WEBVTT 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:03.799 Gracious Heavenly Father, may your word challenge 00:00:03.799 --> 00:00:08.759 us, change us, may it comfort us, may it help 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:13.560 us to be wise, and may it drive us away from 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:16.620 foolishness. And we ask this in Jesus' name, 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:25.780 amen. Magnets are so much fun. My wonderful wife 00:00:25.780 --> 00:00:29.179 Laura, she's a great mum. And she found these 00:00:29.179 --> 00:00:32.000 cool things years ago called kinetics. Has anyone 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:34.960 ever played with kinetics? All right, that's 00:00:34.960 --> 00:00:37.399 great. Getting in touch with your inner child. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:40.320 And so kinetics, these are awesome little magnets. 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:42.619 These ones are so strong, I can't even pull them 00:00:42.619 --> 00:00:45.619 apart. And like you can, it's basically like 00:00:45.619 --> 00:00:49.380 magnetic Lego. It's awesome. And I've seen Laura 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:52.539 sit with the kids and build the most amazing 00:00:52.539 --> 00:00:56.009 things with these kinetics. big towers, big ball 00:00:56.009 --> 00:00:59.270 runs, all sorts of interesting things. It is 00:00:59.270 --> 00:01:03.609 such a great toy. And as we play, and as Laura 00:01:03.609 --> 00:01:07.129 plays with the kids, I don't think our kids realise 00:01:07.129 --> 00:01:11.989 just how amazing magnets are. See, magnets have 00:01:11.989 --> 00:01:16.109 two poles. They have a field that attracts and 00:01:16.109 --> 00:01:19.709 one that repels. And so they attract and repel 00:01:19.709 --> 00:01:21.709 each other. I mean, I don't know why I put these 00:01:21.709 --> 00:01:25.040 down. These are so cool. have a thing where, 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:27.439 you know, that way they stick together. How clever 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:30.120 is that? But then if you do it a different way, 00:01:30.540 --> 00:01:33.560 it's always, oh, it's some way they don't go 00:01:33.560 --> 00:01:36.379 together. But, you know, I'm not that smart. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:40.920 But anyway, they're really cool because they 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:44.359 have this amazing power to attract to one another. 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:49.340 And that phenomenon of magnetism is a powerful 00:01:49.340 --> 00:01:51.620 metaphor that we use in our culture, isn't it? 00:01:53.659 --> 00:01:57.719 have a magnetic personality. It's that sort of 00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:00.680 idea, isn't it? Or in business we go, oh, that's 00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:05.459 a really attractive offer. Or romance, that's 00:02:05.459 --> 00:02:09.240 the big one, isn't it? You find someone really 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:15.620 attractive. People spend a lot of time trying 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:19.900 to work out how to be magnetic, how to be attractive. 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:23.699 But you know what's something that we spend far 00:02:23.699 --> 00:02:27.479 less time thinking about? We spend far less time 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:32.800 thinking about who we're attracted to and why. 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:36.759 That's important too, as good as it is to, you 00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:39.439 know, go do the Botox and be as attractive as 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:43.139 possible. We need to work out who we're attracted 00:02:43.139 --> 00:02:47.039 to and why. What's going on in me that makes 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:50.819 me drawn to who I'm drawn to? You know, why does 00:02:50.819 --> 00:02:53.960 someone like the party girl or the bad boy? Why 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:59.039 not, you know, Mr Nice Guy? Why am I attracted 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:02.099 to those who aren't good for me? Why do I feel 00:03:02.099 --> 00:03:06.060 less of a pull to those that are? Now, there's 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:08.819 so many movies and TV shows about that question, 00:03:08.860 --> 00:03:11.900 