Our Great Wisdom Teacher

[0:00] Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today. Special welcome if you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here and we're glad that you're here not because we're filling seats but because we're following Jesus together as one community. And as we follow Jesus together we become convinced that there's no one so good they don't need God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it which means that God has something to say to everyone in his word which is why we come week after week and listen to what God has to say from us to us from the scriptures. We're continuing our series in the book of Proverbs and actually this is going to be my last sermon from the book of Proverbs this summer. Many of you received our letter from the elders this week. I'm going to be out of the pulpit the next three weeks. Next week Mike Winsler who preached I believe this January once is going to preach from Proverbs on the topic of friendship but for me this is the close to our series on Proverbs and as we come to the end remember that Proverbs is a book about wisdom. Wisdom is skill in the art of living. It begins with the fear of the Lord. That's its foundation and it continues in humility. We cannot grow in wisdom unless we're humble if we recognize that there are things we don't know and we need to learn. Now when I was growing up there was a man in my church who loved to tell this story about the Sunday school class and in this class the teacher let's say it was an elementary class I think asked the kids you know there's a an object and it's gray and furry and it has a tail and it likes to run up trees. What is it?

[1:52] Well a kid in the class raised his hand and said well sounds like a squirrel but we're in Sunday school so it must be Jesus. Now I've been telling you all along for our very first sermon I believe on Proverbs that Jesus is our great and greater wisdom teacher and you might think well of course he's going to say that right we're in a church he's a preacher he's supposed to tell us something about Jesus this sounds right.

[2:20] So as we come to chapter 8 we're going to ask this one question I've been telling you this now we're going to ask why. Why is Jesus our great and greater wisdom teacher? Why do we listen to Jesus first and why do we trust him more? Why out of all the voices that are telling us things that are wise why should Jesus voice be the loudest voice? Why is Jesus the path to skill in the art of living? Why is Jesus our great and greater wisdom teacher? Proverbs chapter 8 is the classic text for getting from Proverbs to Jesus and so that's going to be our focus this morning. I invite you to turn there with me you'll find it printed near the end of your worship guide of course you'll find it in your bible as well or on your phone no matter where you turn to it remember that this is God's word.

[3:17] In Proverbs chapter 30 verse 5 tells us that every word of God proves true he is a shield to those who take refuge in him and so that's why we read now starting in chapter 8 verse 1 does not wisdom call does not understanding raise her voice on the heights beside the way at the crossroads she takes her stand beside the gates in front of the town at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud to you oh men I call and my cry is to the children of man oh simple ones learn prudence oh fools learn sense hear for I will speak noble things and from my lips will come what is right verse 7 for my mouth will utter truth wickedness is an abomination to my lips all the words of my mouth are righteous there is nothing twisted or crooked in them they are all straight to him who understands and right to those who find knowledge take my instruction instead of silver and knowledge rather than choice gold for wisdom is better than jewels and all that you may desire cannot compare with her verse 12 I wisdom dwell with prudence and I find knowledge and discretion the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate I have counsel and sound wisdom I have insight I have strength by me kings reign and rulers decree what is just by me princes rule and nobles all who govern justly I love those who love me and those who seek me diligently find me riches and honor are with me enduring wealth and righteousness my fruit is better than gold even fine gold and my yield than choice silver I walk in the way of righteousness in the paths of justice granting an inheritance through those who love me and filling their treasuries verse 22 the Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work the first of his acts of old ages ago I was set up at the first before the beginning of the earth when there were no depths I was brought forth when there were no springs abounding with water before the mountains had been shaped before the hills

[6:00] I was brought forth before he had made the earth with its fields or the first of the dust of the world when he established the heavens I was there when he drew a circle on the face of the deep when he made firm the skies above when he established the fountains of the deep when he assigned to the sea its limit so that the waters might not transgress his command when he marked out the foundations of the earth then I was beside him like a master workman and I was daily his delight rejoicing before him always rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man verse 32 and now oh sons listen to me blessed are those who keep my ways hear instruction and be wise and do not neglect it blessed is the one who listens to me watching daily at my gates waiting beside my doors for whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord but he who fails to find me injures himself all who hate me love death

