All right, let's open a word of prayer and we will get started. Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning and so much to be thankful for our salvation, this church, the fellowship that we have. I mean, we always be ever grateful. And thank you for this special day with the Lord's Supper, with the fellowship, and the potluck, and the congregational meeting. So many things to celebrate and be thankful for. So just guide us now in the book of Proverbs. Continue to help us understand it to apply in our lives. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Does anyone need a Proverbs 4 handout? I think I got a couple extras. All right. If anyone does, just raise your hand or just grab it by the piano. We're on page 177. And we're in the middle of the chapter, essentially. And what we're doing is going through, again, the wisdom of Solomon. And we're talking about wisdom, of course. And so I'm sure you've seen this little emblem somewhere. Have you hugged a friend today? Of course, it's for pet lovers. But I would say, have you hugged wisdom today? That's the idea. And of course, this is the far side. Whoa, Mr. Lewis, we don't know what that thing is or where it came from. But after what happened to the dog last week, we advise people not to touch it. Fortunately, wisdom is not such a creature. OK, so we're on page 177. And we're at number three, the pertinent principles. And let me just go to the book of Proverbs where we're at here. And again, we're in Proverbs 4. And it helps if I can type Proverbs correctly. All right, do not forsake her. Yeah, exactly. All right, we're at verse six. And let me just read the first five verses to give us some context. Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding. For I give you sound teaching. Do not abandon my instruction. When I was a son to my father, that would have been Solomon to David, tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, Bathsheba, that would be. Then he taught me and said to me, let your heart hold fast my words. Keep my commandments and live. Acquire wisdom. Acquire understanding. Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Now, we're going to make the switch to where we now start to personify wisdom. And remember, we're personifying it, making it like a person. And it's female. This is not the Holy Spirit. So totally different. Though wisdom comes from God, And the wisdom comes from the Spirit as it illuminates to understand it, but wisdom itself is not the Holy Spirit. All right. So it says, do not forsake. She will preserve you. And so look at this combination of phrases that we see. And then continue to the next one. Love her. and she will keep you. So there's these little built-in, I don't want to say promises, that's probably too strong, but they're definitely principles. If you don't forsake wisdom, meaning you embrace it, you obey it, it's going to protect you. It's going to preserve you. It's going to help you navigate through life. And I'm telling you, and you guys know this firsthand, you know that when you've understood the word and you've applied it, it allows you to avoid certain troubles. Love her and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing. Get wisdom, get understanding. And then it goes on, the beginning of wisdom is get wisdom and understanding. And getting is the same word as Proverbs 4, 5, acquire and purchase. In other words, this is your priority. This is what you're trying to acquire. And then it goes on, exalt her, which is interesting, put her first and she will promote you. After all these years in my corporate experience, having made a lot of mistakes as a young man, I've been exposed to a variety of individuals over the years, I've learned a few things. And it's amazing how that helps. It really does. Situations that were once a first-time unfamiliar are now, oh, I know exactly how this is going to play out if I do A, B, or C. That's the idea here. And then embrace her, she will bring you honor. Wisdom, as I said before, is being personified as a woman. You can see those passages there. Now, there's two pairs of commands that are given with four principles. So command number one is do not forsake her. And then it goes on, and that is prepared to love her. So I love the spectrum there. There's one thing nice about Proverbs is it's a spectrum through contrast. The very definition of love is not to forsake. Romans 8 38 I'm persuaded in either death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present or things to come Nor height nor depth nor any other creative thing Shabbat a separates from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord I have to double check and make sure the microphones on So you can see the full range, right? There's this not forsaking, but then there's this loving. And the two complement one another. 1 Corinthians 13, 4, love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. John 14, 15, if you love me, you keep my commandments. 