You just answer questions. So, don't overcomplicate it, but if you get stuck, we'll be working through it together. All right. We are printing out Chapter 3 handouts right now. So, I should have those before the time is over. We're picking up on page 77. And number three, Roman numeral three, it's actually verse six in Proverbs chapter two. So if you want to turn there. And again, we're talking about wisdom. And so just to kind of get ourselves back in the mindset of Proverbs, since we have been away from it for a little bit, let me just go ahead and read Proverbs chapter two again, just to put this in perspective. And remember, this is the introductory chapters into the whole book. And so Solomon's laying this foundation. And he's talking to his sons, these young men. And this is what he says in beginnings of chapter two. My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom. Incline your heart to understanding, for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding. If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, look at all those conditions. you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth, come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice, and he preserves the way of his godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice." Notice again a consequence here or almost a promise in many ways. And equity in every good course, for wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who delight in doing evil and rejoice in the perversity of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. And then he gets into the more practical side of just men and women, to deliver you from the strange woman, from the adulteress who flatters with her words, that leaves the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. For her house sinks down to death and her tracks lead to the dead. None who go to her return again, nor do they reach the paths of life. So you will walk in the way of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. for the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it. But the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted from it. This is ancient literature, and so you can see these ancient pictures. But isn't it true that the principles then are still very much applicable today? And so we're picking up at verse 6. and the provider of wisdom. And this is really going back to God as our creator. For the Lord, verse six, gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk uprightly. He guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of his saints. Now, this is really the starting point in many ways. Think about it. How does the world view the scriptures? Do they see it as the wisdom of God, or do they see it the foolishness of men? And they see it as the foolish of men, for the most part. And so God is showing us insight, and no, no, I am the source of wisdom. The Lord gives wisdom. There's that word hakmah again. And it literally means to hand personally down for edification and building up. Now, I'm sure in your Christian life, there's been opportunities where you've been at that fork in the road, right? And you're like, I know what the Bible says, and I know what my flesh says. And sometimes you've gone the fleshly way, and you've gone, yep, that Bible verse was right on the money, and I neglected it. And then there's other times you're like, this is God's wisdom. I better do this. And you obey it, and you see the fruit that comes from it. That's the idea here, is God is giving you the wisdom so that you go down the right path and don't make the wrong choice. And it's from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. It's literally from him. So when we're reading God's word, we really need to understand, though it's been given through men, It is his words. It is how he thinks. It is what he believes. It is his convictions. It is his wisdom. And so when we look at the scriptures, this is really, to me, the fundamental of every born-again believer. Do you believe the word of God is God's word? And if it is, do you heed to it? Do you hear it? Or do you not? And over the years of years of discipling people, pastoring people, this has always been the fine line. because either they're gonna respect and honor the word and obey it, or they're not. And this is how you divide a Christian in word and a Christian in practice, right? It's easy on Sunday school to say, hey, do you believe the Bible's word, God? Yes, yes. And then you go to work and you face a situation like, am I gonna obey God's word? That's the test. And like I've always said, you only grow up to your point of disobedience. So if you wanna grow, you have to obey God's word. That's the only way, and this passage bears that out. Okay, so it's personal, from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. Wisdom is knowledge, the who and the what, and understanding is the why and the how. And so God is bringing this together because God doesn't wanna just fill our heads up with knowledge, with information. This is what we live in the world today. We open up our mobile phone or our computer, right? We do the scan of the news, we do the scan of the articles, we read the headlines and we're like, OK, I know what's going on, right? But it's a very surface understanding. I'm reminded of this at work every day. I've got this young man. He's a talented programmer. And I just watch him work. And I'm like, I thought I knew programming, but I don't. When I watch him work, I'm like, wow, he has understanding. And so he has the who and the what and the why and how. And I'm just speaking of practical stuff. Okay, now implication, these two verses imply an ongoing, lifelong relationship. We