WEBVTT 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:02.560 Second Chronicles chapter one. 00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:07.860 And we're in a series together called Move Past and we're about to move past the series called Move Past. 00:00:08.180 --> 00:00:15.220 This is the last Sunday that we're going to spend on this topic together as we enter into the Christmas season, and this 00:00:15.220 --> 00:00:17.500 is an important topic for us today. 00:00:17.980 --> 00:00:25.000 Over the last, last week and into today, we've recognized this, that we can't cover every topic 00:00:25.060 --> 00:00:32.659 in life that we're going to face that will provide for us adverse circumstances and trying to discover how God 00:00:32.659 --> 00:00:34.100 can help us move through that. 00:00:34.120 --> 00:00:38.960 But the good news is while we can't cover every circumstance, we know the God who does. 00:00:39.100 --> 00:00:41.670 We know that God is with us in all of those things. 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:49.020 And so we're diving in these last couple of messages on this move, past series Seeking God and how he can help us and 00:00:49.020 --> 00:00:53.000 walking with us through the circumstances we face in life. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.860 And we talk about moving past areas of life. 00:00:55.860 --> 00:00:57.040 We've talked about pain. 00:00:57.040 --> 00:00:59.300 We've talked about, temptation. 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:05.550 But out of all the things that we've discussed, not everything can necessarily fit in this black and white category. 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:12.840 And what I mean is, when you're in life, some of the things, some of the decisions that you face aren't always as crystal clear. 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:20.580 Like, for example, what about a career decision and taking a job or 00:01:20.580 --> 00:01:22.320 turning down a job or finding the right person to marry or buying a house? 00:01:22.320 --> 00:01:27.480 Or if you're looking at schools, what schools do you attend or what schools right for? 00:01:27.700 --> 00:01:34.720 Maybe your children or parenting the best methods and parenting and whether or not you have kids or the struggle to have 00:01:34.720 --> 00:01:40.110 kids or dealing with sickness, or when do you retire or coming up on the holidays, how do we do those? 00:01:40.340 --> 00:01:47.180 Right, with family members pulling us at different in different directions and different parties that you feel obligated to go to in celebration of the holidays? 00:01:47.900 --> 00:01:48.840 How do you deal with all that? 00:01:48.900 --> 00:01:50.920 It's not always, always black and white. 00:01:51.700 --> 00:01:53.920 What do you do when you don't know what to do? 00:01:55.900 --> 00:02:02.920 And how do you build a successful life that just helps you move past those gray areas, or move through and navigate in 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:04.240 those gray areas of life? 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:13.340 You know, when we think about some things that would help us to move past adversity in life, some sometimes we think, what 00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:15.200 I need is morality. 00:02:15.580 --> 00:02:21.830 As long as I stick to morality, I'll have everything right or I just need to be smarter or more successful. 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:30.340 But when you when you look at people in life that you would consider your example in morality or being smart or successful, 00:02:30.640 --> 00:02:34.570 a lot of times when you pull back the curtain, they're not happy either, right? 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:36.900 When it comes to morality. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:42.920 Maybe one of the most famous passages in the Bible, at least I think is Jesus towards the end of his life. 00:02:43.040 --> 00:02:50.440 This may be one of the one of the things that took him to the cross when it did is in Matthew chapter 23, he comes to the Pharisees and he delivers what's 00:02:50.640 --> 00:02:58.080 referred to in Matthew chapter 23, beginning in verse 15 as the eight woes, Jesus comes before the Pharisees and says, woe 00:02:58.080 --> 00:02:59.190 were you scribes and Pharisees? 