Well, let's pray, let's ask God for help as we
dig into his word now. Gracious Heavenly Father,
we ask that you would help us to be wise, to
grow in wisdom, to keep learning wisdom, and
help us to understand what wisdom is all about.
And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, one
of the best presents that I've ever got was a
trip to gin school. It's a place in Fremantle
in Perth and there at gin school we learnt all
about the science of distillation. You get to
make your own bottle of unique flavoured gin.
It was awesome. It was a great birthday present,
better than socks and undies. I called my bottle
of gin for Geneva. So, yeah. Anyway. But the
best part of it was learning about the distilling
process. Heating a fermented drink like white
wine is what we did. And then we'd separate the
different components and distill the alcohol
from the other ingredients. And you'd get to
the essence. You'd get to the real sort of more
pure alcohol. And then you'd remix it with flavours
to make gin. And actually, juniper berries is
a big one because you can't, it's not gin if
you don't have juniper berries. So there you
go if you want to win gin trivia. But the reason
I raise this is because distilling today is big
business. But not just with alcohol. I know there's
distill on the hill and narrow tracks, but not
just with alcohol. There's a whole industry of
distilling wisdom. People sharing the essence
of how the world works. You've seen it. Books,
podcasts, courses, reels, coaching. There's a
marketplace that now exists today of people spruiking
themselves and their particular ideology about
the world. And business is booming. With social
media and everything being online Anyone can
access anything from all over the world and people
love doing it because we want to be taught How
to live our lives better? How do I use money
better? How do I do? Relationships better. How
do I run a business better? What's good for my
health? You know people want to know all the
answers to all these questions Especially Because
life today is so complex. It's a skill to know
what to do in differing situations, isn't it?
Should I speak? Should I stay silent? Should
I invest my money there? Should I just hang onto
it and save it and put it in the bank? That's
just a few, but life is complicated like that,
isn't it? In one situation, that might be the
best thing, but in another situation, that might
be the best thing. It depends on the context,
because life is complicated. But it's also complex,
because there's so many competing, contradictory
gurus out there, isn't there? It's a headache
trying to navigate a world like ours. to work
out who to listen to. One person will say this,
one person will say that, they'll say something
completely different from each other, but will
be revered by many as, well, they're really wise.
How do you work out which person to listen to?
Which one should you follow on TikTok? Who do
you listen to? Wouldn't it be great if we could
just simplify wisdom? If we could just distill
wisdom down to its Essence. Boil it down and
just really understand how the world works. If
we could, what would that essence be? What would
be at the heart of wisdom? Well, it is possible
to find. Actually, that's what Proverbs 1, 1
-7 is seeking to teach us. See, Proverbs isn't
actually a whole book of just life hacks. You
know, oh yeah, here's what you do with your money,
here's what you do parenting, here's what you...
No. It's actually weaving a tapestry of wisdom
to help us see and understand the world. But
there's one thing, one essence, one thing that's
tying it all together. And that's Proverbs 1
.1 -7. And in light of the whole Bible's message,
because remember Proverbs comes in a context
of the whole Bible, here's what it's teaching
us. Jesus will judge the world so wisdom is surrendering
to him. That's what I hope you take away from
today. Jesus will judge the world so wisdom is
surrendering to him. And there's three things
we're going to see. in Proverbs and then see
how it relates to Jesus. So here's the first
one. Wisdom starts with fearing God. Secondly,
wisdom produces godly living. And thirdly, wisdom
must not be assumed. Wisdom starts with fearing
God, wisdom produces godly living, wisdom must
not be assumed. So let's have a look at the first
one. Wisdom starts with fearing God. And if you've
got a Bible there, please keep it open to Proverbs
1, 1 -7. So what is wisdom? Well, wisdom is understanding
how the world works. But most fundamental to
that is this is God's world, isn't it? If we're
going to understand how this world works, we
need to understand who God is. We've got to understand
what He's doing in the world. And that's why
we get verse seven. Have a look there. The fear
of the Lord, the fear of Yahweh is the beginning
of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The essence of wisdom, the essence of knowledge
is fearing Yahweh, fearing God. Now what's it
mean by fear here? Well, it's a faith that takes
God seriously. It's a faith that takes God seriously.
