, but in my estimation still falls short of the necessary Christocentricity of Provo's. Just as Waltke and Longman are not on the same page, this hermeneutical and exegetical disparity is multiplied by as many as have written on Proverbs. So then, the method of preaching Christ, how do we preach Christ in Proverbs? And I really propose a threefold or a fourfold, if you look at subdivision, means of preaching the person and work of Christ from Proverbs. Firstly, there is the concept of Christ as the fulfillment of Proverbs. Under the umbrella of fulfillment, we will examine the concepts of embodiment and personification. Second, we will examine Proverbs through the lens of union with Christ. And third, we will examine the idea that the person and work of our Lord may be accentuated by means of contrast. Now, as we progress through this section, we should become more and more aware that implicit, implicit in Proverbs are the indicatives of our faith. What God has done for us in Christ. Only when this foundation is laid may we truly preach the imperatives of Proverbs such as we find them. So firstly, preaching Christ as the fulfilment of Proverbs. It is in this section that we will deal with the sometimes difficult relationship of law and gospel in Proverbs. Preaching law to Christians is good and necessary because scripture requires such. Preaching gospel to Christians, as the foundation of a law-keeping life, is equally indispensable. It is in the life and work of Christ that these two principles, law and gospel, cohere. That's probably the main theme or the main point of this whole talk, as we see it in Proverbs. In the life and work of Christ, the two principles of law and gospel cohere. I think there's a rule for all scripture, actually, but Proverbs particularly. So we are therefore presented with both evangelical and legal demands and conditions, if you like, in Proverbs. As we approach this task, we must acknowledge that preaching Christ from wisdom literature is not to be done monolithically. Christ is not equally present in all texts. And where our Lord is present, not every text is of the same emphasis concerning his person and work. So firstly then, the principle of embodiment. Christ as the embodiment of proverbial living. We find in Proverbs at least 55 and probably more different themes which are addressed with some degree of regularity. And if you don't have this book, Wisdom for Today's Issues by Stephen Warwick, you need to get it. as a tool for pastoral counseling or just for self-discipline, discipleship, it's invaluable. It divides the Proverbs according to categories and themes. And if you all the verses of Proverbs on abomination, adultery, alcohol, and so on, which goes through this, it's an excellent, very valuable resource. And so we find at least 55, probably a lot more than that, different themes addressed with some regularity in Proverbs. From adultery, to giving and receiving counsel, to discipline, the fool, the idea of righteousness and holiness, honour, love, laziness, pride, speech, wisdom, practically every area of covered life, it seems, is covered in Proverbs. Interestingly, we see some issues are dealt with in greater detail than others. Abominations, adultery, the rule of kings, the poor, keeping the heart, to name but a few. Now how does Christ relate to these subjects? Think firstly about our approach to preaching Christ before we even get to the text. It is my conviction that scripture was written for and to our Lord Jesus himself. Luke records of the childhood development of Christ in Luke 2.40, the child grew in wisdom and became strong, filled with the, sorry, the child grew and became strong, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom, and the favour of God was upon him. How did this happen? Most certainly in his humanity. Our Lord was perfectly diligent in his use of the old covenant means of grace. He used the scriptures appropriately, and his peculiar characteristic of wisdom is highlighted in Luke 2. He read the Proverbs, most certainly. And moreover, he lived the Proverbs, because he knew the Proverbs. In his humanity, he was as bound by proverbial living as we are. Yet in his humanities, he fulfilled the Proverbs. And as our covenant head, we'll come to that in a few moments. His life, then, was the embodiment of proverbial living. Now, how is this manifest? I've got six areas. I'll try and be very quick on these. First we need to think of the ten My Son monologues in Proverbs, which undoubtedly our Saviour would have understood as His Heavenly Father speaking to Him. God the Father speaking to him, my son, take heed to my counsel, give your wisdom, and so on. It is out of this instruction, this counsel that Christ received from his father that he lived. Second, we must examine how Christ outworked one of the foundational principles of Proverbs, the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord. Chapter 1, verse 7. This concept is vitally important in Providence. In Wellesend, it speaks of the fear of the Lord being the commencement, the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord, that filial, not judgmental relationship, is that which produces wisdom in us, the fear of the Lord's beginning of wisdom. But as we look into chapter 2, in the first five verses, we see that an increasing knowledge of the fear of the Lord is discovered by adherence to the counsel of the Father. We have a kind of cyclical approach. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom of the Bible. foolishly, but in chapter 2 we see as the son listens and adheres to the counsel of his father, then it says, then you will understand the fear of the Lord. As the child grows in wisdom, they grow in the fear of the Lord. If you treasure my commandments with you, make sure you're attentive to wisdom, then you will understand the fear of the Lord," says Proverbs 2. Now is this not embodied and exemplified in the life of our Lord? The Prophet Isaiah writes in chapter 11, verse 2, "...and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. So first, Christ is the embodiment of the proverbial and biblical concept of the fear of the Lord. We're told that in Isaiah. Now given that, God speaks of the outcome of this filial fear in that the Messiah, back in Isaiah, in the Messiah will not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide disputes by what he hears with his ears, but, and I quote Isaiah, with righteousness he will judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. Now, as we see Christ as the embodiment of the fear of the Lord, we see Proverbs opened up for us. The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor. The wicked does not understand such concern, Proverbs 29 said. The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor. Why? Because he had the fear of the Lord upon him. And Isaiah tells us that the fear of the Lord in Christ, in the Messiah, will lead to righteous and equitable judgment for the poor. You see the connection that I'm making? Or again? The fear of the Lord is instruction for wisdom, and before honour comes humility. Proverbs 13, verse 3. Now I would ask you, how can we read texts like this? without seeing the pattern of our Lord's ministry. The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom. He grew in wisdom, as he tells us, and yet before honour came humility. That's the exact pattern of the life of our Lord. So if we consider the fear of the Lord in Proverbs and all the scripture, it seems inconceivable to me that we would think of preaching on this subject without reference to Christ Jesus, whose own person and work are the foundation for the Christian life. Thirdly, as we consider Christ as the foundation, we note that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Does not Christ exemplify wise living in his various interactions, as they're recorded for us in the Gospel? In this respect, we might call Christ the wise man of Proverbs, just as we would preach Christ as the righteous man of Psalm 1. But there is surely more to Christ as wisdom than mere exemplification. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1.24 that Christ is both the power of God and the wisdom of God. though he personifies or exemplifies the wise, proverbial life, he is in fact wisdom itself. He is wisdom itself. God is his attributes. He does not possess wisdom. He is wisdom. Is it not, then, appropriate when preaching on the pursuit and the exercise of wisdom that we preach Christ first, who is the embodiment of wisdom and is, in fact, wisdom itself? I'm going to skip the next part. Fifth, Proverbs is replete with counsel or advice, if you like, on taking advice. It's replete with counsel on giving and taking counsel. On many occasions, the Proverbs call directly to the reader to hear, to listen, to be wise, to consider, to treasure, and to be attentive to the wisdom, counsel, instruction, and discipline of the speaker. It's about taking counsel, giving and receiving counsel. Often this counsel comes in the form of a command, which the reader is expected to obey. Take Proverbs 8, 14. I have counsel and sound wisdom. I have insight. I have strength. Now in a moment I'm going to argue that Christ is being personified. Christ is speaking in chapter 8. With that in mind, Christ, who is the wisdom of God, 1 Corinthians 1.24, he calls to the reader in Proverbs 8 and says this, And now, O sons, listen to me. Blessed are those who keep my ways. Christ calls to us and says, Heed my counsel and listen to me. So how are we to take counsel from Proverbs? which is one of the main themes? Or rather, should we say, from whom are we to take counsel? From none other than the one who says, I have counsel, I have insight, and the one whose scripture calls the wonderful counselor. If you look at the poor, I'll mention some texts very briefly. Proverbs 22, 22, Yahweh will plead the case of the poor. The poor man, that is suffocation. The rich man, this is roughly 1823. All the brothers of the poor man hate him. Think on that. It is better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divine the spoils with the proud. Think of the language. We don't need a great imagination once again to see the life of Christ played out in these Proverbs. His brothers hate him. He is not with the proud who are dividing the spoils. And Paul makes his connection himself to Corinthians 8 and 9, another key text for our understanding of Christ in the Proverbs. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, Yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. Christ gave up his divine prerogatives of glory and wealth to become poor for us in his incarnation. And let me throw this one out lastly for you now. Do we not all see Christ as the fool of providence? Now we tread carefully here, of course. Because we need to distinguish this category very carefully. Christ is intrinsically wise. He is intrinsically righteous and merciful. He is not so as a fool. But Paul writes this in 1 Corinthians 1.18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, he continues, for since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews are man's sons, and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, and folly to Gentiles. The Proverbs speaks of the fool being without honour. Our Lord's family did not believe him, demeaning him, saying, you are out of your mind, Mark 3. The Proverbs speaks of the character of the life of the fool as filled with trouble and violence and threat. So was our Lord's life filled with those? Furthermore, Proverbs 10, 31 tells us that the fool has a rod laid across his back. Compare this with the ministry of Christ, the last days of Christ. The message of Christ is folly to the world. Why? Because Christ himself, who though being the wisdom of God, was taken as a fool for our sakes. Christ is personification. I'll find it briefer now as time is against us. Christ is the personification of wisdom. The Proverbs very clearly speak of two ways of living. Proverbs 14.12 tells us, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. It's the way of the fool. Proverbs 8.17 tells us that wisdom loves those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me, rich in honour are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. The two ways of Proverbs are clearly seen in the Kabbalists that dominate 12 chapters of Proverbs. From chapter 10 to chapter 22, we find this form of parallelism. For example, a wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is sorrowed to his mother. That is the format of 12 chapters, the two ways of Proverbs. Now before we get to chapter 10, there is a prelude to chapter 10. It's chapters 7, 8 and 9. You've got the two ways set before you. But before that, the two ways are personified in chapters 7 through 9. In chapter 7, we find the way of folly personified as the way of the adulterous. But then we see in chapters 8 and 9 the way of wisdom, which I argue is Christ. Christ calling to his people to find wisdom. Now if we go back to Proverbs 1, verse 20, we find wisdom again calling out in the public places to those who hear, both to the foolish and to the wise. The simple ones of 122 equate to those who are in unbelief. They are scoffers. Fools who hate knowledge and those who refuse to listen when wisdom calls. The result? Wisdom laughs at their calamity. Echoes of Psalm 2. Laughs at their calamity and mocks when terror strikes. Verse 26. Parallels for life and teaching of Christ are interesting at this point. By and large, Christ's teaching in the public square was ignored and reviled and mocked. Men scoffed at him, and they beat him, scoffed at him, and they beat him, and mocked him as he hung on the cross. As Christ exemplified wisdom, so too did the Jews exemplify folly. They were those who refused to listen, They were fools who hated knowledge, of such who would not listen, even though they later call on wisdom. Wisdom says to them, I will not answer you, though they seek me diligently, they will not find me. Though they seek me diligently, they will not find me. Our Lord echoes this language, this very language, in John 7, 34. You will seek me, and you will not find me. The wisdom of Proverbs and of our Lord find a remarkable parallel in this language. Proverbs 7, we find the personification of the way of death, the way of the fool. It's personified by the adulterous woman. She goes about in a public place, albeit at twilight, to entice and to lure the sinful ones to their death. The adulterous, my quote is, winding apart loud and wayward. She has the appearance of respectability, religious respectability, Proverbs 7, 14. I had a lot of sacrifices today, and today I have paid my vows, so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, she says in simple. Listen to this. She confumes her bed with myrrh and aloes and sternum. in order to beautify herself for the act of fornication and adultery. She perfumes her bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon, exactly like the one, and that's with a capital O, the one of whom wisdom speaks. Psalm 45, 7, 8. speaks of the Messiah coming in all his glory. Of him we are told, therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. Your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. precisely what the adulteress does also. The adulteress copies the way of wisdom. The adulteress copies the way of Christ. Psalm 45 is clearly of Christ. In order to beautify herself and lure people to their death. So we have