00:02:59.500 --> 00:02:59.600 And he. 00:02:59.940 --> 00:03:01.580 He delivers eight reasons why. 00:03:01.600 --> 00:03:05.260 And every time he delivers these reasons, he always says, woe before he starts. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:10.300 Now this word for woe, I want to say in our culture today, we have desensitized it. 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:12.720 We have, emasculated it. 00:03:12.720 --> 00:03:14.100 We have minimized it. 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:15.840 I try to think of where we even use it today. 00:03:15.860 --> 00:03:17.960 I'm thinking maybe some guy riding a horse. 00:03:17.980 --> 00:03:21.140 He's like, whoa, horsey, it's time to slow down. 00:03:21.160 --> 00:03:25.520 But so the word, the word woe today doesn't have quite the punch that it used to have. 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:32.540 It's not about just slowing down the horse when Jesus is saying the word woe in his culture, it's a statement that literally means you're a 00:03:32.600 --> 00:03:32.980 dead man. 00:03:33.780 --> 00:03:38.020 Like I'm going to kill you like it's as brutal as it gets. 00:03:38.040 --> 00:03:39.360 In Isaiah chapter six. 00:03:39.500 --> 00:03:41.360 Isaiah said it in the Old Testament, woe is me. 00:03:41.820 --> 00:03:42.980 I am a man of unclean lips. 00:03:42.980 --> 00:03:45.460 Isaiah is literally saying, whoa, I'm a dead man. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:52.660 And in Matthew 23, Jesus comes before the religious leaders and he tells the most prominent people in that culture, listen, you are 00:03:52.660 --> 00:03:53.100 dead people. 00:03:54.420 --> 00:03:54.820 Woe. 00:03:56.300 --> 00:03:58.480 Morality Jesus is identifying isn't. 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:03.420 It's not what will bring you what you're looking for in life now. 00:04:03.420 --> 00:04:04.780 Morality is a good thing. 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:09.490 But when you identify yourself in morality, you can you can identify with behavior modification. 00:04:09.840 --> 00:04:17.140 Without heart transformation, you can come into our place of worship today and think that all we're about is just a religion 00:04:17.160 --> 00:04:20.720 and trying to get you to follow our rules, and that's not the case at all. 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:22.900 God created you for so much more than that morality. 00:04:23.460 --> 00:04:25.100 It doesn't necessitate the answer. 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:26.440 Neither does being smart. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:33.520 There's lots of people that have a lot of knowledge, but when it comes to relationships, they could fail miserably in connecting in certain ways 00:04:33.520 --> 00:04:35.180 and even success. 00:04:35.300 --> 00:04:39.280 People with power and fame not always quite satisfied with it. 00:04:39.280 --> 00:04:42.500 In fact, some of those people could be some of some of the most lonely people in the world. 00:04:43.380 --> 00:04:50.460 I remember I went on a trip to Atlanta, and I happened to sit beside a celebrity on a train for like 30 minutes, and I thought it was a celebrity, 00:04:50.940 --> 00:04:51.530 but I didn't care. 00:04:52.640 --> 00:04:53.620 So they sat down beside me. 00:04:53.620 --> 00:04:55.420 I'm like, I think I know you, but. 00:04:55.420 --> 00:04:57.180 And I started vaguely reminding myself. 00:04:57.180 --> 00:05:03.280 And then as I'm sitting on this train next to this person, like crowds of people just start coming up talking to this individual and I'm just sitting. 00:05:03.420 --> 00:05:06.150 I'm like, man, I think I know who this is. 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:11.220 I figured it out, but people were coming up and talking to him, telling him, thank you for whatever they did on TV. 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:13.140 And this guy doesn't know these people from Jack. 00:05:13.340 --> 00:05:15.820 And he's got he's got to think all these people coming to him. 00:05:15.820 --> 00:05:16.540 Oh thank you. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:16.660 Yeah. 00:05:16.680 --> 00:05:16.880 Thank you. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:17.360 Appreciate it. 00:05:17.700 --> 00:05:20.520 But at the end of the day, I mean nobody really got to know him. 00:05:20.520 --> 00:05:26.400 They connected to this figure on TV, and they're treating him like this celebrity that they've known in their living room. 00:05:26.400 --> 00:05:33.700 But as far as a personal understanding, he's just person after person thinking, for acknowledging his work. 00:05:33.760 --> 00:05:40.860 But, at the end of the day, he just left empty because none of those people knew him or invested any time in him. 00:05:41.580 --> 00:05:42.940 And the same could be with success. 00:05:43.400 --> 00:05:50.400 Like people just cling to you because of who you are or what you can do for them or but they don't really know you. 00:05:50.620 --> 00:05:56.320 And so those areas of life, morality, smart success don't necessitate to find satisfaction. 00:05:56.600 --> 00:06:01.720 They may even help us navigate through the black and black and white or the gray areas of life. 00:06:02.020 --> 00:06:09.300 And the reason I wanted to dive into Second Chronicles, chapter one with us this morning is, Solomon is who the character relates 00:06:09.300 --> 00:06:13.620 to in this passage of Scripture, and he's finding himself in a similar situation in life. 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:20.860 It's not necessarily black, it's not necessarily white, but he's just taking on this new position before Israel, his 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:21.820 father's past. 00:06:21.980 --> 00:06:23.220 He's becoming the king. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:25.620 He's transitioning into this role. 00:06:27.440 --> 00:06:29.360 It's a very difficult time for him. 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:33.860 Anytime there's just this new authority leading a country. 00:06:33.860 --> 00:06:36.940 People are in this stage of do they have what it takes? 00:06:37.180 --> 00:06:38.320 Can we really follow them? 00:06:38.320 --> 00:06:41.020 Are they going to work themselves out as a leader for us? 00:06:41.020 --> 00:06:43.450 Is it what we need as a country to move forward? 00:06:44.080 --> 00:06:45.100 Right. 00:06:45.200 --> 00:06:52.220 And Solomon stepped in to this role, and he's come before the people of Israel, and he's called the people of Israel. 00:06:52.220 --> 00:06:56.880 Seeing the beginning of this chapter to the Tabernacle, they're praying, they're worshiping. 00:06:57.280 --> 00:06:59.840 They're literally on their knees seeking God's face. 00:07:00.140 --> 00:07:04.500 Because to be honest, I don't think Solomon knows if he has what it takes. 00:07:06.080 --> 00:07:13.240 And as he's praying in this tabernacle, as Israel is joining in and worshiping and praying with Solomon, it tells us in chapter 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:19.200 one of Second Chronicles that the Lord appears to Solomon. 00:07:20.540 --> 00:07:21.300 And he asked this. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:26.990 And the night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, ask, what shall I give you? 00:07:28.820 --> 00:07:36.000 When Solomon, you look at this adversity you're facing in life, what is it you think you need to do what 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:36.980 you've been called to do? 00:07:37.020 --> 00:07:38.820 How can you fulfill this role? 00:07:38.840 --> 00:07:40.460 And God shows up and he just asks him, what? 00:07:40.700 --> 00:07:42.030 What is it that you need? 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:42.200 Solomon? 00:07:44.320 --> 00:07:50.360 And we talk about these areas of life that we need navigated through sometimes not necessarily black and white. 00:07:50.360 --> 00:07:57.420 Maybe the question for you this morning is this what is it you lay in bed at night just thinking about if I could just have this 00:07:58.040 --> 00:07:58.760 right now. 00:08:00.460 --> 00:08:02.280 This is what would bring me satisfaction. 00:08:02.780 --> 00:08:02.880 This. 00:08:03.100 --> 00:08:05.840 This would give me clarity in the direction I need to go. 00:08:06.700 --> 00:08:07.020 And God. 00:08:07.280 --> 00:08:13.560 God is showing up into Solomon's life and God has posed this question to Solomon. 00:08:14.780 --> 00:08:17.360 And Solomon's response, he just describes where he is. 00:08:19.440 --> 00:08:20.220 Says in verse eight. 