2 John 2, that's a weird way I did that. This is love, that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. And in Galatians 2.20, I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So when you think about forsaking, this is really key. If you're not careful, you can make this legalistic. You can make this duty-driven. You can make this a checklist. and now there's no passion in it, it's just, okay, this is what I'm supposed to do, I'll just do it, I'll grin and bear it. But by adding the loving part, we're now understanding that, okay, this is from within, this is, I want this, I desire this. And that's the idea here that we wanna avoid, because this can happen, we lose the love, like one of the churches in Revelation, you've forsaken your love. Okay, commandment number two, exalt, is paired with embrace. And I don't know if I've got the slide here. I guess it's not there. I thought I had a best friend slide. Oh, yeah, that was the one earlier. OK. Exalt, revere, honor, and respect. A little different as you look in the definition. We think exalt meaning put someone above us, right? But this is the idea of revering, honoring, respecting. Embrace is affection. It's like holding someone's hand. Ephesians 5.25, husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, gave himself for her. So you might sanctify and cleanse her with washing of the water by the word. And then you might present her to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but she would be holy and without blemish. That's the picture. That's the exaltation that we will have. We are revered in this way. Of course, we'll be resurrected and glorified, and that makes all the difference. Ephesians 5 28 husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies He who loves his wife loves himself for no one ever hate his own flesh But nourishes and cherishes it just as the Lord does the church Now look at this principle number one. She'll preserve you. This is the path Not forsaking wisdom will keep you on a holy path that pleases God We've read these verses earlier. Proverbs 2.8, he guards the path of justice, preserves the way of his saints. Proverbs 2.20, so he may walk in the way of goodness and keep to the paths of righteousness. And as we've been watching and working our way through Proverbs, the path is a straight path. That's God's word. You veer to the left, you veer to the right, now you're moving away from Christ and his word. Principle number two, she will keep you. Here's the protect. Loving wisdom helps you wisely avoid the evil way and navigate a safe path through life. Keep in mind, those who desire to live godly will be persecuted. So it's not a path that's perfect and easy and without trouble, but there is grace for that as well. And then Proverbs 13.6, righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but wickedness overthrows the sinner. And then we see this third principle, this promote. So we've seen the path, the protection, now the promotion. Exalting wisdom results in one having a good name and reputation. God's favor can elevate a person. Of course, Genesis 39, Joseph is a great example, right? Genesis 39, 21, the Lord was with Joseph, showed him mercy, gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And it's so fascinating with Joseph, I think I shared this before. Up to that point, the Lord Jesus Christ, pre-incarnate Christ, had personally visited Abraham. Isaac, Jacob, but not Joseph. We don't have any scriptures that says he appeared to Joseph. But we do see the presence of God helping, giving favor to Joseph, which shows you even more faith, right? We don't believe he saw the pre-incarnate Christ, but he obeyed him in faith. It's a beautiful picture. Genesis 41, 37. So advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, can we find such a man in whom the Spirit of God has the Spirit of God? Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and as wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word. Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you. So think of Joseph, the brother that was favored by his father, But his other brothers were jealous and envied. Toss him to a pit. So now he's lost his family. He gets sold into slavery. He's now under Potiphar. His wife slanders him, resulting him in jail. And he did nothing wrong. He was just being faithful. But he's being obedient. He's being wise. He's being a good steward. And in God's time, he is exalted. That's the picture. It goes on to say, then Pharaoh took a signet ring off his hand, put it on Joseph's hand, clothed him in garments of fine linen, put a gold chain around his neck. And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had, and they cried out before him, bow the knee. So he set him over all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh also said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without your consent, no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt. I do believe in one sense you could argue that Joseph is a picture of Christ in the millennial kingdom coming and so forth. So it's kind of neat there, a little picture there. And then principle number four, she will bring you honor. This is privilege. Embracing wisdom in one being distinguished among the man or the men, among man. Daniel 1.9, now God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs. Daniel 5.11, there's a man, your kingdom, the spirit of holy God in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods were found in him and King Nebuchadnezzar as your father, your father, the king made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans and soothsayers. Of course, this was Belshazzar, who did not listen to the wisdom and it was already set. So, you know, here's the thing to remember with these. Does this happen overnight? It can take time, years. And that's