isn't there? The guy or the girl chasing their 00:03:11.900 --> 00:03:14.259 unhealthy partner and then they finally wake 00:03:14.259 --> 00:03:16.960 up to how amazing the best friend who's been 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:19.020 right there in front of them is the whole time. 00:03:19.150 --> 00:03:21.129 and they see them in a new light, they suddenly 00:03:21.129 --> 00:03:25.050 feel an attraction towards them. Well, I want 00:03:25.050 --> 00:03:28.270 to suggest today the same thing should happen 00:03:28.270 --> 00:03:33.490 to us with wisdom. With wisdom, we want to feel 00:03:33.490 --> 00:03:36.490 an attraction toward wisdom. We want to understand 00:03:36.490 --> 00:03:39.469 why is it that I don't always feel attracted 00:03:39.469 --> 00:03:42.629 to wisdom? Why is it that sometimes I'm drawn 00:03:42.629 --> 00:03:44.830 to folly, even though folly's not good for me? 00:03:46.889 --> 00:03:49.449 We've got to look inward and work out what's 00:03:49.449 --> 00:03:55.550 going on. Is there a new light that I need to 00:03:55.550 --> 00:03:58.830 see wisdom in? Well, that's what these chapters 00:03:58.830 --> 00:04:02.090 in Proverbs do. They help us see just how attractive, 00:04:02.270 --> 00:04:05.389 how awesome, how beautiful and wonderful wisdom 00:04:05.389 --> 00:04:09.069 is. And they do that by presenting wisdom and 00:04:09.069 --> 00:04:12.900 folly as women. you know, not trying to be sexist 00:04:12.900 --> 00:04:15.719 or anything, it's that Proverbs was most likely 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:18.800 originally a book for young men in the king's 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:22.620 court. And so the writer is personifying wisdom 00:04:22.620 --> 00:04:25.740 and folly as attractive women to appeal to that 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:29.920 particular audience. But it's there to show us 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:34.660 just how wonderful wisdom is. Here's the big 00:04:34.660 --> 00:04:39.129 thing our passage is showing us today. Folly 00:04:39.129 --> 00:04:44.850 seduces us into ruin, but wisdom offers us rich 00:04:44.850 --> 00:04:49.470 blessings. That's what we see with wisdom and 00:04:49.470 --> 00:04:52.290 folly in this passage. Folly seduces us into 00:04:52.290 --> 00:04:57.810 ruin, but wisdom offers us rich blessings. We're 00:04:57.810 --> 00:05:00.029 gonna look at how this works. And the passage 00:05:00.029 --> 00:05:03.370 does two things. It says, you can see wisdom 00:05:03.370 --> 00:05:05.980 everywhere. We're going to see how great wisdom 00:05:05.980 --> 00:05:08.600 is because we can see it everywhere. And it's 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:10.220 going to give us a choice. It's going to say, 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:15.459 you must choose wisdom or folly. So let's look 00:05:15.459 --> 00:05:19.000 at the first thing. You can see wisdom everywhere. 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:21.439 Now, we're not just looking at chapter nine. 00:05:21.459 --> 00:05:24.160 We're also looking at chapter eight of Proverbs. 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:28.180 And in chapter eight, Lady Wisdom calls out that 00:05:28.180 --> 00:05:33.180 she is more precious than silver, gold, or jewels. 00:05:34.189 --> 00:05:37.730 And she backs it up by showing how you can see 00:05:37.730 --> 00:05:41.870 wisdom's fingerprints everywhere. All over the 00:05:41.870 --> 00:05:44.269 world you can see wisdom. It's baked into the 00:05:44.269 --> 00:05:48.730 created order. Kings who reign well, reign well 00:05:48.730 --> 00:05:53.750 by wisdom. Good governing is done by wisdom. 00:05:54.709 --> 00:05:57.649 Those who earn big bucks and are successful do 00:05:57.649 --> 00:06:00.449 so because they tap into something, not always 00:06:00.449 --> 00:06:02.889 but often, they tap into something of wisdom. 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:07.740 Wisdom is so incredible that it's actually used 00:06:07.740 --> 00:06:11.500 by God in the creation of the world. I mean, 00:06:11.540 --> 00:06:13.480 look around, we've got ecosystems, we've got 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:15.279 the water cycle, we've got all these things. 