00:08:21.240 --> 00:08:27.940 Solomon said to God, you have dealt with my father David with great loving kindness and have made me king in his place. 00:08:29.300 --> 00:08:32.600 Like first thing Solomon says is like, I'm here because of my dad. 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:36.539 It's not anything necessarily special that you see in me. 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:43.340 God, I feel like the reason I'm here is because you worked in my dad's life, and now I'm finding myself now as king in his place. 00:08:45.060 --> 00:08:46.640 And so I'm here because of my dad. 00:08:46.740 --> 00:08:50.040 And in verse one he goes on now, oh Lord God, you're promised to my father. 00:08:50.180 --> 00:08:55.680 David is fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 00:08:56.600 --> 00:08:58.520 Now, God, remember you made a promise to my dad. 00:08:58.740 --> 00:09:00.320 I mean, it wasn't necessarily me. 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:03.200 It relates through me, but it was to my dad. 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:06.080 Like you made him king over all these people. 00:09:06.200 --> 00:09:10.280 Now I'm looking out that I now am king over all of these people. 00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:12.260 I'm here because of my dad, and now I'm. 00:09:12.400 --> 00:09:14.020 I'm over these people in the land. 00:09:14.340 --> 00:09:16.020 This is why I'm seeking your face. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:18.820 And so Solomon then asks. 00:09:21.590 --> 00:09:21.940 God. 00:09:21.960 --> 00:09:22.790 This is what I need. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:26.920 Can I tell you before we read this verse? 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:31.840 Some of you already know what this verse says because it's very popular in what Solomon's question is. 00:09:32.510 --> 00:09:33.060 But. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:36.500 Can I tell you what you want most in life? 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:39.890 We'll determine what you do. 00:09:41.140 --> 00:09:42.940 And if you want to change what you do. 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:47.980 You've got to change what you want, right? 00:09:48.460 --> 00:09:51.880 What you determine or what you want most in life will determine what you do. 00:09:51.880 --> 00:09:55.120 And if you want to change what you do, you have to change what you want. 00:09:58.200 --> 00:09:59.000 And Solomon. 00:10:00.260 --> 00:10:02.420 Is looking around at what he's got in his kingdom. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:06.090 In fact, he wrote a book called The Book of Ecclesiastes. 00:10:06.940 --> 00:10:07.220 It's wisdom. 00:10:07.380 --> 00:10:08.810 It's considered wisdom literature. 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:15.000 And Solomon for the first 11 chapters, describes the way that people tend to live their lives. 00:10:15.180 --> 00:10:16.660 Their desires are the same. 00:10:18.400 --> 00:10:21.050 They think stuff will satisfy them. 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:27.280 And when they get the stuff that they have craved, they find that hunger is still there. 00:10:27.420 --> 00:10:28.360 And so they crave more. 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:36.380 And what we really discover in those cravings of the stuff in life is that the temporary things of life really don't satisfy, 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:41.300 that the cravings within us run much deeper because it relates back to the soul. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:44.260 And for 11 chapters. 00:10:44.520 --> 00:10:47.920 Solomon Solomon says in the book of Ecclesiastes, life is vanity. 00:10:49.140 --> 00:10:50.340 It's but a vapor, he says. 00:10:51.680 --> 00:10:57.740 And finally, in chapter 12, he paints this final picture of where satisfaction is found in life. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:00.800 And it's what he describes here in chapter one and verse ten. 00:11:00.880 --> 00:11:01.470 This is what he says. 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:04.340 He says, give me now wisdom and knowledge. 00:11:06.060 --> 00:11:09.520 That I may go out and come in before this, people. 00:11:09.620 --> 00:11:11.780 For who can rule this great people of yours? 