the process. We don't get smart overnight. We can read a book, think we're knowledgeable, but it's a whole other thing to apply it, to own it, to have it as a conviction, to have practiced it. And this is where obedience comes in. We do great. We can get knowledge so easy today. Chat GPT is my best tutor. If I don't know anything, I'll ask it, and I get a quick summary. But that doesn't mean I really know it. I mean, I understand it and can apply it. And so wisdom is something that you're applying daily, and then you start to grow. And these are the implications of it later. Questions? Thoughts? What do you think? True to experience? Wisdom, unfortunately, doesn't come overnight. And as we raise our kids and grandchildren, we definitely know that to be true. Yes, Michael? You can have a whole lot of knowledge, but without wisdom, it's useless. Right. Yeah, they start to apply it for the benefit of others. Some do pretty good in the poker tournaments, I hear. But even then, they don't always win. So I have this little chart here, the eternal wisdom of Yahweh. Israel's wisdom tradition seen in Proverbs Yahweh's wisdom perceived in creation by faith lady wisdom as a metaphor just kind of brings all three of those concepts Into it. All right. Let's look at Proverbs 4 9 the preeminent prize and let me just read Proverbs 4 9 She will place on your head a garland of grace. She will present you with a crown of beauty and It's a beautiful picture. Of course, this is a little weird for us in modern day. Someone put a wreath on our head and we think we're in some kind of show or some sort on a stage. And look at Proverbs 1.9. This is just repeating what was said earlier. For they will be a graceful ornament on your head and chains about your neck. She will deliver to you a crown. It's a diadem of glory, which is a status. Now, when you pair these three truths, It points to our justification, sanctification, and glorification. I don't want you to miss this. It's pretty cool. 1 Peter 5.10, but may the God of all grace, who called us into his eternal glory, which, by the way, is a verse we'll be covering today in this message, by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. Ephesians 2.8, for by grace you've been saved through faith, not of yourselves, as a gift of God, not as a result of works, lest anyone should boast. And then 1 Peter 5, 4, when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. So even in the Old Testament, there was this picture of faithfulness, service, reward, exaltation. And we see that in an earthly perspective, but there is, isn't there, a whole spiritual perspective. And something I was, as I was going through the message last night, that just really struck me. is the theme of suffering is just everywhere, right? And no one's exempt, not even Christ himself. This whole life, I'm convinced, even though there's some joy in it, and I don't want to get you all down with this statement, but life is suffering for a season. And then when we've been faithful, we've persevered through it, we've learned our lessons, Lord takes us home and then he exalts us. And what's sad about suffering is that most people who are struggling in life, many times, let me say it a different way. If you embrace suffering, it's a great tutor. and doesn't defeat you, it strengthens you. But if you resist suffering, refuse to take the lessons, refuse to learn from it, learn to accept it, you get in a really bad state because you're trying to avoid reality. And so I've just learned, change or die. I know it's a little bit extreme, but coming out of my drug and alcohol addiction, where I pretty much destroyed my whole life, there was a lot of suffering, self-inflictions in my life. I had to change. Now, I couldn't do that without Christ. But each and every day, little by little, the distance between my suffering that I self-inflicted on myself got further and further away, and I got to experience, yeah, Suffering with learning from the lessons is important. So often, we just, it's like when you get pulled over. Man, why is this cop after me today? Well, I was the one who was speeding. I didn't do anything. He didn't do anything wrong, right? So often, when something goes wrong, we're like, it's your fault. And I think suffering is designed to break our pride, teach us that wisdom, and grow. So we don't make the mistake. All right, thoughts on that? Can anyone relate or am I just the oddball here? Okay, I'm just the oddball here. Thanks, Dennis. Okay, so the preeminent prize as we're going, let's see here. Let's go to, to embrace wisdom is to embrace the word that leads us the only way to God. And so back to my original book where I was going all this. This is why people, when they suffer, either end up receiving Christ or rejecting Christ. And when they're suffering, they get mad at God and harden their heart towards him, which is the exact opposite of what God was intending to do. Okay, the biblical model, the family of faith. You got grandpa, grandma, you got dad and mom, you got son or daughter. Male leadership is the primary role to know, obey, and lead in doctrine and example. But again, it's not solely the husband's work, the male's work, the woman, the wife, She plays just as a part of a role as the man, it's just that the man is ultimately held responsible before the Lord. Okay, any questions on these first nine verses? Pretty cool. But again, you see it's a marathon, not a sprint. It's a mountain climb, it's a valley, it's up and down, but hopefully in the end you're making progress. OK, ready for the next section? Verses 10 through 19. So let me go ahead and read that. You can see I put it in parallel. For the most part, sometimes the tabs get messed up. Hear, my son, that's a command here, and receive, another command, my saints. And the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom. I have led you in the right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered. And when you run, you will not stumble. Here's the command, take firm hold of instruction. Do not let go. Another command, keep her for she is your life. Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of evil. Another command, avoid it. Do not travel on it. Another command, turn away from it. And another command, and pass on. For they, this is the evil ones, do not sleep unless they have done evil. And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter until the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness, and they do not know what makes them stumble. OK. This next section is the next generation. Choose your path wisely. So let me get caught up here. And OK. We're almost there. OK. There we go. Okay, so the next generation, choose your path wisely. So this section is broken down in the foundational principle. The word of God must be heard and received. The faithful pattern, the word of God must be taught and lived. The fortified passageway, the word of God will give you freedom and liberty. And then the fervent perseverance, the word of God requires passion and priority. So that's the overview. So let's jump in here. The word of God must be heard and received. Proverbs 4 10, hear my son and receive my sayings and the years of your life will be many. So here's a question. Hear my son. Does that sound familiar? Yeah. In the book of Proverbs, it's actually mentioned, you can see there many times, one, two, three, four, five, six times. My son, hear the instruction of your father. Don't forsake the law of your mother. Hear, my son, and receive my saying, and the years of your life will be many. A wise son heeds his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. Cease listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge. Hear, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart in the way. Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she's old. It's a pretty big assumption here. Dad is actually giving wisdom, right? And that's how it's supposed to be, a godly father giving godly wisdom to his son to be godly. But our father is imperfect? Yeah. And that kind of mucks things up, doesn't it? Application. Dad and mom should be giving biblical wisdom to their children through word and deed. And the children should listen and learn biblical wisdom as well as the model what they learn. Keep in mind that life stage is important, meaning them where they're at, and supplement key truths where it is needed in their life. So there's reading, explaining, modeling, there's memorizing, there's studying, there's praying, there's discussing. Of course, there's things like Awana, Bible study, serving retreat missions, et cetera. There's a lot of ways to get the word in you, but there's only one way to get the word out of you, and that's obedience. And that's the challenge. Now, outside the book of Proverbs, look at some of the negative stuff. Genesis 27, Therefore my son Jacob, obey my voice, Rebekah, according to what I command you. Therefore my son Jacob, obey my voice, Rebekah, flee to my brother Laban in Haran, Esau. So that was kind of a bad situation. I remember when Jacob deceived and Esau was pretty mad and probably would have killed him. And so he had to bail. Not the best wisdom from mom, but necessary at the moment. But she created that situation in the first place, didn't she? Deceive. She wasn't trusting in the Lord. Deuteronomy 21, 20. And they shall say to the elders of a city, the son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He's a glutton and a drunkard. And then they would take that son out and stone them, the elders would stone them. And then, of course, you have Phineas and Hophni, Eli's sons. No, my sons, for it is not a good report that I, Eli, hear. You make the Lord's people transgress. If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him? I love that, because we know the answer. Nevertheless, they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them. Interesting in the sovereignty of God, the hardening of hearts, the way consequences work through. Conclusion, mom and dad are not without sin. Children should not obey nor model unbiblical wisdom and counsel from dad and mom. On the other hand, children must be made aware of rejecting biblical wisdom and the consequences that follow. This is hard, isn't it? you're growing up and you're young and you think you know everything. I don't know if it's the youth that's flowing through the blood that just makes you think you're on top of the world and you know everything. How many times have you heard kids say, I know, I know. Maybe I'm just the only one. Okay, insight. Can you discern the difference between biblical and worldly advice that is given and received. This is something that I've really tried to work on in my own life, because there's really some smart people out there. And even within