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:20.579 Wisdom is baked into everything. The universe 00:06:20.579 --> 00:06:25.600 doesn't run by random chance. It runs because 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:30.019 of wisdom. And seeing this should entice you 00:06:30.019 --> 00:06:35.689 and me to go get wisdom. I mean, that's kind 00:06:35.689 --> 00:06:39.430 of how sponsorships work, isn't it? For years, 00:06:39.670 --> 00:06:41.610 my favourite golf ball to play, and I'm sure 00:06:41.610 --> 00:06:43.509 you all care about my favourite golf ball to 00:06:43.509 --> 00:06:45.689 play, but it's the only illustration I've got, 00:06:46.670 --> 00:06:50.870 it was the Titleist Pro V1. Why? Because it was 00:06:50.870 --> 00:06:55.189 the most played golf ball on the PGA Tour. All 00:06:55.189 --> 00:07:00.029 the pros played Titleist Pro V1s. And for me, 00:07:00.050 --> 00:07:03.420 I wanted to be great at golf. So what do you 00:07:03.420 --> 00:07:05.639 do? You've got to go use the ball that the pros 00:07:05.639 --> 00:07:11.019 use. See, that's how sponsorships work, isn't 00:07:11.019 --> 00:07:14.579 it? And that's what's going on here. Wisdom has 00:07:14.579 --> 00:07:19.939 got all its brand ambassadors out. Why choose 00:07:19.939 --> 00:07:21.680 wisdom? Well, look around, look at all the brand 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:25.879 ambassadors saying how good wisdom is. Rulers 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:29.540 choose wisdom, the rich choose it, even God uses 00:07:29.540 --> 00:07:34.230 it. And there's one more brand ambassador who's 00:07:34.230 --> 00:07:37.269 not in this passage who shows just how attractive 00:07:37.269 --> 00:07:45.149 wisdom is. It's the Lord Jesus. When he walked 00:07:45.149 --> 00:07:49.910 on earth, he literally was wisdom personified. 00:07:51.589 --> 00:07:54.790 Lady wisdom here is a preview in some ways, a 00:07:54.790 --> 00:08:00.300 shadow of the Lord Jesus. Just as Lady Wisdom 00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:03.319 puts limits on the sea, the Lord Jesus would 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:07.300 tell the stormy seas to be still and they'd do 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:11.379 it. When people came with disputes or to trap 00:08:11.379 --> 00:08:15.500 Jesus, he'd wisely get down to the real issue. 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:20.319 He lived a life of pure wisdom. That's why he 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:23.399 was so magnetic. People from all over came to 00:08:23.399 --> 00:08:27.939 see and speak with Jesus. His wisdom was out 00:08:27.939 --> 00:08:32.580 of this world. He even implemented God's wise 00:08:32.580 --> 00:08:38.019 plan. He'd be treated like a fool to save the 00:08:38.019 --> 00:08:43.299 world. It's amazing wisdom that we see in Jesus. 00:08:43.379 --> 00:08:48.759 He is wisdom personified. And when you see that, 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:54.139 it reminds us don't neglect to get wisdom. Make 00:08:54.139 --> 00:08:57.870 sure you go get wisdom. The wisdom that's found 00:08:57.870 --> 00:09:04.490 in Jesus especially. See, wisdom is very attractive 00:09:04.490 --> 00:09:07.289 and this passage is trying to help us see that. 00:09:08.909 --> 00:09:11.990 But even as it's trying to call out to us and 00:09:11.990 --> 00:09:15.629 draw us in, it faces a rival for our devotion. 00:09:17.629 --> 00:09:21.850 Lady Folly. And we have to choose whether we'll 00:09:21.850 --> 00:09:24.889 go to the House of Wisdom or to the House of 00:09:24.889 --> 00:09:29.259 Folly. And that's the next thing we see. You 00:09:29.259 --> 00:09:35.059 must choose wisdom or folly. In chapter nine, 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:38.100 wisdom and folly are placed side by side to each 00:09:38.100 --> 00:09:41.379 other. It's there to show that it's a binary 00:09:41.379 --> 00:09:45.700 choice. You either choose wisdom or folly. You 00:09:45.700 --> 00:09:50.940 can't say simple or naive forever. But it's also 00:09:50.940 --> 00:09:54.820 placed like that so we can compare them. They're 00:09:54.820 --> 00:09:58.960 there doing the same activities all over the 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:00.679 passage. They're doing the same sorts of things, 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:05.360 but they do it in really different ways. They're 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:07.500 like apples and oranges. They're chalk and cheese. 00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:09.379 They're completely different from one another. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:11.820 Here's some of the ways that they're different. 00:10:13.019 --> 00:10:16.840 Wisdom industriously built her house with seven 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:19.759 pillars, seven because it's complete or perfect. 