[7:12] I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word our father in heaven we thank you again for the gift of your word that you have not left us to stumble alone in the dark but instead you have come to show us the way to walk we ask that you would do that this morning that you would shine a light on Jesus for us that we would see him as beautiful and glorious and that would cause us to obey and trust him more than anyone else we ask these things grateful that we don't have to earn them or deserve them because we ask them in the mighty name of Jesus Christ amen when we were in Proverbs chapter 2 we talked about the importance of the way and of course I related it to Star Wars and the Mandalorian and we talked about many of the things that happened in Star Wars after the fall of the empire in episodes 7 through 9 but I want you to go back with me a little bit before episode 4 before A New Hope we get the back story in Rogue One to the beginning of the Death Star and we find out of course that this Death Star is dangerous right it can destroy entire planets and so it's something that's a great threat to the rebellion and we meet this man named Galen Erso and Galen is sort of coerced to become the architect one of the builders of the Death Star and as this builder as this architect he knows it inside and out because of course he's the one designing it and so he knows good things about it and he knows bad things about it and if you've seen the movie you know he designs certain parts into it he designs a vulnerability so that it can be destroyed because he's actually not in favor of the Death Star he's sort of a double agent but he knows something that no one else knows he knows right that he set up a problem in the reactor core and he knows this because he is the one who built it he knows things that no one else knows and of course that's the same thing that wisdom is telling us here in verses 22 through 31 if you turn there with me we see that wisdom was before everything else in verses 22 through 25 they're at the beginning they're the first thing created when God made the world and so because wisdom was there before wisdom was also there when everything else was created that's what we see in verses 26 through 29 wisdom tells us all these places she was she was there before the earth was made verse 26 she was there when the heavens were made verse 27 she was there when the fountains were made verse 28 she was there verse 29 when the boundaries of the seas were established we find out not just that wisdom was there before everything and was there when things were created but then wisdom is actually involved in the creation we see that in verses 30 through 31 wisdom is verse 30 beside him like a master workman daily his delight rejoicing before him always rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man in other words of course wisdom knows the best way that things work like Galen the architect wisdom knows the secrets there's some things that wisdom knows that no one else knows because wisdom is part of the design process wisdom knows how everything works and it has information just like only Galen is able to tell them how to destroy the death star only wisdom is able to tell us

[11:13] certain things because wisdom was there wisdom was there when it was designed wisdom was part of the design and so we can go back to everything we've talked about this summer and say of course right of course hard work leads to success because God created the world in such a way that he gave mankind dominion over it he said I want you to work in this world so I've set it up in such a way that your hard work is going to lead to good things of course saving money right is going to lead to success because I've established this world as a place where you're stewards where you need to care for it and preserve things and of course it's also because of sin a chaotic world and so there are unexpected things that we need to prepare for wisdom knows these things of course things rise and fall based on our words of course the things that we tell other people can destroy them or build them up it can preserve communities or burn them down because God's created the world as a place of truth he's created it as a place of connection of course what we do with our sexuality matters of course sex is meant to be reserved for a husband and a wife together in marriage because God has designed the world that way he's made it a place of faithfulness and he's designed our sexuality as something that's meant to unite lives together to make two people into one and so we would expect that it would only work best in that context of course dishonest gain is not going to end well right

[12:50] God's created the world as a place of honesty God is a truthful God we would expect his world to work in that way of course oppressing the poor is going to lead to judgment why because God has designed this to be a just world and he's given humans dignity and so when we take away from that dignity by oppressing others we can expect nothing else than God's judgment God created the world wisdom was there and so of course we listen to wisdom's voice more than any other voice we look in verses 15 and 16 here we see that this is what successful rulers know verse 15 by me kings reign and rulers decree what is just verse 16 by me princes rule and nobles all who govern justly in other words you ignore the way God has created the world at your own peril successful rulers and leaders understand how things are supposed to work and they work along with it and that's what leads to their success and so wisdom here is reminding us it is foolish to listen to other voices more of course we would listen to wisdom first of course we would trust wisdom more of course the voice of wisdom would be the loudest because of course wisdom knows more than anyone else knows wisdom knows these things because she was there at the beginning now

[14:34] I've told you a lot that Jesus is our great and greater wisdom teacher I have not mentioned as often that Jesus is not just the great wisdom teacher he is also the full and final embodiment of wisdom that's what we're told in the New Testament Colossians chapter 2 tells us that in Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge 1st Corinthians chapter 1 tells us this multiple times in verse 24 it tells us Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God in verse 30 we're told Jesus became to us wisdom from God and and so it's not just that we listen to lady wisdom who's here is just a personification of wisdom but it points forward even more we listen to Jesus Christ and it's not just that he is God's wisdom but just like lady wisdom here is telling us she was there at the beginning Jesus was also there at the beginning and even more we're told in