will continue as believers to go to the Lord for wisdom to know and understand. So, are you ever going to know the Bible fully? I don't know about you, but when I read through the Bible through the year, I do an audio, I constantly go, man, I forgot that. I forgot that. How did I forget that? We always forget more than we remember, unfortunately. But the idea here is that we're going to have a lifelong pursuit of God and his word, and pursuing his word And I want to make sure you get this, we're pursuing really Him. We're going through the Word to know Him, but I don't want you to always see the Bible as a fact book, right? It is His words, it is His wisdom, but we're cultivating a relationship in the process. So as you're reading, hopefully you're talking to Him and asking questions and sometimes sitting back in awe and going, wow, that is so amazing, Lord. But that's the idea. It's you're cultivating a relationship, just like in your own relationship with your spouse or your friends or your family, right? If you don't talk to them, if you don't listen to their words, you really don't have a relationship. Any comments, any thoughts on that? Okay, let me go back to my PowerPoint, because I'm getting ahead of myself here. All right, so there's verse six, a little thought here. Here's Santa Claus, and I only one thing about all these complaints I've been hearing about you, venison. In other words, he's threatening to eat them. Oh, it didn't show up? Oh, you can't see it. Well, that takes away the fun of it. Let's see why that is the case. One second. And let's see here. Always a little technical difficulty. Let me just do it this way. That's really strange. It's not even moving, huh? Let's try it this way. Oh, you know what? Is that? Hang on here. I had it working. Let me try this. Sorry, technical difficulty here. It says it's in play mode, but it's not actually in play mode. So what I'm going to do is I'm just going to shut it down. OK, that's a good sign. And we'll try it one more time. Slide 47. There we go. OK. 47. This should work. There we go, okay, there's Santa Claus. I've only got one thing to say to all the complaints I've been hearing about you, venison. Okay, that's not the threatening that God is doing here, all right? but we can fall into those modes of complaining. Okay, all right, let's go to the next verse here, or continue with the storehouse. It's a very interesting picture that's being painted here. First is upright. It literally means straight, not crooked, level, and proper. And this is one of the things that is continually repeated in the Proverbs, is God's word is a straight path. I'm sure we've heard, even the world has the expression, the straight and narrow path. That all comes from this picture. Who are upright in Proverbs and what are their actions? What does it mean to live this way? We walk, live uprightly, verse 7. We see Proverbs 2.21, blameless. These are some other expressions. Not perverse. 332, integrity guides them. 113, they turn to righteousness and away from lust. Proverbs 116, their words, bless and build a city rather than tear it down. I mean, it wasn't too long ago when we had all these riots going around the country, right? What were people doing? Literally tearing down the businesses that provide jobs and help in the community. That's insanity. And then, if we turn the page there, they pray. Again, another example, they're not lazy, they speak truth to those in authority, and they seek the well-being of others. This is a picture of a wonderful civil society. Now, who is called upright in the Bible? Job is. This is God speaking to Job. The Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil. Wow. That is cool. What does God think of the upright? Proverbs 11, seven, for the Lord is righteous. He loves righteousness. The upright will behold his face. There's a picture of the salvation that we have and the promise of heaven in his presence. Warning, do not think that being upright saves you, okay, or guarantees you'll go to heaven. This is important. Being upright is the fruit of being saved, not the root of being saved. This is really key. Growing up Catholic is a great example. Okay, don't lie, follow the Ten Commandments, go to church, do all those things. And I remember saying as an unbeliever in the Catholic Church, someone asked me, are you going to go to heaven? Yeah. I go to church, I'm a Catholic, I haven't killed anyone, right? Those are not how we get saved. Those are the fruits, not the root of our salvation. The root is there's only one work, and you know, is Christ on the cross. Okay, stores up is the same word as treasure. However, the Hebrew implies that the wisdom is ancient. The Lord is the treasure of wisdom, and he greatly desires to give his wisdom to believers. Now think about that. Here's God, who has all this knowledge, infinite, right? And he just wants to give it to his children. That's the picture of our Heavenly Father. James 1.5, of course, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting, for he who doubts is like the wave of the sea, right, being driven and tossed by the wind. You've seen that picture. For let not that man suppose who receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. So the picture is, okay, Lord, any wisdom? This is my situation. I need wisdom. And then you're given the choice and the wisdom and you go, ah, no, no, no, I'm not gonna do that. That's too hard. That's just not gonna work. I think I know better. That's the double-minded man going on, the conversation in your head. Now, Jesus Christ, of course, Isaiah 11, two, the spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. in the millennial kingdom, the Lord