00:10:20.660 --> 00:10:23.340 and shrewdly sends out her servants to bring 00:10:23.340 --> 00:10:29.679 people in. Folly? Well, she sits there slovenly 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:32.480 at her front door and just shouts as loud as 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:37.360 she can, come on in, come on in! Wisdom worked 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:41.860 hard to make a lavish and delicious meal. Folly's 00:10:41.860 --> 00:10:44.919 meal is bland and the only reason it tastes good 00:10:44.919 --> 00:10:47.039 is because it's illicit, because it's stolen. 00:10:49.069 --> 00:10:51.950 Wisdom meal is given freely to all who come. 00:10:52.389 --> 00:10:54.450 Folly's meal is stolen. It's given because she 00:10:54.450 --> 00:10:58.850 takes from others. Wisdom gives people life and 00:10:58.850 --> 00:11:05.009 insight. It's such a rich blessing. Folly secretly 00:11:05.009 --> 00:11:09.529 kills all who enter her home. It's ghoulish. 00:11:09.929 --> 00:11:12.210 It presents as attractive and beautiful, but 00:11:12.210 --> 00:11:14.409 then when you get in there, you pull back the 00:11:14.409 --> 00:11:20.269 curtain and you see it's actually death. See, 00:11:20.269 --> 00:11:22.889 both wisdom and folly are seeking to attract 00:11:22.889 --> 00:11:27.690 you, yet the reality of each is worlds apart. 00:11:29.830 --> 00:11:34.690 It's like when you see ads for Maccas. You know 00:11:34.690 --> 00:11:36.789 when, if you were to eat the burger that was 00:11:36.789 --> 00:11:40.090 in the McDonald's ads, you would actually die? 00:11:41.129 --> 00:11:43.889 I remember, if you've ever watched Gruen, it's 00:11:43.889 --> 00:11:47.610 a great show on ABC about advertising, the sesame 00:11:47.610 --> 00:11:51.419 seeds that they use on the Maccas ad are actually 00:11:51.419 --> 00:11:56.340 glued on. So you'd eat the glue. The patty has 00:11:56.340 --> 00:11:59.259 glycerin on it to make it look juicy, so that 00:11:59.259 --> 00:12:01.600 wouldn't be good for you. The fries are actually 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:05.379 painted styrofoam. See, the ad is there trying 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:08.720 to seduce you to something that will kill you. 00:12:10.139 --> 00:12:12.679 Whereas I've got a mate, Joe, back in Perth. 00:12:13.019 --> 00:12:16.039 He's got this little group called Feast on Beasts. 00:12:16.409 --> 00:12:19.549 And they cook the most delicious burgers you've 00:12:19.549 --> 00:12:23.090 ever seen. Like, you know, he's there and he's 00:12:23.090 --> 00:12:25.809 trying to decide which potato bun or milk bun, 00:12:25.950 --> 00:12:28.370 what brioche bun, what bun is best. And then 00:12:28.370 --> 00:12:31.789 he picks one and then he, like, smashes the patty 00:12:31.789 --> 00:12:35.529 beautifully and he gets the best meat for it. 00:12:36.070 --> 00:12:41.009 And, oh, you go in and, smells so good. You see 00:12:41.009 --> 00:12:44.110 it, it looks amazing. There's no glue on it. 00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:48.080 You taste it and it not only tastes amazing, 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:49.960 but it's like pretty good for you. It's pretty 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:52.059 healthy, puts a bit of salad in it and all the 00:12:52.059 --> 00:12:57.000 nice things. Now both are attractive, but one 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:01.039 is fake and deadly isn't it? And one is real 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:05.659 and wonderful. And that's just like wisdom and 00:13:05.659 --> 00:13:10.480 folly. So how do you tell which one you're actually 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:14.600 attracted to? Well, look at chapter 9, verses 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:46.379 7 to 9. The one who's wicked is drawn to folly. 00:13:48.299 --> 00:13:51.419 They insult, they lash out, they despise anyone 00:13:51.419 --> 00:13:56.460 who tries to correct them. The wise, the righteous, 00:13:56.500 --> 00:13:59.940 they're attracted to wisdom. It's the opposite, 00:14:00.059 --> 00:14:04.620 isn't it? They love those who correct them. They 00:14:04.620 --> 00:14:08.100 keep learning. They keep growing. They're teachable. 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:10.639 They live life with their L -plates on all the 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:15.070 time. Now, it's not saying that the wise are 00:14:15.070 --> 00:14:18.850 like tofu. You know how tofu just absorbs everything? 