[15:35] John chapter 1 that not only all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made Jesus was part of the creation we're told something even more astounding in Hebrews chapter 1 it says through whom referring to Jesus also he that's God the father created the world he is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature and he upholds the universe by the word of you right now are holding together as a person physically because Jesus has chosen you to uphold you by his word the universe is still intact because Jesus is keeping it in place Jesus was not just there at the beginning he was part of God's creation of the world and so of course he knows what is best and right we trust him even when other people are telling us things that are different we listen to

[16:44] Jesus and we trust Jesus because of course he knows why is Jesus our great and greater wisdom teacher he is our great and our greater wisdom teacher because he's the creator he made this world and so we should expect nothing less than that he knows what's best and so we listen to Jesus we trust him we do what he tells us even when it's inconvenient even when it's hard we do it because he's the creator he knows what he's talking about and so that's why we're told in verses 8 through 10 that the words of wisdom are more valuable than anything else verse 10 take my instruction instead of silver and knowledge rather than choice gold Jesus was there at the beginning he created the world of course he knows how it works so we listen to him we trust him and we obey him because we know he knows more than any other voice

[18:04] Jesus is not just the creator though he is also our great redeemer if you're familiar with the story you'll know that Galen is not just the architect of the death star he doesn't just make it he also wants to reveal the secrets and so remember he sends Bodhi Rook the pilot he escapes from the rebellion Bodhi comes with the plans in a hologram he sends a message so that the rebellion knows what they need to know about the death star they know how to destroy it and so he's sending his information out he's proclaiming it he's not waiting on them to discover it Galen's not sitting passively instead he's active he wants this information to be known there's a vulnerability the reactor module is not stable he's made it that way on purpose so that the death star can be destroyed so he wants to make sure the rebellion has the plans so he gives them the information about the vulnerability right and then he tells them they're going to have to go to the planet

[19:17] Scarif to get the plans so that they know exactly how to destroy it he is actively seeking to give them the information of course the same thing is true of wisdom here that's what we see in verses 1 through 11 wisdom is raising her voice this is similar to what we saw in the first few chapters of Proverbs wisdom is not hiding her resources right she's in public anyone who wants to learn she'll teach wisdom is active going out instructing and finding of course the same thing is true of our Lord Jesus we're told in Luke chapter 19 that he comes to seek and to save the lost Jesus is not waiting passively but as God's wisdom as God's full and final wisdom whatever is true of lady wisdom is even more true of Jesus wisdom is calling out

[20:19] Jesus seeks us out he doesn't wait passively he comes with information that only he can give us he comes with the truth not just of wisdom but of his grace and his forgiveness for us and so wisdom Jesus Jesus is our redeemer in the sense that he seeks us out he's also our redeemer in the sense that he gives us what we would otherwise not be able to have because wisdom here is offered to fools I've been warning you all summer against being a fool and at some level all of us are fools that is who wisdom comes for verse 5 oh simple ones learn prudence oh fools learn sense in other words wisdom is offering to teach foolish people verse 17

[21:22] I love those who love me and those who seek me diligently find me verse 21 granting an inheritance to those who love me and filling their treasuries and so wisdom is coming here for foolish people people who don't deserve what wisdom has to offer people who are rightly condemned right these are people as we've talked about before who can't connect the dots they don't know the connection between present actions and future consequences yet wisdom still comes for them wisdom is still willing to teach fools and then we have this final warning in verses 32 through 36 wisdom is a matter of life and death verse 35 for whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord but he who fails to find me injures himself all who hate me love death and of course if this is true of wisdom how much more is it true of

[22:25] Jesus Jesus says he comes not for the well but for the sick Jesus has come not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance that's what we're told in Luke chapter 5 and so Jesus is also willing to teach fools he is not just the creator he's the redeemer he is the only one who offers hope and life for all the pieces of foolishness that we've talked about this summer it's Jesus that gives a chance to fools it's Jesus that offers to cover over our foolishness and to replace it with his wisdom as some of you know I did a short podcast this summer where I interviewed a few folks about proverbs and wisdom and if you listen to the first one with a man named Zach Eswine you'll be familiar with this quote he tells us what it looks like for Jesus to become our wisdom for us and he says this when we encounter wisdom and see how foolish and naive we've been that's what leads us to