It's having a healthy fear of who God is. I remember
a little while ago going to the aquarium here
in Cairns and we've done it many times with our
kids in all sorts of places. I've noticed that
when you go to the aquarium in Cairns, have you
ever driven past it and on a rainy day there's
always like all the people are at the aquarium
in Cairns? Like it seems to be the big place
to go but when we went to the aquarium You go
around, you check out all the different fishies
and things like that and I always love coming
to the sharks, the big sharks. I think they've
got some great white sharks, don't they? Yeah,
that's my fave. You go see the great white sharks
and you look overhead and here's what I think.
I look at it and I go, I'm really glad I'm on
this side of the glass. Don't you think that?
I don't want to be in there in the tank with
them. That's a healthy fear, isn't it? That's
the sort of fear we should have toward God. I
don't want to be on the wrong side of God. He's
the God of the universe. He's holy. He's just.
He's powerful. He rules over everything. He has
every right to do whatever he wants with me.
He's God. To be on the wrong side of God, that
would be a dangerous thing. But because I'm in
Jesus, because I'm saved by Him and have experienced
and know His grace, I'm on the right side of
the tank, aren't I? I'm on the right side of
God, not because of my works, but because of
what Jesus has done for me. That's having a healthy
fear of God. I don't want to be somewhere else
on the wrong side of God. But then we've got
to ask the question, who is this God? You know,
fearing God, well, It doesn't say that, it says
fearing Yahweh. This is not some vague unmoved
mover. No, this is the God of the Bible. That's
who we fear. The one who revealed himself to
Old Testament Israel. The God who made promises.
The God who rescued his people from slavery.
The God who protected King David and Solomon.
I mean, we even get it there in verse 1. The
Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.
This is the God who's in the storyline of the
whole Bible. It's that God who we fear. And for
us, sitting this side of the cross, we know that
God even more clearly. We know that this God
is Trinity. We know that this God came in His
Son into our world that Jesus is Yahweh. He taught
things that were just out of this world, love
your enemies, things that are just mind -blowing.
He did the most amazing miracles, so much so
that people came from all over to follow and
worship Him. He died on the cross for our sins.
He rose again as Lord of all to prove that He
is Yahweh. Any wisdom that's disconnected from
him is actually folly. It's wisdom with no foundation.
Near where I grew up in Sydney is a suburb called
Colloroy. It's a beautiful beachside suburb,
luxury properties right there on the shoreline.
But they've had constant problems. because the
sand keeps eroding the foundation of the buildings.
They're too close to the beach. And I remember
one big storm and this pool, this particular
swimming pool there, got completely washed away
because it's just not stable. And so these buildings
all the time are dangerously shifting. It's a
real problem that they have to keep trying to
work out. Now here's the thing, no matter how
wonderful the building in Colloroy, you know,
you can have the most luxury luxury of apartments
with all the skill and wisdom to build it, it
doesn't stand without a good foundation, does
it? Now Jesus tells a parable that makes the
same point about life. Two builders build houses.
One builds their house on a rock, one builds
it on the sand. And there's a storm that comes,
the storm of God's judgment day. The one on the
house who built his house on the rock, he stands.
The one who built his house on the sand, it falls
and it's a great disaster. And Jesus says, here's
the point, if you follow my words, if you hear
my words and do them, you're like the wise builder
who built his house on the rock. You will stand
at God's judgment. But if you don't you could
have the most amazing house you could have built
your life on all sorts of things and had a great
life in many ways But it will fall ultimately
If you don't build it on Jesus Being ready for
when we die for when we meet our maker That's
the wisest thing you can do, isn't it? That's
the essence of wisdom. Are you, are your loved
ones, ready for that day? You know, if you want
it to be really wise, here's what you do. Firstly,
getting a to -do list. A to -do list is great
help. Get a to -do list, but here's what you
do. Right at the top, every time you have a to
-do list, Be ready for God's judgment. Write
that on the top of your to -do list, because
that's the thing you always need to be doing.