the church, it'll come across, oh, that sounds so good, that sounds so wise. But if you actually think about it, it's very opposite of the scriptures. I was trying to think of some examples. But I think the best is just how you deal with sin. Well, maybe we should just, you know, overlook this one. There is verses that say it's godly to overlook a transgression. But many times we're talking about, well, probably the best example is when people try to use their personal preferences and make that law. That's a good example. certain type of music, certain type of dress, certain types of activities. There's just a lot of ways, but we have to learn to discern the difference. That when we hear what sounds on the surface wisdom, we have to ask the question, but is that biblical? And that's what you want to ask. Because a lot of times, and you know this, between a lie or on the outside of a lie is two truths. And sometimes very hard to figure out which is which. Implication, true hearing, listening, is linked to receiving, taking, and seizing. So how good is your hearing? Let's take the test. Here we go. 10 tests to check your biblical hearing. Do you in prayer review the week and confess your sins? Praise God for his character and help, and intercede for others in prayer? Do you read ahead or study ahead to be prepared for the message so as to get more out of the message? This isn't meant to give you guys guilt trips, so don't worry. Do you get to bed early on most nights before church to be rested and alert for worship? Are you asking God to help you understand the passage better? Do you take notes or engage the sermon in an intentional way to gain wisdom from the word for personal application? Do you intentionally seek to immediately apply one or more of the truths from the message or Sunday school? Do you share with others what you are learning? Do you have other preachers or resources that help you understand difficult passages? Do you have a pattern of reading God's word, alone plus others, family, friends, et cetera? And 10, are you praying for your pastors and teachers? Now, this wasn't meant to be from me, but it actually comes from, so Ken Ramey, he has a book called Expository Listening. I know this guy, he's a good guy. This was his dissertation, and it's pretty interesting, because he comes from the perspective of what's our role and responsibility And I'll be honest with you, this is one way that I grew. I would listen to MacArthur and take lots of notes. And again, sometimes it wasn't just the notes. I'll say this, I don't have any of my notes left over, but it was the exercise of in the moment, staying engaged. That really helped me. And so question for everyone, what is the one thing that has helped you to know the Bible better? Just out of curiosity, what is the one thing that helps you know the Bible better? Study. Do you study a passage? Do you study a book? Do you read? Do you get books out? Like, how do you study, Michael? Passage at a time, really. Yeah. And do you just pick a random one, or you just pick something that you're working your way through? Working my way through. Yeah. Cat. Yeah, so your own kind of application handout. Yeah, this is what it means. Boom, boom, boom. What else? Got questions. Got questions. Great website. And because it really does a good job of outlining, getting to the heart of the matter. What else? Any others? Yeah, that's the inductive Bible study process, right? Reading with a purpose, one verse at a time, context smaller. Yeah, Derek. Listening to multiple pastors online. Yeah. Yeah, getting sometimes hearing another preacher say it's like, oh yeah, that makes more sense that way. These are all the different ways that, yeah. One of my former pastor who you, we prayed for last week, Dwight Hall. Yes. From Calvary Chapel. Calvary, yeah. Yeah, that can happen. Illumination by the Spirit helps you. Yeah, and it's a process, right? But each of you got to figure out a way, what's the best way to learn, and make it a process, make it a part of your life. You may never be a preacher or a teacher, but you can still be just as knowledgeable. Michael? I think what you should always do is ask the Holy Spirit. Try to train yourself to ask. Yep, absolutely. And I'm a firm believer of that. You start a study, I always say, Lord, open up my mind, because I don't understand anything. And you've got to train yourself to do that. Yeah, and you can't do it the last minute. It has to be a process, right? Saturday night specials don't come that often. So yeah, so all right, so here's that other question again. Can we really add years to our life? Exodus 20, 20, 2012. Out of your father, mother, your days may be long upon the land which the Lord God is giving you. And you can see each one of those. Job 14, five, since his days are determined, the number of months is with you. You have appointed his limits so they cannot pass. Job, after he lived 140 years and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. 