Jesus Christ ruling from Jerusalem, and we're co-reigning, we are going to see firsthand the wisdom of God being played out on the world scene. It's gonna be epic. I mean, remember in Solomon, with the two women and the one baby died, right? How did he know to say, if some judge did that today, that judge would be taken out, right? He'd be removed. But he says, let's divide the child in half. And, of course, the wisdom was he knew the true mother would not want the child to die, and so she gave the child back. And, of course, then it was figured out who was the real mother. That's the kind of wisdom. Now, of course, he had insight. And of course, Christ on the throne is gonna be omniscient, so it's not like you can lie and cheat and steal and get away with it. It's gonna be magnificent, think about it. Colossians 2.1, for I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf, and for those who are later to see, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, this is Paul writing, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding. There is that combination of wealth and wisdom, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." I don't know if you've really stepped back and just kind of thought through this, but when we look at the life of Christ, and we did that in the Gospel of Mark, everything Christ said, everything Christ did, is an expression of the wisdom of God. It's how we're to live. And of course, we fall short in our flesh. But when you look at his encounters, you look at the way he responded in situations, sometimes we just step back and go, whoa, you know, that seems not like how I would handle a situation. But of course, he's got the wisdom of God and he's walking through this wisely. And so there is much to understand. We are like children, aren't we? Thinking we know what is best when we really don't. Romans 11.3, oh, the depths of the riches, both the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways. And this is to humble us, but also to comfort us. We sometimes, when we live in this life, Things just sometimes play out in bizarre ways, right? In ways that maybe just don't make sense. And we have to sit back and reserve judgment and wait to see how it ultimately all unfolds to understand God's ultimate plan and all these things. Right now, we saw how the election played out. Many of us are very thankful. Now we're waiting to see how this will play out. And we're hoping for good, right? We're hoping for righteousness to return, for common sense to return, but we just don't know. We just don't know. Because remember, there's still a lot of sinners out there who don't know the Lord and aren't following His ways. Okay, a safeguard. There are three ways in which God providentially safeguards His children. Look at these pictures. We have shield, guards the path of justice, and preserves the way. And I want you to maybe look back at your own life and think about this. Has God been a shield to you? Has he guarded your paths? Has he preserved the way when you've obeyed him? I'm amazed, and I look at my own life, how many times he's intervened in my life personally and has just carved a very narrow path Obey my word, you know, and you're like, the situation is such you can't turn to the left, you can't turn to the right, you just gotta go straight with obedience. And how if you do that, there's a sense of comfort, there's a sense of security, and when you get to the other side of that trial, you went, whew, God led me through that. That's the picture here, refuge, a protection, a shelter in time of great difficulty. This word implies there will be times of trouble and tribulation. Look at the life of David when Saul was hunting him down. you know, very difficult days. He guards the path of justice, preserve and protect. The picture reveals God will be just toward the believer. It doesn't guarantee there will be no injustice, but God will be just in the end. And this is something that we have to understand. Sometimes justice just doesn't happen in this life, but it will at the great white throne judgment. And sometimes we have to wait. Was there justice for Christ? in his kangaroo court when he was hauled in and put on a cross, from man's perspective, it was totally unjust. But God used it in the end to bring out our salvation. And so that's how God can do it sometimes. So don't think that it's always gonna be, you know, roses, a bed of roses. A lot of times it's just the opposite, it's thorns and thistles. But he does in the end guard the path of justice. He preserves the way, observing, saving, and securing the path for us. This picture reveals God shepherding us, the believer, along the way, moment to moment, keeping us on his path. It includes chastening and challenges, trials and tribulations, as well as times of peace and prosperity. Have you ever noticed that God never gives you too much. Oh, you'll go to the brink, right? You'll go to the end of your limits, but it's doesn't, it's never ever too much. You may be overwhelmed for a moment, trying to absorb it all and take it all in. But at the end of the day, it's not, you don't lose everything, right? And unless, of course, you're called to martyrdom, but that's a great privilege and a great reward that comes with that. But it is amazing if you really step back. God does do these things. He shields you. He guards the path. He preserves the way. He never gives you too much, though it can be hard sometimes. But remember, the purpose of that stretching is he's making you stronger. for something even greater down the road. And that's part of the Lord's way and his wisdom. Because let's be honest, we need these little lessons to grow because we live