Turn with me to Proverbs 1. We are at verse 8. In my readings, one has said the real value of Proverbs is that it brings us reality-based counseling to a modern fantasy world of human invention. It's as I laid around for a couple of weeks and watched way more TV than I typically do. It's amazing how many of the commercials and how much stuff goes on that is so fantasy based in our world. Well, reality, oh, thank you, sir. Thank you. I'm going to miss this little guy here. Also, I wanted to mention, Dee went home yesterday and his daughter will be here, I think, today to help him for the next little while as he recuperates from double major surgery. So just keep Dee in your prayers. this fantasy-driven world, what we're going to find as we work through, in particular, these first nine chapters of Proverbs, how God speaks to us and brings us face-to-face with the reality of the world, with the realism of life, this foolishness, the sinfulness, folly. We'll see lady folly. tries to succeed in ignoring the reality of life and to be successful avoiding God's way and doing it a man's way. Whereas wisdom sees life as it really is, designed by God and then humbly submits to God's instruction for success. Here, we're going to look at chapter 1, verse 8 through 19, and we're going to see that sin or folly, foolishness, leads us to a dead-end life, where wisdom, on the other hand, speaks to us as a loving father for our own good. and it calls us to refuse sin. It'll tempt you, but it will destroy you in the end. Turn to page six in your bulletin just for a second. I want to introduce a word to you and show you how we'll look at these first nine chapters. I mentioned it the last time I was here. You know, when we We do poetry and we do poetry by making lines often symmetrical and then rhyming words and you find a flow of thought through the rhythm of the rhyming of the words. That's not the way that the Hebrews in particular, how they made their points as they did their teaching. This is one of the ways in which they do it that is hard to see and sometimes hard to find. This word chiasm, it's a writing style that uses repetition patterns to clarify or emphasize certain truths. This is from Matthew 6, 24. Look at how Jesus does this, and I'll explain to you. No one can serve two masters, Jesus says. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. Well, on the surface, it just looks like Jesus makes this statement, you can't serve two masters. But notice how I have ABC'd the six lines. Look at the first and the last line. No one can serve two masters. The last line, you cannot serve God and wealth. A restatement of the first line. So you have the bookends here of this statement of the first and last lines. But then you move in to the second and the next to the last verse. Either he will hate the one, that matches up with despise the other. You see, you have hate and despise, and then you come to the middle two and love the other, or he will be devoted to one. And usually, as they work from here in, when you get to the center, that's the main point. And so what Jesus is trying to drive home is, make sure you love the right master. But he does it in this way here. The reason I point this out is that's how we're gonna look at chapters one through nine. After the introduction, the statement of purpose, This passage where we are, 1, 8 through 19, is two invitations. We'll have the father and we'll have sin making an invitation to Solomon's son. Chapter 9, which is the close of this section, also has two invitations from Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly. Next week, this week, we're only going to look at this top half because of the Lord's Supper devotion that I don't have time to do both chapters, and we'll close this whole section with chapter 9. But next week, we'll look at verse 1, 20 to 33, wisdom crying aloud in the street, and chapter 8. Wisdom crying aloud in the street. See, the same themes addressed a little differently, and we'll just bring them together into one message. And then we'll work our way to the center the week after that, the Lord willing. Chapter 2, 1 to 22, father's warnings about devious men and the forbidden woman. We'll combine that with chapter 7, the father's warning about the fool who flirts with forbidden women. And so even in these first nine chapters, Solomon has put this together in such a way of driving home particular emphases, and we'll work through them that way. And so we won't have 12 or 14 sermons in the first nine chapters, we'll just have six or so or seven. So anyway, that's just a way that the Hebrews would write. You see these chiasms all through scripture as a way to make points and emphasize particular ideas. So back to Proverbs chapter one. Before we can make any progress toward wisdom, we have one Proverbs chapter one. 1 verse 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. In chapter 9, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We talked about the fear of the Lord is, in our New Testament language, in our 21st century language, that's really the fear of the Lord is equated to being converted to salvation. And so to be saved in Christ is the beginning of wisdom. It's the beginning of knowledge. So to make any progress in wisdom, And even to make any progress in the fear of the Lord, we first have to understand sin and that we're