a way of following, which publicizes herself in the street, which beautifies herself in the manner of wisdom in order to lure people to their death. So what is Proverbs answer to the personification of wickedness, which is the adulterous woman? What is Proverbs answer to that? It's Proverbs 8 and 9. Wisdom, which is portrayed again as feminine, also calls and beautifies herself to attract the simple ones. We can talk about the feminine aspect of Proverbs 8 afterwards, if you want. A closer examination of Proverbs 8 will actually show us it's our Lord, God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is wisdom. So we remind ourselves of that fact that Paul says for us, that Christ is the wisdom of God in Colossians. When scripture itself so closely unites the attribute of wisdom to our Lord, we would be foolish to ignore it when reading Proverbs. Twice in 1 Corinthians Paul tells us Christ is the wisdom of God. In 1 Corinthians again he tells us that Christ has become our wisdom from God. Paul again in Colossians 2-3 tells us that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. We are told very plainly Christ is wisdom. And so when we read wisdom speaking in Proverbs 8, wisdom calling out, who are we to read? Where do we find Christ calling out to us? Let me show you what I mean. Verse 7 of chapter 8. From my mouth will utter truth. Wickedness is an abomination to my lips. Compare that with John 7, 18. But the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. Verse 10 of chapter 8 of Proverbs. Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice, God, for wisdom is better than jewels. Matthew 6, 20. Our Lord says, lay up yourselves treasures in heaven. I have counsel and sound wisdom. I have insight. I have strength. Proverbs 8, 14. Compare that again with Colossians 2, 3. In Christ I have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Proverbs. 9.4, which continues with sonification, to him who lacks sense, come eat of my bread and drink of my wine that I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and live. Compare that with John 6.35, I am the bread of life. John 6.53, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. We can talk later about the problematic text of Proverbs 8.23.25, the idea of wisdom being set up and created. We can talk about that afterwards because we're against the clock. So wisdom calls to her sons. Christ calls to his children at the end of Proverbs 8. And now, O sons, listen to me. Blessed are those who keep my ways. Blessed is the one who listens to me, for whoever finds me finds life. Our Lord's call to his people. Blessed is the one who is not offended by me, Matthew 11. Everyone who looks on the sun and believes in him should have life, John 6, 14. I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. Proverbs 7 to 9 personifies the two ways of life, the way of the fool and the way of wisdom. And in Proverbs 8, 32, Christ calls and says, now you're certain to listen to me. Blessed are those who keep my ways. Blessed are those who keep my ways. Our Lord not only taught the broad road that leads to destruction, but the narrow way that leads to life. But he also, more importantly, taught that I am the way. I am the way. Is it too much to ask that we see our Lord in the call to faith and holy life that we see in Proverbs? I hope not. As we look at the wisdom of Proverbs, do we not see Christ, the wise man, the perfect exemplification of wisdom? Do we not also see Christ himself calling to us as God's wisdom to seek him and in finding him we find life? Let me briefly deal with union with Christ in about five or so minutes. As we witness Christ in the manifold themes of Proverbs, we are reminded of Paul's remarkable statements in 1 Corinthians 1. He tells us that God destroys the wisdom of the wise and chooses that which is foolish to shame that which thinks it is wise. In this context, Paul notes that the world in its wisdom did not know God. The world in its wisdom did not know God. Naturally, we are all unwise. Paul equates that with unbelief, and so does Proverbs. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Yet in Christ, there's union with Christ. By faith, we are wise. In Christ we are wise. Paul writes, because of God you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. All of us here today love to preach and hear preaching that Christ is our righteousness, that precious righteousness, altogether divine. Perhaps some of us are less inclined to preach Christ as our holiness, that that He most certainly is, Paul tells us. that as we read and preach Proverbs, how inclined are we to preach Christ as our wisdom? Not just the embodiment, not just the personification, but federally, covenantally, our wisdom. Of this concept, Charles Hart writes, union with Christ therefore makes the believer truly wise. It secures the knowledge of God, whose glory is revealed in the face of Christ, and whom to know is life eternal. Is it not intriguing that Christ is first named our wisdom before he is named our righteousness and sanctification and redemption? The Corinthians prize worldly wisdom, but Paul has already told us that they were too wise