That's wisdom, isn't it? It's seeing that as
the priority of my life. So the essence of wisdom
is fearing God. But it's not a fear, it's not
a faith that doesn't... that's just... in your
head. It's a fear and a faith that produces a
new life. And that's the next thing we need to
see about wisdom. Wisdom starts with fearing
God, but wisdom produces godly living. Wisdom
produces godly living. We often think of wisdom
as very pragmatic. And in many ways it is. Yet,
Because Jesus is Lord of all and will judge the
universe, we need to surrender to him. That's
what wisdom's about. That's the most pragmatic
thing we can do. Look with me at verses two to
three. For gaining wisdom and instruction, for
understanding words of insight, for receiving
instruction in prudent behaviour, doing what
is right and just and fair. Now in the ESV in
verse 3 there, you don't get prudent behaviour,
you get wise dealing, which, you know, sounds
like wisdom's about getting the best deal, very
Donald Trump -like, isn't it? But the point here
is that it's about acting with integrity. That's
wisdom. It's not about getting ahead. Wisdom
is about acting with integrity, doing what is
right, doing what is good. Wisdom, if Jesus is
going to judge everything, is about being Christ
-like, from a place of faith. See, so much of
Proverbs is showing us that wisdom is about trusting
in God, having a real living trust in God that
turns away from evil. See, wise people are people
who trust God and live by principles. They go,
what is it that God wants me to do? That's what
I need to do. I trust him. I'll live his way.
Whereas foolish people are purely pragmatic.
They just do what works immediately, with no
thought about where it's ultimately going. Many
years ago I worked at Bendigo Bank in Sydney,
and when we did training at the bank, we were
told about a branch manager at one Bendigo who
stole two million dollars. She wrote fake loans,
She shifted term deposits around to hide them.
And then she lived the high life on the weekends.
She'd go and get limos and go to the casino and
just live the high life. And eventually she couldn't
sustain it. She got caught and did a huge amount
of prison time. But I want to ask the question,
what if she'd never gotten caught? You know,
if you live in a universe where there's no God,
no consequences, that would be a wise way to
live, wouldn't it? If there is no God and we
all just die and the person with the most toys
wins, then hey, you know, she's got it right.
Especially if she can get away with it. Or Vladimir
Putin's got it right, isn't it? If he can get
away with it, amass as much wealth as you can,
enjoy life. But what if there is a God? What
if there is a God who will judge everything?
I mean that's not the world we live in. There
is a God who judges. There is a God who will
bring everything to account. Jesus conquered
sin and death. He displayed his authority over
everything. He said there will be a day of judgment
and that the only escape is to trust in his death
on the cross. That his death is like a sin spudge
absorbing all our sins into himself. And that
the only way we escape is if we trust that cross
and if we surrender to Jesus. See, true pragmatism,
pragmatism is actually really wise, is seeing
ultimately that's where it's all going. That
Jesus wins and will judge everything. And Jesus
endorses this. In Luke 14, Jesus tells this parable
about a king who goes to war against another
king. And he's there and he looks at his army
and he goes, oh man, this other king's got double
the forces I've got. There's no way I'm gonna
beat him. I'm gonna surrender and make peace
with this king. And Jesus is saying, that's what
it's like with us. We are nothing. Actually,
it's not even double for us, is it? We are nothing
compared with God. He's got infinite power. Be
a fool's errand to take Him on, wouldn't it?
The wise choice is to surrender to Him. And it's
the same for us. You know, if you're a Christian,
I reckon here's one thing that's really, really
hard. We see other people around us living pragmatically.
They lie. They sleep around. They take whatever
they want. And it feels like you're being dumb.
It feels like, man, I want to live the high life
like them. You feel this pull. I want to copy
them. And when you feel that pull, what you've
got to do is step back and look at the bigger
picture. Tell yourself, I'm doing what really
works. Because I know where it's all going. And
then keep going. Reframe it in your mind. See
it differently by looking at that big picture.
See where it's all going. You're doing the most
pragmatic thing in the deepest possible way.
So the essence of wisdom, it's a healthy fear
of Jesus. It's a life that produces the fruit
of faith. But there's one more aspect to it.
Wisdom must not be assumed. Wisdom must not be
assumed. You know what stops people becoming
wise? They think they're wise enough already.
Actually, that's the big sin in the book of Proverbs.