sinners and that we need a Savior and we need to fear the Lord. And then once we fear the Lord in salvation through repentance and faith and trust in Christ, we can then move on to true knowledge and proper knowledge and then into wisdom. So before we can make this progress, we have to take into account the fact and the nature of sin. It opposes everything that's wise. It opposes everything that's righteous. It works contrary to any desire that we have to fear the Lord. Sin will mute that. And it uses more than one tactic to entice us away from God, from Christ, from wisdom, from knowledge. When Hitler was about to invade Poland, he found that his plan got leaked and so he delayed it. And what he did first was he took a bunch of prisoners of war and he dressed them in Polish uniforms and placed them in such a way that Poland was invading Germany so that he might have a reason to invade Poland. the phony war that he portrayed. When war happens, it's always on at least two fronts. It's the actual fighting, it's the actual battle, along with the propaganda and with the intelligence and all of the bad things going on in the background. It involves open hostility and it involves espionage. And that's the way Satan and his minions will work in this world with people. They're at war against man and ultimately against the Lord Jesus Christ. He comes as an angel of light. And we'll see him here presenting himself, sin presenting itself as an angel of light. It's a good idea. before it pounces on its prey and seeks to destroy, to steal, to kill and destroy, as Jesus says. God has provided for us defenses against the advances of sin. But it requires wisdom to know and to use and to appropriate these safeguards. And so let's look at verse 8 of chapter 1. Hear, my son, your father's instruction. Forsake not your mother's teaching. For they are graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, come with us, let us lie in wait for blood. Let us ambush the innocent without reason. Like Sheol, let us swallow them alive and whole. Like those who go down to the pit, we shall find all precious goods. We shall fill our houses with plunder. Throw in your lot among us. We will all have one purse. My son, do not walk in the way with them. Hold back your foot from their paths, for their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood. For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird. But these men lie in wait for their own blood. They set an ambush for their own lives. Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain. It takes away the life of its possessors. So the context is Solomon is teaching his son. Solomon and his wife, one of them, here my son, your father's instructions forsake not your mother's teaching. Preparing the son to go out into the world. Here's the kind of world that you're going to experience before he goes out into the world. So, let's go to the Lord and ask Him to help us as we think about how this can apply to us as Solomon represents our Heavenly Father, teaching us as children of God. Father, we do ask that You would drive home to each one of us the gravity of sin, the sinfulness of sin. Father, the consequences of sin. and the allurement and the enticement and the insidious and subtle ways in which our adversary the devil seeks to consume and destroy, if not our lives, at least our testimony. We thank you. that You speak to us in such a way that we might understand His ways. And in Christ, we have the strength to avoid and to walk in the path of righteousness for Your name's sake. And we ask these in Jesus' name. Amen. So here's a parent's plea, the father and the mother, their plea to their son. Here's the kind of world you're going to go out into that you're going to be living in. Here's what to expect. And here's what to do about it. A wise dad, again, teaching his son. I hope you dads are teaching your children as they're in your home. not isolating them completely from what they're going to face, but teaching them and helping them to understand what will happen before they experience it. And so we, as sons and daughters, can take this as our father and our mother, in that sense, are pleading with us to understand what goes on. in our daily lives. All of us had someone to raise us. Many of us, most of us had our parents. Some may have only had one parent, or a parent and a step-parent, or even grandparents, but we all had someone to raise us, and God has put those people into our lives to safeguard us against sin, to teach us. And some were good parents and some were not so good parents and some were indifferent. But God put these people in our lives, those authority figures, some more overtly and intentionally helping us to understand the difference between sin and righteousness. but they're all there to help us as a defense against sin. You know, we have other authorities who played significant roles. Some of us grew up in, some of you grew up in church. So you had your pastor, you had teachers, you had youth leaders all through your life, aiding your parents' instruction, coaches, Police, we have the laws that are designed to keep us on the right side of the fence. All of this playing in to keep us safe as we seek to live reasonable lives. None of these authorities are perfect. And none of us in responding to our authorities responded perfectly. But most, with good