[23:33] Christ that's what leads us to true wisdom wisdom begins to name things as they are and I get to that humility is the first place where wisdom is taking root and I need one wiser than myself and when Christ died for me he applied all his wisdom he took all my folly and all my naivety and all my scoffing onto himself and he lavished upon me and clothed me with all of his wisdom and this is my hope that when I see my folly all is not lost it doesn't have the last word in my life I am foolish but it's not the truest thing about me anymore because Jesus is my savior my shepherd and my lord why is

[24:34] Jesus our great and greater wisdom teacher it is not just because he's our creator it is also because he's our redeemer it would be useless for Jesus to teach us anything about wisdom if he were not willing to cover over and take our folly our naivety and our scoffing but of course as our great wisdom teacher that's exactly what he does he did it in the past by coming as a real man in real space in real time he lived the wise life that we should have lived and he died the foolish death that we should have died and he invites anyone and everyone who's willing to repent of their foolishness and have faith in him to have their folly covered with his wisdom in other words the invitation that wisdom gives us is even more true of the invitation from Jesus verse 5 oh simple ones learn prudence oh fools learn sense

[25:38] Jesus is saying the same thing simple and foolish people come to me I will give you true wisdom I will cover over the consequences of your folly you have not been able to connect the consequences of your present actions to future consequences but if you are part of me and my kingdom that's okay because I give you all of my forgiveness because of my death on your behalf and so the offer for wisdom is an urgent call right what we see at the end of chapter 8 is something everyone is going to have to answer to whoever finds wisdom that is whoever finds Jesus Christ finds life verse 35 and obtains favor from the Lord verse 36 but he who fails to find me all who fail to find Jesus Christ injure themselves all who hate me love death there is only one path to wisdom and it is a path through our

[26:47] Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and so if you do not have faith in him if you are not following after Jesus trusting him to cover your foolishness and replace it with his wisdom no matter how superficially wise you might be there is no hope you love death God's offer of wisdom is for anyone and for everyone who is willing to repent and embrace him in faith and so if you do not have faith in Jesus Christ the call from wisdom is as urgent today as it was thousands of years ago when this chapter was written to come and repent and believe so you do not have faith in Jesus Christ I challenge you now today to think about the consequences of foolishness and to come to Jesus the true and full and final wisdom of course I'm happy to talk with you about that today after our service as we're socially distanced outside and there's many people around you who'd be happy to talk to you about that but it is more important than anything else remember verse 19 my fruit is better than gold even fine gold and my yield than choice silver wisdom is the most important thing embracing wisdom embracing

[28:10] Jesus Christ is more important than anything else in this world and the call of wisdom is for everyone now Galen doesn't just send the plans he doesn't just send a hologram he's also ultimately willing to lay down his life for the sake of the rebellion and when his daughter Jen and the others see him do that they realize their response that they have only one hope which is to go and find the plans that he's told them about to go to the planet of Scarif and they do it despite the disapproval of the council right they're not supposed to go and do it and yet they rebel because they realize that's their only hope it's either that or be destroyed in other words Galen's act motivates them us wisdom is seeking us out verse 17 we must love her back

[29:19] Jesus is seeking us out we must love him back as well we listen to God and his word we hear what he's saying to us he moves in our hearts to create that love for him and we repent and turn from folly we repent and sacrifice whatever we have to to get wisdom whatever we have to to get Jesus Christ because Jesus doesn't just have wisdom he's not just the creator he's able to make us wise he's the redeemer Galen's not just the creator he's not just one who lays down his life for the rebellion he's also Jyn's father and at the very beginning of the movie we see his last words to her before they're separated for probably about 15 years as he goes out to face the imperial forces he looks

[30:19] Jyn in the eyes and he says this knowing they'll be separated whatever I do I do it to protect you do you understand and Jyn nods her head and says yes I understand and so for 15 years as she separated from her father she has to trust and believe that everything he's doing as he's separated from her as he's working on the death star he is doing it to protect her how much more is that true of our father God and his son Jesus Christ everything he's done all the instructions of wisdom are to protect us and so why is Jesus our great and greater wisdom teacher he is our great and greater wisdom teacher because he's our creator he's made the world and he knows it and he's because he's our redeemer he offers to rescue us from our foolishness and to cover it with his wisdom and so we listen to him first and we trust him more please pray with me you