00:14:19.769 --> 00:14:23.769 The wise aren't like that. Proverbs 14 .5 talks 00:14:23.769 --> 00:14:27.309 about the simple believes everything. The wise 00:14:27.309 --> 00:14:29.429 people are the ones, they hear things and they 00:14:29.429 --> 00:14:31.669 discern and they think and they work it out. 00:14:33.250 --> 00:14:36.889 But they are open minded. They're not defensive 00:14:36.889 --> 00:14:40.370 or dismissive. They listen. The wise welcomes 00:14:40.370 --> 00:14:47.169 hard words. It can look like this. You're sitting 00:14:47.169 --> 00:14:51.950 there in church or in growth group and someone 00:14:51.950 --> 00:14:54.970 says something really cutting and unsettling. 00:14:56.529 --> 00:14:58.830 And it's so easy to just shut it down, isn't 00:14:58.830 --> 00:15:02.330 it, and dismiss it. They don't know what they're 00:15:02.330 --> 00:15:04.669 talking about or the Bible surely can't be saying 00:15:04.669 --> 00:15:11.590 that. Or you can sit with it, think about it, 00:15:11.889 --> 00:15:15.580 chew on it. Maybe it's possible that is what 00:15:15.580 --> 00:15:21.500 it's saying. Or a spouse or a family member or 00:15:21.500 --> 00:15:24.000 a friend calls you out on your bad behaviour. 00:15:25.940 --> 00:15:28.139 Do you know, it's so easy to do. I do it, you 00:15:28.139 --> 00:15:33.000 know. Defend, argue, justify. Well, you weren't 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:34.919 there if you'd understood what I'd gone through 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:41.700 all day. I had five kids, okay? No, I'm not using 00:15:41.700 --> 00:15:47.320 any real life examples here. It's so easy to 00:15:47.320 --> 00:15:49.059 justify, to prove you're in the right, isn't 00:15:49.059 --> 00:15:53.299 it? Or you can just be receptive. Yeah, you're 00:15:53.299 --> 00:15:56.200 right, you know, there's something in what you're 00:15:56.200 --> 00:16:01.440 saying. Can I think about it? What a great question 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:06.139 to ask is, how can I be more receptive? How can 00:16:06.139 --> 00:16:12.389 I be more receptive? Well, the wise is drawn 00:16:12.389 --> 00:16:17.029 to uncomfortable truths because they are secure 00:16:17.029 --> 00:16:23.250 in the Lord Jesus. See, we lash out, we jump 00:16:23.250 --> 00:16:26.730 into fight or flight when we feel threatened. 00:16:28.450 --> 00:16:33.649 Insecurity makes us act like fools. The more 00:16:33.649 --> 00:16:36.779 I can see that I'm secure in Christ, The more 00:16:36.779 --> 00:16:40.659 I can sit with hard words, the more I can be 00:16:40.659 --> 00:16:50.659 wise. At the cross, Jesus did something amazing. 00:16:55.080 --> 00:17:00.059 He was our sin magnet. Think of these nails, 00:17:00.259 --> 00:17:02.379 they're like all of our sins and they've all 00:17:02.379 --> 00:17:08.150 been attracted, drawn onto Jesus. He did that 00:17:08.150 --> 00:17:10.630 so that we can be forgiven our sins, so that 00:17:10.630 --> 00:17:13.569 we could be right in God's sight. We don't have 00:17:13.569 --> 00:17:15.869 to justify or prove ourselves to anyone anymore. 00:17:15.910 --> 00:17:21.230 We're justified in Jesus. Sin won't hurt you 00:17:21.230 --> 00:17:25.329 if you're in Jesus. Not ultimately, not fully. 00:17:27.190 --> 00:17:32.500 You're secure. You're safe in Him. And do you 00:17:32.500 --> 00:17:35.059 know what, that's the most freeing thing, because 00:17:35.059 --> 00:17:38.180 it means that you, Christian, you can face the 00:17:38.180 --> 00:17:42.299 darkest things within you, and you can grow. 00:17:43.960 --> 00:17:47.039 That's just one of the many blessings and benefits 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:53.119 of Jesus dead for us. So how are you going with 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:58.160 that? Have you got a deep sense of Christ's love 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:06.029 for you? Or is it shallow, surface level, maybe 00:18:06.029 --> 00:18:11.470 non -existent? The deeper it is, the more secure 00:18:11.470 --> 00:18:15.309 you are in Jesus' love, the wiser you'll become. 