intentions, have urged us to follow the good and reject the bad. And so, by and large, we have no excuse for sin. We have no excuse for our ignorance as to the right way and the wrong way. God speaks to us here in 8 and 9 as a loving father, a tender mother. And He says, here, your father, don't forsake Your mother, and that hearing is not just hearing with your ear, but it's hearing with your ear that then transfers down into your feet and your hands and your eyes and your mouth. It's an obedient hearing. You haven't heard if you don't obey what you're hearing. We have to act on what we hear, what we hear in our home, what we hear in school, what we hear in these places. And he says, here, my son, your father's instruction. Verse two, to know wisdom and instruction. Verse three, to receive instruction in wise dealing. Verse seven, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and fools despise wisdom and instruction. So verse eight, the fourth time we see this word instructions, the idea of discipline. Hear your father's discipline, his correction that is designed to transform your life. We'll run across this all through Proverbs, this word. It carries the threat of punishment if we don't receive this instruction and obey it. And then the mother's teaching. the traditions of the Word of God. It's the teaching of – it's the same word for the law, but it's not – and it can be teaching of the Ten Commandments, but it's just the general teaching of your parents in your home. Don't forsake that teaching. It's designed to keep you safe. So he says at the beginning, listen, don't neglect Faithful instruction. Pay attention to what the authorities that God has put in your life teach you and are leading you to do. And these words then will be a great blessing to you. Wisdom doesn't come easy. It takes discipline. It's hard fought and hard won. As Paul says, train yourself for godliness. Go to the gym. That word gumnadzo, that word that has the implication of going to the gym and working out so that you might be godly. We all now have on our phones our GPSs. If you don't know where you're going, just click in your address. It'll tell you. It'll keep you on the right side of the street, keep you from going the wrong way down one-way streets usually. It will tell you which way to turn. I was listening or I was reading an article this past week about a young lady who had moved from Utah to Oregon. I listened to some music from the piano guys, I don't know if you know them, and the piano player, his daughter, there's a story about his daughter who, after she moved to Oregon, shortly after she moved to Oregon, she wasn't heard of for three weeks. Well, she'd moved to Oregon, got on the hiking trails up in the mountains of where she was unfamiliar and fell over the edge, and they finally found her three weeks later at the bottom of the cliff. She would have gone with someone with a guide who had known the trails. It might not have happened. We need guides, we need GPSs, we need help to know the trails and all will be well. And so in one sense, Proverbs here is our mountain guide to walk these treacherous trails of life. And we seek to follow the instructions that God gives us there and we'll be safe from sin and we'll be blessed. Verses 10 through 14 give us the attraction of sin, four aspects. Sin's charming allure. My son, if sinners entice you. See, sin is enticing. It's the picture of how in the world when you go fishing, if you go fishing, that that bass would ever think this stick painted red and green was something that would be good. And he bites this thing, it's got all the hooks on it, but it's alluring, it's shining. It looks like something else, the enticement, that sin. My son, if or even when sinners entice you, sin's charming allure, it seems far more attractive than verse 9, the graceful garland of wisdom. These sinners here, these sinners are habitual, chronic, confirmed sinners. You know, the father who's giving the instructions is a sinner. The mother who's teaching is a sinner. Those children, his son is a sinner. But these are hardened sinners who are committed to a sinful way of life. And this word entice, look at verse 4, to give prudence to the simple. Another word that we're going to run across a lot, a description of a naive, unlearned kind of ignorant fool, a fool who just doesn't know any better. Well, this word enticed, this verb is the same as that is the root of the noun. So if sinners come at you and appeal to your naivete. to your innocence, to your unsuspecting nature. That's the way sin will come at us, preying upon our ignorance, upon our innocence with plans to exploit and to plunder those who they're enticing, and to plunder those who, when they get this group of people to entice, they're going to go plunder or exploit others. So the whole plan all along of sin is to exploit and plunder, to steal, rob and destroy, kill and destroy. Yet in the end, they'll only be harming themselves. So sin is alluring. It has charm as it first comes to us. Verse 11, if they say, come with us. Verse 14, throw in your lot among us, we'll all have one purse. Sin speaks cordially, it speaks friendly. A whole lot of friendly talk on the broad road to destruction. Pseudo camaraderie, come with us. Join of those joined together on mission. So it's charming, alluring. It speaks cordially, it speaks