The kind of worst thing you can do is to be wise
in your own eyes, as Proverbs says. The essence
of wisdom is to be humble and teachable. It's
to live life with L -plates on and to never take
them off. It's to have a hunger and a curiosity
for God's wisdom whatever age or stage of life
you might be in. Look with me at verses four
to six. The book of Proverbs is for giving prudence
to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion
to the young. Let the wise listen and add to
their learning and let the discerning get guidance
for understanding Proverbs and parables, the
sayings and riddles of the wise. Who's wisdom
for in Proverbs? Everyone. The simple, the young.
Because if you get your wisdom sorted when you're
young and simple, it'll prevent a lot of regret
later, won't it? And if you're wise and discerning,
you too need more. Because you know our world
is so complex. The more wisdom you have, the
more it will benefit you. Fools in verse 7 despise
wisdom. They think they know it all already.
They don't see that they always need more. We
did a bit of snorkeling while I was on holidays
the other day. We went to Green Island which
was pretty good. But I think back to when I went
snorkeling many years ago when I was a kid and
we went snorkeling on the outer reef. And I don't
know, am I right? Is that better? It seems better
to me. Anyway, I saw more people that day on
the outer reef in tight clinging spandex than
anyone ever should though. But some of us, when
we were snorkeling, we knew that you had to have
air, didn't you? That's the whole point of the
snorkel. Breathe in the air. Some were scuba
diving. What do they need to make sure they do?
That their air is working. No matter what you
were doing in the water, we all knew you needed
air. If you didn't have enough air, what do you
do? You go to the surface and get air. Young,
old, big lungs, small lungs, new to snorkeling,
a veteran of snorkeling, whatever it is, all
of us made sure we always had air and plenty
of it. We need to think of God's wisdom in the
same way. You can never have too much. You always
need more. This is the thing that sustains you
and keeps you going. God's wisdom is that important.
How's this play out in the real world? Well,
we've all got to look in our hearts and guard
against being wise in our own eyes. It's a big
danger for all of us. It's a danger for me. It's
easy as a pastor who's studied at Bible college
and preached sermons week after week after week
to just rest on my laurels. Think, yeah, yeah,
I know it all already. No, I need to keep digging.
I need to keep learning. I need to keep growing.
It's easy for someone who's been a Christian
for a while, who's heard a lot and read a lot
and taught a lot. It's easy on a Sunday to just
tune out, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, OK, what have
I got this week? And what's in the oven at the
moment? And you're thinking about 20 different
things. I know one guy who used to count bricks
in the church building. No, we need to be there,
tuned in, zoned in, giving God our attention,
because we need His wisdom. You could be a young
adult who thinks, Oh, I've got a sharper grasp
on things than these old timers. You know, I
don't really need to listen to them. No, those
are some folk who've lived life following Jesus
and have great wisdom to offer you. Listen to
the Bible. Listen to those who've walked with
Jesus longer than you as well. Or it's easy to
be the non -Christian who goes, I already know
what the Bible says. I've studied at uni and
thought about philosophy and some of these things
or read a fair bit. I don't need to hear about
this stuff or think about it anymore. I'm done
with that. That's not a good place to be. That's
being wise in your own eyes. Let me ask all of
us today. Are you wise in your own eyes? Be a
learner. Keep learning. Keep listening to God's
Word. There's great treasure here as we get to
know wisdom better. All right, let's recap. What's
the essence of wisdom? Well, we saw three things.
Wisdom starts with fearing God. It's taking the
Lord Jesus seriously and heeding his word. Wisdom
produces godly living. If we take Jesus seriously,
if we trust him, we won't just do what works,
but we'll do good works, won't we? Because actually,
ultimately, that is what works. And then wisdom
must not be assumed. You can't be wise when you're
proud. You can't be wise when you think you know
it all already. Wise people are humble learners.
who sit before Jesus and listen to him. The essence
of wisdom is faith, obedience and humility. Or
you could sum it up as this. Jesus will judge
the world so wisdom is surrendering to him. So
what's that mean for us? Well, for some of us
here, you might not be Christian. And I'm so
glad you're here if you're not. We're really
glad you've come to church today. But for you,
I want to point you to the parable that we read
earlier. Remember the one about a farmer who
built bigger barns? In the world's eyes, he was
very wise. He listened to all the podcasts. He
talked to all the business gurus. He worked a
lot out. He worked out how to get rich. He distilled
a lot of business and farming wisdom down to
its essence so that he could get ahead. He retired
early. I mean, isn't that the dream? And very
comfortably as well. Yet God called him a fool.