in their own eyes to receive Christ, because the message of the cross to them was folly. Thus, the wisdom of 1 Corinthians 1.30, which appears at the beginning of those four qualities, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, the wisdom of 1 Corinthians 1.30 has something like a regenerating-like quality. And I don't want to press that too hard. But what's he speaking of? He's speaking about the opening of their eyes. the renovation of their corrupt heart, the habituation of the soul, the removal of the earthly, salvation hindering pride and folly. That's what's removed from them. in Christ becoming our wisdom. The wisdom of the world dismisses the cross, for that which is carnal cannot receive that which is spiritual. But Paul tells the Corinthians, Christ has become for them their wisdom. Their wisdom, their foolish eyes now see the Christ, their hard and proud hearts and received the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. As we enter Proverbs thinking of Christ as our wisdom, we naturally focus upon the indicatives of the faith. I'll say that again, we enter Proverbs thinking of Christ as our wisdom, we naturally focus upon the indicatives of the faith, what God has done for us in the realm of wisdom in Christ. Christ has lived the proverbial life in our place. He is the young man or the son who lived according to his father's counsel. He is the wise king of Proverbs 13. He is the one who has kept his heart. He is the one who has treasured wisdom. He has found life and dwelt securely by finding wisdom. And he has done that for us. He has done it for us. If this line of argumentation is correct, we may correctly encourage God's people in this manner. Those that fear the Lord are wise in Christ. Those that fear the Lord are wise in Christ. Now, once we've said that to them, what do we then say to them as we're preaching Proverbs? We tell them what the wise man does. How the wise man lives. You see, just telling them what to do from Proverbs, in a sense, misses the point. Because Proverbs first tells what has been done for us in Christ, and then we may tell the Church, or as we read Proverbs, we understand that we are to then enact the Proverbs as Christ did himself. So every time we read of the wise, the discerning, the knowledgeable, the understanding, the righteous, the holy, we are reading of ourselves in Christ. Yet those who are in Christ are called to activity. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Proverbs 2 tells us to pursue wisdom that we might understand the fear of the Lord. Indicative, imperative, what God has done for us, what we are to do. Herein lies the biblical pattern of salvation. God saves us through grace like faith and then calls us to a holy life. And so we are to read Proverbs, we are to explain Proverbs, we are to explain what God has done for us, and also then to urge and exhort and to press upon all who are sat under the ministry and duty God requires of us. And so we preach. both the indicative and the imperative out of union with Christ, neither compromising the gospel of Proverbs, nor the law of Proverbs. Indeed, for the Christian, what God has joined together, gospel and law, let no man put asunder. Very briefly, I mean very briefly, preaching Christ by contrast. Wolke is useful on this. He notes that we observe Christ, we see his work, if you like, his person and work accentuated by means of contrast. Let me give you just a few examples. Solomon taught that God rewards those who give aid to the poor, but Christ identifies himself with and as the poor. Solomon offers eternal life opaquely, and that's true, but Christ, by his resurrection, brought immortality into the full light of day. Solomon's wisdom is a babbling brook, but Christ offers streams of living water coming from within a man. Solomon told us to write the law on our hearts and bind them on our fingers, but Christ, by His Spirit, writes the law on our hearts. Contrast, then, is a useful tool which teaches us the progressive nature of revelation. One mightier than Solomon has come, and his wisdom is greater than Solomon's. However, we should not make the mistake of what he appears to mean. He seems to set the wisdom of Solomon and the wisdom of Christ almost as categorically different entities. He writes, well I've already quoted that one, so I'll do it again. Solomon's wisdom, I would suggest to us, is Christ's wisdom. Solomon's wisdom is Christ's wisdom. Indeed, Solomon's wisdom is Christ himself. To think otherwise is to deny the full revelation of God in scripture. Christ is greater than Solomon because he is wisdom. And then behave in perfect consistency with his own character. The grand themes of Proverbs tell us of the two ways. There is the way of the fool, the one still in Adam, those who be part of the covenant people. Or there is the way of the wise. Proverbs tells us the way of the wise is to receive wisdom, instruction, and understanding, and thus to receive life itself. Yet perhaps in an echo of Proverbs, the fullness of Christ is observed when he tells the way of the wise is not cheaply found in doing, but in believing he who is the way, the truth, and the life.