00:18:17.789 --> 00:18:21.450 Have you got some hard work to do, not only to 00:18:21.450 --> 00:18:25.910 face the darkest parts of yourself, but to let 00:18:25.910 --> 00:18:33.109 Jesus' love go deeper? Let's tie some threads 00:18:33.109 --> 00:18:38.329 together. We started by asking, are you attracted 00:18:38.329 --> 00:18:42.990 to what's really good for you? If you're attracted 00:18:42.990 --> 00:18:46.450 to folly, is there a new light today in which 00:18:46.450 --> 00:18:50.710 you need to see wisdom in? Is there a new way 00:18:50.710 --> 00:18:54.369 you need to see folly today? Hopefully you have, 00:18:54.650 --> 00:18:57.710 because here's the thing we saw today. Folly 00:18:57.710 --> 00:19:03.039 seduces us into ruin. but wisdom offers us rich 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:08.799 blessings. Folly seduces us into ruin, but wisdom 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:13.400 offers us rich blessings. Now, what difference 00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:15.519 does this make? You know, as we go out that door, 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:21.259 what impact should this have on our lives? Well, 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:23.119 I think we've got to do that work. We've got 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:29.259 to look in. What's going on in you that's shaping 00:19:29.589 --> 00:19:34.230 what you're attracted to. If you're attracted 00:19:34.230 --> 00:19:38.710 to folly, I suspect you're being drawn to how 00:19:38.710 --> 00:19:44.130 easy it seems. See, folly in all its forms always 00:19:44.130 --> 00:19:47.549 appears as super easy. It never appears like 00:19:47.549 --> 00:19:52.650 it's actually cutting corners, but it is. See, 00:19:52.650 --> 00:19:56.029 being dismissive and defensive, it's easy, rather 00:19:56.029 --> 00:20:00.059 than thinking about your part of it. Laziness, 00:20:00.059 --> 00:20:03.220 being a slugger, it's easy. They don't have to 00:20:03.220 --> 00:20:08.619 do anything. Greed is easy. Lying is easy. Adultery 00:20:08.619 --> 00:20:14.000 is easy. Lashing out is easy. The seduction of 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:20.339 folly is it promises easy gains. And such shortcuts 00:20:20.339 --> 00:20:27.240 actually harm us. It's not worth it. When folly 00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:31.119 looks good, Remind yourself, remind one another 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:36.539 of reality. It promises a lot and delivers a 00:20:36.539 --> 00:20:43.859 little. And when wisdom is not attractive, look 00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:47.759 around. See where wisdom is. See that it's baked 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:50.880 into all of creation. See her in a new light. 00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:55.400 See that Jesus is wisdom personified. Bathe for 00:20:55.400 --> 00:21:01.119 a while in her beauty. Don't be repulsed by how 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:06.240 tough it is walking in her paths. Yes, expect 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:10.200 that getting wisdom will sting sometimes. It 00:21:10.200 --> 00:21:14.940 takes work, but know that it'll be worth it, 00:21:16.140 --> 00:21:18.900 especially with things like constructive criticism 00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:24.869 and loving rebuke. And this is so, so, so important. 00:21:25.109 --> 00:21:27.950 I think this is like the closest thing to a silver 00:21:27.950 --> 00:21:33.809 bullet for personal Christian growth. There was 00:21:33.809 --> 00:21:36.990 a church I worked at in WA and we had a man on 00:21:36.990 --> 00:21:40.950 our parish council who could never be wrong. 00:21:43.029 --> 00:21:45.369 And you know, of course, he was wrong on a lot 00:21:45.369 --> 00:21:49.400 of things, and that's putting it mildly. Not 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:51.500 only in just his thinking and how we were trying 00:21:51.500 --> 00:21:54.299 to do things, but he was rude, he was rigid, 00:21:54.619 --> 00:21:59.000 he was legalistic, he was unteachable. And if 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:01.359 he was ever confronted on anything, put your 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:06.180 hazmat suit on, it was about to go nuclear. I 00:22:06.180 --> 00:22:09.039 mean, it felt like people were always walking 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:13.720 on eggshells with this guy. And he would get 00:22:13.720 --> 00:22:15.819 angry and defensive. I remember sitting in a 00:22:15.819 --> 00:22:19.670 parish council meeting, where he had to be called 00:22:19.670 --> 00:22:22.089 out on something. My boss called him out on something 00:22:22.089 --> 00:22:27.869 and it went nuclear. I remember just giving him 00:22:27.869 --> 00:22:29.890 a little bit of constructive criticism about 00:22:29.890 --> 00:22:33.349 something and he told me he'd been doing this 00:22:33.349 --> 00:22:38.670 for 30 years and what did I know? And I feel 00:22:38.670 --> 00:22:43.210 sad for the guy because he's perpetually stuck. 