friendly. In verse 11 and 12, let us lie in wait for blood. Let us ambush the innocent without reason. Like Sheol, let us swallow them alive and whole like those who go down to the pit. So sin offers excitement. An easy gain by exploiting those who are unsuspecting. Solomon's talking to his son. God is speaking to us. Here's what's out there. Sin is going to try to enlist you. Come join our club, not our gang, our club. They would never say join our gang, though it's just a bunch of gangsters. Come join our club. We are family. Be a part of some fun, and it's just a little fun at other people's expense. Sounds exciting, it sounds easy. But stop and think, what about those who are the victims? Look at this brutality, lie in wait for blood, ambush the innocent without reason, swallow them alive, rob the unsuspecting, closes Verse 19, such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain. That's the summarizing attitude of sin. Greedy for unjust gains. So sin offers excitement. And then finally, it offers the world on a string. Look at verse 13. We shall find all precious goods. We shall fill our houses with plunder. Throw in your lot among us, we'll all have one purse. Sin seems generous to other sinners, sharing its ill-gotten gains. We'll share the loot. It'll be one purse. We'll all live out of it. We'll all get rich quick. Yeah, we're thieves, but there's honor among this band of thieves. We're only unjust to the innocent. We're only unjust to the unsuspecting. We'll treat you justly because you're one of us. I think about some of the ways in which that happens, the enticement of sin. You know, drugs and alcohol. You watch the commercials, it's a party life. Boy, this is a lot of fun. Popular, but think of the harm that it causes as it captures the souls of men and women. Dishonesty and crime. presented as a harmless means of gain here. It's the first step to the internal ruin of many. Or gambling, lottery. I mean, you know, lottery is presented to us by just participating in a lottery. I saw just this past week, if you go to this one lottery, there'll be proceeds going to the veterans. It's going to education. Maybe you won't have to worry about finances again. The end of the financial problems, maybe, but it usually ends in dissatisfaction and it ends in poverty. Even when people win, we read all about the misery of the success. Or how about sexual immorality? You know, the price people pay to enjoy, what is it said of Moses who refused to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin? For a few fleeting moments of pleasure, people pay a huge price. Proverbs 9, to him who lacks sense, The woman Folly says, stolen water is sweet and bread eaten is secret is pleasant. Oh, it sounds so good. But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. The broken homes, the fortunes lost, the children without parents, the unhappiness of twisted desires, all from this enticement for a few moments of pleasure. Death of babies in the womb, all of that, all testify to the havoc that sin wreaks in lives. And those are some overt ways, but what about this subtle, subtle temptations, the temptations that we find in media or even from family members or friends and even some of our fellow believers, the little subtle enticements to veer off the path just a little way. Sin will enlist anything and anyone available to further its cause. It's all about pride. It's all about envy. It's all about greed. It's all about dishonesty. What about God's warning? Verse 10, my son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. Don't be willing. Verse 15, my son, do not walk in the way with them. Hold back your foot from their paths, for their feet run to evil. and they make haste to shed blood. Don't do it. Don't be willing. Fight, resist. When they say, come with us, run the other way. Remember Jesus in the wilderness, all the enticements, refusing Satan's ploys. Hide God's Word in your heart. Stand on it. Resist the devil. Stay away from the broad road. Don't walk in the way. the paths. If you know Pilgrim's progress, you bypass Meadow as Pilgrim is making his way with his friends down the path of righteousness to Celestial City. Notice on the backside of the fence, an easier path, a smoother way. So they hop the fence and they follow Bypass Meadow and what they don't realize is Bypass Meadow is just a little bit off and so it goes like this and like this and it comes the evening and they can't find their way back to the right path. They almost drown, they end up in Doubting Castle with giant despair. Don't go that way, he says, verse 15. Don't walk in the way with them. We'll see this idea of two ways to live throughout Proverbs. The broad road that leads to destruction, stay away. Let me just say that, in particular to the young people, but to all of us, disaster begins with being in the wrong crowd. That's where it starts. Romans 3 depicting the lost person, together they have become useless. Those of you who are adults, you look back on your childhood and if you ever did anything ornery, if you ever got into trouble, it was most often with other people together doing things you would never do by yourself. But together they've become useless. That's what, come join us. Make plans, they carry them out, and before you know it, it's a habit. And so Paul reminds the Corinthians, bad company corrupts good morals. Come