Because this man didn't thank God. He spent his
whole life ignoring God. He treated God as if
he wasn't there. And God says he lost his soul.
Knowing a lot, owning a lot, having the most
toys at the end when you die, it's worth nothing.
If you lose your soul for eternity, you've lost
everything. Make sure you're foolproof. You might
not agree with this Christianity stuff, but be
so certain. If Jesus is right, you want to be
sure that you've worked that out, don't you?
Read a gospel with a Christian. Come grab a coffee
with me. See who Jesus is. Work out if his claims
are real or not. This is so important. But if
you're a Christian, I want to speak to you. I
want to say keep making your life foolproof.
How? How do you make your life foolproof? Keep
seeking wisdom. Come to church. If you miss church,
listen to the sermon online. Join a growth group.
But also don't live in a monastery. Tucked away
from the world, engage with reality. Make sure
reading the Bible and hearing God's Word is your
priority, but yeah, listen to podcasts, read
books, watch reels. There's great things to learn
out there, as Augustine said, plunder the Egyptians.
Like, we want to learn from the things of this
world. But we always filter it through God's
wisdom. We test and we glean what's helpful.
And also we stand guard. Beware. There's lots
out there that's trying to convince you of godless
living. Keep coming to that bigger picture of
where everything is going and that you need to
be ready for when Jesus returns. But for the
Christian, I've got another challenge as well.
Get what you've learnt from your head to your
heart. That's also really important when it comes
to wisdom, isn't it? We act really foolish if
all the stuff we learn lives in our head. We
need information that leads to transformation.
And so what we've got to do is like with distilling
gin. We've got to take that essence and remix
it. With gin you take that alcohol and you remix
it with all these lovely herbs and other things
and florals and stuff. We want to take the essence
of wisdom and remix it back into our lives. Christians
don't just distill the wisdom of the Bible to
no Bible trivia. We mix it with our lives so
we live wisely. And when you do that, it changes
how you see the world. You start seeing what
you believe. That's actually when you... being
wise. Let me give you some examples and I'll
close by giving you some examples of what this
looks like. You get a new perspective on things.
So our big thing is Jesus will judge the world
so wisdom is surrendering to him. How's that
change how you see things? Well all of a sudden
your ambitions for your kids are different aren't
they? Oh I really want my kids to go to the best
school and go to uni and get the best job and
I want them to thrive and No, actually, I want
my kids to love and follow the Lord Jesus. That's
the ambition I have for them. At one level, yeah,
I want them to go well in their lives, but they
can do whatever. I want them to follow Jesus.
That's my ultimate ambition for them. Or it changes
how you see wealth. True riches. Oh, that's heavenly
riches, isn't it? It's being saved by Jesus and
living for eternity with him in paradise. That
changes how I see money. Do you know, all money
is just like monopoly money. Eventually, you
can't use it anymore, can you? You can't take
it with you. It's only good while you're in the
game. Well, that's the same with our money, isn't
it? Yes, enjoy it. Yes, use it to survive, but
see that it won't last. It can't give you the
security that you long for. Only Jesus can do
that. The real thing is to live for those true
riches and use the money you have to help you
and others get to that place. Or your worries.
It changes how you fear things when you see this,
the essence of wisdom. When you fear God, when
you fear Jesus more than anything else, you stop
being afraid of everything else, don't you? I've
got that sorted. I trust Jesus. I'm saved. You
know what? No matter what goes wrong in my life,
I'm going to be okay ultimately because ultimately
I'll be with Jesus forever. And actually I know
Jesus... is ruling everything, reigning over
everything, I can trust him as I live my life
to provide for me, to guide me, even when life
is going really hard. I don't need to be scared
anymore. Can you see how when you get that essence
of wisdom, it changes everything? Are you living
life? with that essence of wisdom clear in your
mind. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we want to
thank you so much for the Lord Jesus. Thank you
for the great hope we have in him. Thank you
that one day all who trust in him, all who surrender
to him, will be with him in eternity. Thank you
that he died for all our sins. Help us to keep
following Him, to keep trusting in Him, to keep
learning about Him. Help us to be wise. And we
ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.