00:22:45.150 --> 00:22:47.230 Because how can you change if you're never wrong? 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:53.119 It's actually so foolish. And I tell you that 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:57.559 to let it be a cautionary tale. I tell you that 00:22:57.559 --> 00:23:00.579 to remind you of Proverbs 26 -12, that there's 00:23:00.579 --> 00:23:03.299 more hope for a fool than one who's wise in their 00:23:03.299 --> 00:23:10.019 own eyes. It is not a good place to be. Please, 00:23:10.180 --> 00:23:16.759 please, please don't be that person. At another 00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:20.220 church I worked at in WA, I worked with two wonderful 00:23:20.220 --> 00:23:22.700 men. I'll tell you their names because they were 00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:26.200 wonderful men. A guy named Tyler and a guy named 00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:33.140 Roger. Both had a rare quality. They received 00:23:33.140 --> 00:23:38.980 rebuke and criticism really well. They were so 00:23:38.980 --> 00:23:44.099 gracious, so receptive. And you could just look 00:23:44.099 --> 00:23:45.859 at them and you could tell they'd done it for 00:23:45.859 --> 00:23:50.180 years and years and years. They'd been like this 00:23:50.180 --> 00:23:52.740 for such a long time because you looked at them 00:23:52.740 --> 00:23:54.819 and you went, those guys are so grounded and 00:23:54.819 --> 00:24:00.140 so godly and so secure in Jesus. And they were 00:24:00.140 --> 00:24:03.720 both deeply wise people because they were keen 00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:07.259 to learn. They were willing to see their faults. 00:24:09.559 --> 00:24:13.940 That's what I want to be like. I think that's 00:24:13.940 --> 00:24:19.400 what we should all be like. Let me close with 00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:26.440 this. Imagine if Northern Hope in one year, imagine 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:33.799 if all of us took this to heart. If we all felt 00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:38.839 extremely secure in Christ, if we were so secure 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:42.500 in Christ that we were drawn to wisdom's critique. 00:24:43.079 --> 00:24:48.339 If we were willing to heed, rebuke, I reckon 00:24:48.339 --> 00:24:50.420 our spiritual lives would be off the charts. 00:24:53.460 --> 00:24:55.500 There'd be sins that we'd been hiding, sins that 00:24:55.500 --> 00:24:58.819 we'd been struggling with, that would be lovingly 00:24:58.819 --> 00:25:03.519 dealt with and we'd be growing. Our interactions 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:08.339 at home, at work, at church, they'd be caring, 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:12.980 but they'd be raw. There'd be something unique 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:15.259 and different about them. There'd be a harmony 00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:17.759 and a love and a godliness and a vulnerability 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:22.059 to how we do things. There'd be a rich delight 00:25:22.059 --> 00:25:26.539 in God and a praise of him. And I reckon it would 00:25:26.539 --> 00:25:29.359 make many new people flood through that door. 00:25:31.099 --> 00:25:34.880 Because people would be saying, there's something 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:38.960 magnetic about that church. That's the sort of 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:42.650 church I want to go to. Why are they all like 00:25:42.650 --> 00:25:50.549 that? That'll only happen if each of us are attracted 00:25:50.549 --> 00:25:57.470 to wisdom. Will you seek wisdom even when it 00:25:57.470 --> 00:26:04.529 hurts? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank 00:26:04.529 --> 00:26:09.690 you so much that wisdom is there and it's available 00:26:09.930 --> 00:26:13.470 and most clearly, most wonderfully available 00:26:13.470 --> 00:26:19.650 in the Lord Jesus. Help us to receive wisdom. 00:26:21.130 --> 00:26:23.029 When we are challenged, when we're called out 00:26:23.029 --> 00:26:26.549 on things, when those darkest parts of our self 00:26:26.549 --> 00:26:33.190 pop up, help us to heed rebuke. Help us to want 00:26:33.190 --> 00:26:39.769 to be wise. Help us to be secure in Christ. And 00:26:39.769 --> 00:26:43.109 we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.