out from among them, the unbelievers, and be separate, he says. Touch no unclean thing that I will welcome you. Be careful who you spend your time with, whether it's with people in the flesh, whether it's with people in your media. Be careful. Choose your friends carefully. Recognize that power of peer pressure, peer groups. And I would just say to you right here, right now, determine it now while you're in the presence and safety of godly people. determine when you go out there, I'm not going to give in, I'm going to stand. Because if you wait until you get out there, and in the midst of the situation, you're going to then decide whether to do right or wrong, you've probably lost the battle. And I would say to the parents, know where your children go, how long they're going to be there, who's going to be there when they get there. So let's just, verse 15 through 19, really the destination of sin. Verse 16 is the basis for the parents' advice. Their feet run to evil. They make haste to shed blood. That's the basis for the advice. Why? It's a bad idea to follow them, and here's why. They've determined to do evil. They're running toward their goal. Ultimately, verse 18, but these men lie in wait. See, let's lie in wait for blood. Well, these men lie in wait for their own blood. Let's ambush the innocent without reason. Well, they set an ambush in verse 18 for their own lives. They'll destroy themselves. They'll forfeit their own lives. Verse 17 is really the first proverb of the book. For in vain a net is spread in the sight of any bird. When you lay a trap, it's foolish. Trying to trap birds is foolish to let the birds see what you're doing, what you're up to. Birds instinctively fly away from it. Well, verse 19, here's the trap, such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain. It takes away the life of its possessors. The ambushers will ambush themselves. They'll be caught in their own trap. Those who go after this ill-gotten gain, the greedy for unjust gain, will lose their lives in the end. Like Haman, who in the book of Esther was hung on his own gallows that he made for Mordecai. Like Elisha's servant Gehazi, who ended up with leprosy. Jealous for unjust, greedy for unjust gain. God will one day deal justly with all who sin against Him. So wisdom is not just a good idea to stay out of trouble. Wisdom is an issue. It's a matter of life and death. By God's wisdom and knowledge, we can recognize and avoid the traps. Back to verse nine, one last thought, the reward of escaping sin. In verse eight, hear my son your father's instruction, forsake not your mother's teaching for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. There's an implied reward in living wisely, a enhanced beauty. Proverbs 8 says, 818, riches and honor are with me. That's wisdom speaking, enduring wealth and righteousness. But there's also an inherent responsibility. As we live wisely, we have this graceful garland for our head, the wreath that the victor of the Olympic Games would win, or a pendant for your neck, a nice necklace. You can even think of the gold medal of the Olympics also in our day. But what the father and the mother are saying, pay attention to all we teach and you'll be attractive. You know, many people don't come to churches because the churches aren't very attractive. God made us for His glory. We glorify Him in wisdom. His wisdom is impressive. His wisdom is beautiful. So Paul says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Writing to the Colossians, he says, you have put on Christ when you come to Christ. Writing to the Romans, he says, as a command, now put Christ on. You've put him on in your salvation, now put him on in your sanctification. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Take off the rags of pride, put on humility. You know, anyone can come in and sniff out proud, self-important people versus kind, sincere, and humble people. Our Father is offering to adorn us with wisdom, and then we'll be an attractive people. I thought about Paul teaching Titus, adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. And so you might say, well wait, wisdom isn't doctrine, but let me just say it this way, without doctrine there can be no wisdom. Because wisdom is built upon the rock of the Lord Jesus Christ, who he is and what he's done. But I'll turn that around. Doctrine without wisdom gets very ugly at times. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. being fair, especially to those who disagree. As we submit to wisdom's offer, God puts this pendant on our neck and the garland on our head, and people recognize those folks are different. They aren't out just for themselves, they're attractive. There's nothing ugly about the Lord Jesus Christ, so put on Christ. Humbly listening to God our Father will make us beautifully wise, and Christ in us will be appealing and draw others to himself. Wisdom is won by discipline, but it's the discipline of God that is kind and gentle. as He instructs us and teaches us His ways. Father, we thank You for this call. We thank You that You have revealed Yourself to us. And we pray, Lord, You would make us attractive in Christ. I pray for those who are seeking to succeed apart from Your ways. Father, would You show them themselves as you show them yourself and show them the solution is in Christ alone. It's in His name we pray. Amen.