in a hostile world towards the Lord and his word. Thoughts, comments, questions? I love the way Solomon brings this out. You know, it really is pretty amazing. Okay, now, if we turn the page, summary. So a passionate pursuit of wisdom begins internally. That's where it begins, with a heart change. You get saved and then you begin to love and know his word and then it expresses itself externally with a life change. If your life does not change, then you've got to go back to the root. Are you saved in the first place? And then you have to look at your spiritual disciplines. Are you praying? Are you reading? Are you fellowshipping? Are you worshipping? And you start working through all those things. You cannot separate God from his wisdom. This is something you see with false teachers. This is something that you see out in the world. You can't separate God from his wisdom, nor pursue wisdom apart from pursuing God. That doesn't work. And as a result, you get wrong ideas about God or you get behavior that you think is spiritual, but in the end, it is unspiritual. That's what happens when you separate God from his wisdom. And I've gotten real, real behind on my slides here. So let me catch up. All right. So I've got a table there, and I want to see this contrast that you can have between wisdom calling to the fool and the wise calling to wisdom. And that contrast there is really important. So let me get caught up here. I think we're almost there. There we go. OK. I'm not sure what that is. We'll come back to that in a minute. Let's see. Let me just pull this up. I'm not even sure what I just pulled up here. Oh, yeah, let's do this one. Actually, I think I've shown that before, so I'm going to skip it. OK. Now we'll get to the table. There we go. OK. So wisdom, calling to the fool, versus the wise calling to wisdom. The wisdom speaks her words, but they're not received. We as believers receive the word. Fools hate knowledge. Contrast that with believers treasuring the Lord's commands. The fool did not turn at the rebuke of wisdom, and the believer inclines their ear. The unbeliever refuses to apply wisdom. The believer applies your heart to understanding. Wisdom calls on, call on wisdom in distress, so the unbeliever will call on wisdom in distress after having rejected wisdom, but at that point, wisdom rejects. Where we cry out for discernment, we lift up our voice for understanding. and it will be answered. They seek wisdom digitally, it's a typo there, but it won't be found. Remember, it talks about the situation they've been rejecting, rejecting, rejecting, and then finally they come across a trial in their life, and now they want wisdom, and wisdom's like, it's too late, you gotta suffer the consequences. Where we seek wisdom as silver, we search for as hidden treasures, and God stores up wisdom for the upright. And then the fool turns away All right, and the consequences will slay them versus wisdom is a shield to those who walk uprightly. And then we have complacency of the fools. The unbeliever will destroy them where God says he's going to guard the path of justice and preserve the way of his saints. So do you see how in the end it starts off as both are have choices, and the one who rejects, it ends in death, disaster and death. But for the believer, yeah, there's trials, there's tribulations, but it ends with life, eternal life. And that's the big difference. And we don't always see this, do we? We might in the news finally see a story, such and such a person's sins were found out and now the whole world knows. You've probably seen the news, what is it, P. Diddy or something like that, you know, things like that in the news we finally hear that it finally catches up to them. But this is the picture of the contrast between the fool and the wise one. Any thoughts? Okay. Let's go to number four here, stay the path of wisdom. Proverbs 2.9, then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity, and every good path. Now, remember, up to this point, it's been this call to embrace wisdom, to seek it out. and you're learning, you're growing. One of the consequences of that is gonna be this, that you're gonna understand righteousness. You're gonna understand justice, equity, and every good path. You will know what to do because you've lived it, you've walked it, you know the truth. Every good path, okay? Like I said, we've seen these terms before in Proverbs 1.3. The word righteousness means to know what is right. This conforms to God's standard. justice or judgment, this is to perceive and determine what is right, okay? So, you want to know what is right and then you want to determine what is right because that's the process, right? And then equity is to receive, apply with the result of what is right and peaceable. So, you see this process, there's a discerning going on. There's a first I have to know what it's right, I have to determine what is right and then I have to apply and that is we use the word receive. you're truly embracing it and that's the receiving. The implication is only after staying on the path can you gain a deeper understanding of these three aspects of wisdom. You can't see the implications for wisdom at first, but over time you will see blessings of the righteous path and this is how convictions are created. When you stay the path, you obey, the consequences come from that, the circumstances come from that, and then finally you go, I see the connection. When I do this, this is what happens. When I do that, this is what happens. And this is only possible, I like to describe this as the learning curve. Have you ever heard that expression, the learning curve? Right? You start and you just know just a little bit