2 Kings 26, I will add to your days 15 years, and I will deliver you in this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own namesake and for the sake of my servant David. Many, not quantity, but quality. Abundance in years. That's the idea behind the text as I've said from the beginning Outside of a few exceptions like Hezekiah where God says I'm gonna give you or Job. I'm gonna double When he talks about your days being longer, it's really the quality of the life of course if you're rebellious and you do some stupid stuff then yeah, your life is cut short and And this is one just in the general principles. Typically, rebellious people who are taking extreme risks tend to die sooner rather than later. And those who are more conservative and so forth tend to live longer than shorter. but we can't extend years to our life, but we can live in such a way to improve the quality of our life. And God's all a part of that. Okay. Sure. Well, I had that in it, but there you go. Okay. Let's go to the next one. We got a little more time. Proverbs part three, the next generation, choose your path wisely. The faithful pattern. Look at verse 11. I have taught you in the way of wisdom. I have led you in right paths. The implication, and look at this, to avoid hypocrisy, the talk and walk are joined and must never separate. These are the two sides of the same coin of Christian living. And look at this, I've taught you the way of wisdom. He doesn't say, do what I say, not what I do. He's saying, I've led you in the right paths. I do what I say and do as I do. There is a way. or manner of wisdom. And any way that is not wise is unwise. Sometimes it can't be clear, two choices, one moral and the other immoral. But often, sometimes it can be subtle, the difference between best and good. Proverbs 14, 12, Proverbs 16, 25, there's a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. That is always the tricky one. The way of wisdom has a specific path, a direction that is toward God and away from the world. It is always a proven way. I have a little farsight here. Now take them big burns, Barnaby. Never eat a thing. Just sit and stare. They're probably thinking their life is going to end soon. Derek. Yeah, I mean it's certainly ultimately yes spiritual because this is all about wisdom But some act some immoral activities can lead to both physical death and yeah Correct yeah, and sometimes the scriptures in the Old Testament particularly try to keep those together because life how you live is connected to life eternal and Here's a little story. In the southern seas, an American vessel was attacked by a wounded whale. The huge monster ran out for the length of a mile from the ship, turned around, and with the whole force of its acquired speed, struck the ship and made it leak at every timber, so as to begin to go down. The sailors got out all their boats and began to pull away from the ship. Just then two strong men might be seen leaping into the water. They swam to the vessel, leaped on board, and disappeared for a moment. And then they came up bringing something in their hands. Just as they sprang to the sea, down went the vessel, and they were carried away in the vortex. But they were observed to both of them be swimming, not as of struggling to get away, but as of looking for something, which at last they both seized and carried to the boats. What was this treasure? What article could be so valued as to lead them to risk their lives? It was the ship's compass, which had been left behind. And without it, they could not have found their way out of those lonely southern seas into the high road of commerce. The compass was life to them. It would be used to point them in the right direction. The Lord gives us all his abundant grace that we may take fast hold of divine instruction. It's a good reminder, the word is our divine compass. Okay, all right, let's, okay, we got that part. And yeah, okay. So let's look at this next one. The way of wisdom, like I said, is a specific path, a direction toward God and a way from the world. It's a proven way. Look at salvation, the way. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. But in the world today, right, doesn't people try to say, oh, there's many paths. Right? Can you discern the difference? The past, unbeliever, Ephesians 2.1, and he and you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of the world, according to the prince of the power of the air, that's Satan, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we were once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. That's a path, but it's worldly. Present believer, Ephesians 2.10, for we are his workmanship. The Greek word is poema, which sounds similar to a poem. Created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in him. God is using our life to make a poem with it. Better versus best. 1 Thessalonians 4, 1. Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you and the Lord Jesus that as you received from us instruction to how you ought to walk and please God, just as you actually do walk, that you excel still more. This is hard. This is, I don't know if you know this. I learned this from a carpenter. I may have shared this before. A carpenter will use his tools, and then every year or so, depending on how often they use them, they will upgrade the tools to something that requires more and more precision. Because if they keep using the same tools, they get actually less precise. And so they're always refining and upgrading their tool set ever more. And that's the idea behind excelling still more. You're obedient, but you want to be more obedient. There's areas of your life that are still you're struggling with. You want to address those and begin to move. And so the idea, we do this at work all the time. To improve, it has to be