Sermon Notes - Enter

Enter, Proverbs 1:1-7
J. Josh Smith, MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church, attended June 13, 2010

The way of wisdom is the way of Christ. To seek to be wise is to seek to be like Christ.

From last week remember there are two gates, two paths, two destinations - two ways to live. There is only one way into the way of wisdom. You miss the gate and you miss the way.

A proverb is a small sentence with big meaning. They are not unique to the Bible. All cultures have cultural proverbs. Proverbs of the Bible are not the same as cultural proverbs.

One might ask how it is that a man with seven hundred wives, Solomon, is considered wise. We must remember that our confidence in these proverbs is not based on the human author but in the Revealer. These are not the wisdom of Solomon but God.

Proverbs 1:1-6 give us the purposes and promises of Proverbs. They give us a thirst for goodness, righteousness and wisdom.

Six purposes of Proverbs:

1. To know wisdom – Proverbs gives us the skill to be a wise person.

2. To give instruction – This instruction keeps us in the right path. It educates us through correction. These are the guard rails to keep us on the path and out of the ditch.

3. To help us discern – To help us see things as God sees them. These are to help us to see through the fog to the truth.

4. To instruct us in wise behavior – These are to help us know why we should choose wisdom.

5. To give prudence to the naïve – The naïve are not well grounded as they follow fools.

6. To give us knowledge and discretion – This is the wisdom that only comes from years of experience. We can live and learn or learn and live. Proverbs 1:6 does remind us also that the wise can still learn. There is no end to the wisdom of God.

Proverbs 1:7 is the hinge. It causes us to stop before we grab all those great things listed in the first six verses. The key to gaining those things is found here in Proverbs 1:7. Unless you enter the right gate you will not receive those promises.

For an unbeliever, the fear of the Lord is missing. When confronted with the reality of God they ignore it, mock it, and rebel against it. Fools mock (Proverbs 28:26) that He is the Creator, King and Judge and that they are creation, rebel and criminal (or the one being judged). They never realize they are in a dangerous place before God, they will receive the wrath of God.

The one that fears is terrified of what God could and should do to him. The one that fears responds by humbly submitting and not remaining in this state of terror. God then opens his mind and he sees the other side of God – grace. He then turns his back on foolishness by repenting and trusting. The fear of the Lord in the Old Testament is like being born again in the New Testament.

The fear of the Lord is not left at the gate (Proverbs 23:17, Proverbs 28:14). The fear of the Lord is not removed after our conversion, just transformed. 1 Peter 2:17-19, 1 Corinthians 3:12-15, 2 Corinthians 5:9-11 are all written to believers. We no longer fear condemnation but rather judgment. We move to reverence and devotion. We live with a constant desire to please Him in every way with a constant awareness that how we live, in every area of life, matters to God.

The wise realize who they are and who God is.

NOTE: These are my notes, taken as I listened to the sermon live. Any errors, misunderstandings or misinterpretations are my responsibility entirely and not the fault of the preacher.