of information. And then you start growing and you turn the corner and suddenly it's like, oh, I had no idea this existed. And so then you start growing and you go a little bit further and you turn the corner like, wow, even more. That's the learning curve. So the question is, why remain on the godly path? The Bible portrays parents as knowing God's word and living unhypocritically, and the son and daughter are seeking to learn and obey. But why? Why remain on the godly path? I'm sure in your witnessing, you have tried to convince people who are in bondage to sin, hey, I've dealt with alcoholics, because I used to be an alcoholic. and bondage to that. And I would tell people who are struggling, right? They'd have their moments where they're like, maybe this isn't the best thing for me. And I say, listen, you've got to walk away from this. You've got to cut it out completely. You can't have a little bit. You've proven you can't be trusted with this. Well, I think I can manage it. You know, that's one example. So why remain on the godly path? Psalm 73 is really a great reminder. It's a little bit long passage, but I would like to read it. It's a Psalm of Asaph. They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride serves as their necklace. Violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with abundance. They have more than heart could wish. They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens and their tongues walk through the earth. Therefore, as people return here and waters of full cup are drained by them, and they say, how does God know? And is their knowledge in the most high? Behold, these are the ungodly who are always at ease. They increase in riches." Now, let me just pause there. Is that happening today? Do we see those who are secure with their wealth? It's like a fortress to them. Proverbs describes it that way. And they're arrogant, they're boastful, mocking. This is as real today as it was when the book of Proverbs was written. And it goes on to say, I lost my track. Verse 13, surely I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence. And there's that moment as believers, we go, what? I'm trying to do the right thing and look where it's getting me. That's what he's saying here. For all day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning. If I had said I will speak thus, behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of your children. When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me." So he's just struggling with this whole concept. Why live honestly in integrity when I see people living dishonestly with no integrity and they're seemingly materially blessed and I'm struggling? My wife and I, we made a decision early that she would stay home with the kids. Well, suddenly we go from two income to one income. That's just a reality. A lot of couples don't always do that. I'm not judging one way or the other, but that was a choice we decided was in the best interest of the kids. And sometimes you can sit there and go, oh, this is so difficult, right? That's the idea here. He's going, I'm doing the right thing, and I'm not seeing any blessings coming from it. Verse 17, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood their end. See, you gotta have that long view. Surely you set them in slippery places, you cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation as in a moment. They are early consumed with terrors as a dream when one awakes. So Lord, when you awake, you shall despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant. I was like a beast before you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." This is what happens sometimes. We need this perspective that this is just temporary. And what seems to be a moment where they have all the advantages, in the end they do not. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none upon the earth that I desire besides you. Look at that relationship, the priority relationship. And I'm telling you, if you haven't already experienced this, you will in this life. There's coming a day when all you will have is the Lord. And hopefully you'll be satisfied in that. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For indeed, those who are far from you shall perish. And again, that's speaking of unbelievers. You have destroyed all those who desert you for harlotry, but it is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord God, then I may declare all your works. So the question is, why remain on the godly path? Because we know how it ends. And if you aren't trusting in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, your end will be like the end of all unbelievers. And it's not a happy place. So very, very strong statement there by Asaph, isn't it? And we can lose sight of this. Now, we don't want to have the attitude that says, they're all gonna go to hell. That's the wrong response, okay? That's the absolutely wrong response. What we should do is get down on our knees, start praying, and we should think of ways how maybe we can witness to them if they're in our close proximity and so forth. I have a friend at the former church. He actually would write letters to the presidents, to all the senators, and he would literally address a handwritten letter to them sharing the gospel. And I was like, wow, that is awesome. And I really was taken aback by such a commitment to even the lost of the lost. Okay. Maybe I shouldn't use that expression, the lost of the lost, but our leaderships who are lost. Okay. Let's see where I'm at here. Yes, so let's look at the explanation here. Love it and live it. Proverbs 2.10, when wisdom enters your heart and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you, understanding