measurable, right? Got to know what's broken or what needs to be fixed. There has to be connected to that instruction that can take you from point A to point B, right? It has to be achievable. but then incremental. If you skip rungs on a ladder, you're just gonna fall off the ladder. And so when we try to improve ourselves, don't go from here, from A to Z, go A, then B, then C. Maybe it just means, okay, today I'm just not gonna do it two times, I'm gonna just do it once. Now, of course, if it's sin, it's zero times, but when you're trying to improve and you're growing in godliness, it's incremental. I need to grow in this. Maybe it means memorize a verse as a reminder every day. Asking God, this is a bold prayer and be careful how you use it. But just go to the Lord and say, Lord, this is the area of my life I need sanctified. I'm open to however you want to fix me. Give me some wisdom, some verses to memorize. Give me some circumstances to practice. And he will open those doors for you. Just be ready. Never easy. Okay, the way of wisdom, like I said, has a specific path. Now, fortified passageway. The word of God will give you freedom and liberty. This is such a neat thing, but I'm going to break up the second here for another cartoon from Farside. Ernie, look what you're doing. Take those shoes off this instant. He's stepping on everyone. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, and when you run, you will not stumble. So we move from walking to running. This is the effort to live a godly life. Hebrews 12.1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." When you start to prune the sin out of your life, that's where you're walking, you know, because you can't go very fast when you're hindered by your sin. But as you become more godly and life becomes more ordered, You can do more for the Lord. You're more efficient, you're more effective. Proverbs 19, five, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoices like a strong man to run a trace. That's just a beautiful picture of the son. Second Timothy four, seven, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. That's a picture of Paul at the end of his life. Not hindered means restricted. Not stumble, which means become weak, fatigued or moral failure. This verse transitions from being shown the path of wisdom to now venturing out and living life wisely. It's a journey and it's a race of endurance. I like to say it's not a sprint, it's a marathon. Though sometimes it feels like it's a sprint and a marathon. When you're on God's path living obediently to his word, It does not matter if you walk or run. When you are living wisely, according to God's word, you will not be restricted. God will not be hindering your steps, nor will you have to be chastened for sin. You will face obstacles, but not being trapped by them. Philippians 2.14, do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God, without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all." Paul understood how to run the race. He understood how to remove those things that hindered him, but he never lost sight of the others around him as well. Application, Galatians 5.13, for if you, brethren, have been called to liberty, for you have been called to liberty, only do not use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Here's a picture of a very, let's just say, curvaceous mountain road. The dirt and rock road that stretches about 40 miles and descends from La Paz at 12,000 feet down to the beautiful rainforest of the Coraco at the edge of the basin of the Amazon River is a road of death. In 1995, the Inter-American Development Bank called this stretch the world's most dangerous road. So let me show you another picture of what that looks like. So here you go, there's Death Road. So you're going from this high and going down into the Amazon. An average of 26 vehicles fall off this road each year and 200 to 300 people lose their lives. As if steep hillsides, cliffs and drop-offs with no guardrails aren't bad enough, the road sometimes has room for only one vehicle. Rain and fog complicate the trip, along with muddy surfaces and loose rocks, On July 24, 1983, more than 100 passengers were killed when a bus veered over the edge and crashed into a canyon. Despite the danger, the road has become an increasingly popular tourist attraction since the early 1990s. What is wrong with us? But it pictures life, right? And to stay on the path means staying biblical and godly. And so walk versus run, the efforts to live a godly life. And I think we're going to stop here. I think I've got those. Yeah. Yep. Let me just make sure. Okay, yep, we'll stop right here with fervent perseverance. Any questions from the lesson today? I'm trying to have less lecture and more interaction, but Derek. Yeah, sometimes we pray without understanding the implications of our prayers. All right, let's close. Yes, Chris. Yeah. Yeah, let me pull that up real quick because I don't have it memorized. There's a limit to all my mind. You're welcome. All right, let me just close in prayer and then we'll break for worship and then a meeting and finally that yummy food that smells so good. Heavenly Father, thank you for this teaching this morning from your word, and just help us to stay on the path. Help us to find the liberty and the freedom in obeying you. In Christ's name I pray, amen. All right, we'll pick up next week at verse 13.