will keep you. So the question is, what is your relationship to the wisdom, to the word of God? And the answer is, Psalm comes back with a two-fold test, okay? Do you love it? Here's the check. When wisdom enters your heart, that's your mind, and knowledge and truth is pleasant to your soul, your whole inner person. So that's the question. Is it in your head? And do you love it? How would others know you love God's word? And that's a good question to ask. I'm always challenged at work trying to find appropriate ways to just share things I'm learning week to week with people and sharing wisdom in a practical way, not going the Bible bumper kind of, you know, but, you know, I had been, I've been reading this, I've been reading in the Bible, listen to this idea. What do you think of this? And sometimes I'll actually like, what do you think? And I'm engaging them in a conversation rather than attacking them or rather than preaching at them, I'm engaging in a conversation. And here's, do you live it? Discretion, wisdom for decisions will preserve or guard you. Understanding is logic, aptitude, intelligence will keep you, protect you. How, again, how would others know you are living by biblical wisdom, right? So do they know that you love God's word? That might be a yes, but do they know that you're living by that word? And that's the test, isn't it? Right? Can they look at you and go, that's a Christian and they definitely love the Bible. Okay. The next one is this. Let me get caught up here. Okay. And again, I get behind here. Sorry. Okay. The three friends of wisdom and the three results when wisdom enters into your life. So the three friends of wisdom are truth, which is knowledge, judgment, which is discretion, and application is understanding. Do you see that wonderful flow? It's kind of like getting to know a subject, right? And then it's to be able to really understand it, and then it's to apply it. The three results, knowledge will be pleasant. There's your joy relational. Discretion leads to preservation, helps you align and refine. And understanding, you get more skilled, and you're able to apply God's word in many ways. When wisdom meets a willing heart, Transformation takes place within that individual. Wisdom begins to renovate your thinking, your perspective, your moral life, and by embracing wisdom, now someone can experience true joy. This was, as an early believer, this was one of the, like, shocking things to me because I thought, you know, what real joy was in the world. And all that so-called real joy in the world left me in bondage. And then I get saved, and I begin to experience for the first time real joy, joy based on God's word, joy of holiness and obedience that comes from it. And I went, whoa, what a difference. One never could be satisfied. One always satisfies. And so by embracing wisdom, now you can experience true joy, perceive the right path, and obey from the heart to receive blessings and rewards from God. I can't tell you how many things in my past, you know, stupid things I would do to try to fix what I broke with my sin. and just the energy that I was going to cover the lie or cover the mistakes and then getting saved. I remember the first time just sobering up, you know, boy, it is a whole lot easier going to work when you're not hungover, you know, boy, it's a lot easier to study when you have time for it and you're not out partying all weekend. I mean, just some common sense, things like that. It's amazing when you show up for your work early on time and do a good job and how the company appreciates that, you know. Now, I know that sounds like duh, John, but when you're living in the world, those things aren't important. And boy, just so many things. Okay, here's a little cartoon for you. Well, here comes Mr. Hunter and Gatherer with another useless treasure. And the idea, of course, is we're pursuing a useful treasure. but the world pursues useless treasure. Okay, any thoughts, comments, questions? We got about five more minutes before we wrap up. Okay, twin troubles, finance and romance. You probably heard that, that most people's problems can be broken down into finance or romance. And so let's talk about twin troubles. Okay. Question. Other money, money and honey. That's another way of saying it. Material and marital. Lust and pride. These are different ways of looking at it. Question. Why am I categorizing this as finance or material? If you look at the evil way and the wicked person, Proverbs 1 10 through 14 reveals the wicked pursuit after possessions. And this is what the world does. It's true that we do this too. But you will see that it is about keep up the Joneses. You've probably heard that expression. It's the next thing I'll admit I really wanted to get that M4 Mac, you know, but I can't right now. So we got to wait. But we want that next thing, don't we? And we think it's going to satisfy and it does temporarily. And so we got it. This is what the world does. They're pursuing possessions. That's why I put this finance side. There's two infinitives to deliver rescued and removed. And there's a fourfold progression, the path, the person, the people, and the perversity. And let's take a look at this. Okay, so for example, Matthew 7, 13. Enter, this is about salvation, you know this passage, by the narrow gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the road that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. This is the road. Salvation or no salvation? So let's talk about finance. Proverbs 2, 12 through 15. Let's start with verse 12 there. To deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perversity of the wicked, whose ways are crooked and who are devious in their paths. This is not a pretty picture. All right, we'll break a little moment here. Two clowns. Hold it right there, Charles. Not on our first date, you don't. There's gonna be a pie in her face. Okay. So let's look at this progression and contrast, the way of evil and the way of wisdom. And here's kind of an image to help you. So you've got this path, walk in the ways of darkness, whose ways are crooked, whose ways are devious in their path, right? Their heart is that they rejoice in doing evil. They delight in the perverse of the wicked. They speak perverse things and they leave the paths of uprightness. That is the picture of the world. Now, The problem with this is sometimes we think in extremes. We think a murderer, a major thief, something like that. But understand before the Lord, it doesn't have to be such extremes as well. It can be any kind of sin and disobedience. It may be more or less, but there you go. So here's the table I've got for you, okay? The way, that's the word Derek, path or journey of evil, and then we have in the middle here, how should believers be different? That's the contrast, and then the way of wisdom, okay? So the way, they speak perverse, that's immoral, corrupted things. How should we be? We should be speaking righteous things. What's the way of wisdom when it enters your heart and knowledge is pleasant to your soul? What is the wicked way? They leave or abandon the path of uprightness. In other words, they go and sin. We, on the other hand, do not forsake the path of uprightness. And of course, discretion will preserve you. So I want you to see that there's the knowledge, there's discretion, there's the application, okay? The next one, they rejoice. This is their joy in doing evil. Have you ever seen someone like that? It's something to behold. I remember in my college days, driving in the car as a pledge to a fraternity, And I'm not gonna say what the guy said, but he wanted to go out and hurt someone. And he was like excited to do it. And I was just like, that's messed up. We, on the other hand, as believers, rejoice in doing good. And again, this is all part of discretion, preserving our path. They delight in perversity of the wicked, where we delight in the way of the Lord, whose ways are crooked, twisted, and false. Our ways are straight. They're devious, this means they're cunning, deceitful in their paths, where we are holy in all one's ways. We're not about deceit, we're about integrity. We want people to see us as we truly are. And sometimes that can result in a conflict or may require us to repent and apologize and things like that. Isaiah 59.8, the way of peace they, the Jewish nation, have not known. And there is no justice in their ways. They have made themselves crooked paths. Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. And that's Isaiah proclaiming to the nation. Thoughts on this one? This is as relevant today as it was back in the time of Solomon. Paul gives us this passage, and I'll end with this one. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belal? Or what is a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and my daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. That's the picture. It's not saying we can't talk to unbelievers. but we don't come in partnership with them. This applies both in marriage, but also in business and in other things. We have to be very careful in how we entangle ourselves with how we relate to unbelievers. There is always going to be a limit to our relationship. We want to be in their life, yes. We want to share the gospel, yes. We want to be a holy influence of salt and light, yes. But be very careful into entering the enterprises with them or partnering with them. This is always, this takes wisdom and discretion. The rest of the verses there, really briefly, Acts 20, 29, for I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in. We know that, they sneak into the church. 1 Corinthians 15, 33, evil company or bad company corrupts good habits. There's a friendship that's a lost person that can be a problem. 1 John 1, 6, if we say we have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. And then Philippians 2, 12, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but how much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For as God who works in you, both to will and to do is good pleasure, do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, true unto God without fault. in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. See, that's the contrast. We're in there, but in the midst. We're reacting and relating, but we are not like them. And this is going to dovetail beautifully into our passage today. So that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, and I have not run in vain or labored in vain. And I'll end with this. There's a doctrine called the doctrine of separation. And this, if taken too far, turns us into a little nunnery, a little monastery where we are siloed from the rest of the world. That is not what God has called us. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. And so our separation is in the areas of sin. We don't sin like the world, but we are there talking, working, communicating, and doing our best to have as what influence that they permit us. All right, any last thoughts, questions? I guess we still didn't finish Proverbs chapter two. So I will get those handouts for you. If you haven't grabbed a workbook, grab one, only if you intend to use it. And then on the back table, there is handouts for the message. I'll go ahead and close in prayer. Father, thank you for this time and thank you for your wisdom. Help us on our path towards you.