00:11:14.660 --> 00:11:20.300 God to live life the way that you've called me to live and to live life successfully. 00:11:21.180 --> 00:11:22.320 What I need is wisdom. 00:11:23.540 --> 00:11:29.140 In fact, if I just gave a very basic definition of wisdom, I would say this wisdom is being good at life. 00:11:31.700 --> 00:11:38.340 And God reflects his remarks back to Solomon when he asks for wisdom. 00:11:38.380 --> 00:11:45.420 And God said to Solomon, because you had this in mind and did not ask for riches, wealth, or honor, or the life of those who hate 00:11:45.420 --> 00:11:52.580 you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may rule my people over 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:54.050 whom I have made you King. 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:57.270 Wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. 00:11:58.160 --> 00:12:05.300 Now God goes on from there, and he says that Solomon will have these things, he'll have he'll have wealth and he'll have power. 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:09.180 But it's not because Solomon's asking for wealth and power. 00:12:09.400 --> 00:12:13.320 It's because Solomon learned how to be wise with the resources God gave him. 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:16.680 And in the wisdom of that, God blessed Solomon through it. 00:12:18.560 --> 00:12:25.760 But God was delighted in Solomon's heart for wisdom, because wisdom is what gives 00:12:25.760 --> 00:12:29.320 him the ability to navigate through the adversity in life. 00:12:29.400 --> 00:12:36.040 One of the most famous stories I think told about, um Solomon was when he decided to sell the baby in half. 00:12:36.220 --> 00:12:36.620 Right? 00:12:36.620 --> 00:12:41.540 Two ladies come with him, come before him, and one of them has a baby, and they're both claiming that the baby is theirs. 00:12:41.900 --> 00:12:43.680 And Solomon says, cut the baby in two. 00:12:45.280 --> 00:12:51.540 And the mother that begins to weep, that this baby is going to be cut in two, gives her baby to the other lady. 00:12:52.260 --> 00:12:59.540 And Solomon knew that was the mother, because the mother, the true mother of that child, would want to preserve the life of the child, even if she couldn't hold the child. 00:13:00.920 --> 00:13:04.120 And this kind of wisdom helped him learn to navigate through life. 00:13:04.120 --> 00:13:11.180 Now, I don't I'm not suggesting you're ever going to be in a cut of baby scenario, but wisdom is important because life throws to us certain adversities 00:13:11.180 --> 00:13:15.680 that we don't always know the right answer to follow after. 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:16.850 But we know the God who does. 00:13:17.020 --> 00:13:22.100 And so discovering the wisdom in him to navigate through that is significant for us in life. 00:13:22.160 --> 00:13:23.250 In fact, let me just give you an example. 00:13:23.670 --> 00:13:26.400 Here's one of all the wisdom I've learned over the years. 00:13:26.420 --> 00:13:30.960 My son comes to me this past week and he says, dad, I will pay you $10 to eat a worm. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:36.170 I will give you $11 to eat a ladybug, and I will give you $80 to eat a spider. 00:13:36.980 --> 00:13:38.790 I'm like, well, I don't want to turn down a buck here. 00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:39.000 So. 00:13:39.020 --> 00:13:40.680 So all right, where are you going to get this money? 00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:41.620 I'm just curious, he said. 00:13:41.660 --> 00:13:43.960 I'm going to take it from you and I'm going to give it back to you. 00:13:44.020 --> 00:13:46.050 And I said, no deal, no deal. 00:13:46.380 --> 00:13:48.600 I, I am wise beyond my years. 00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:50.690 That's not that's not how it works. 00:13:50.860 --> 00:13:50.980 Right? 00:13:53.800 --> 00:13:55.260 Wisdom is being good at life. 00:13:55.260 --> 00:13:58.570 And I have to say no worm later and I felt pretty good. 00:14:00.280 --> 00:14:03.800 Wisdom is important in navigating the situations. 00:14:05.400 --> 00:14:11.380 The Bible gives us an understanding of where and how to receive wisdom as individuals. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:14.140 In fact, in James. 00:14:15.680 --> 00:14:19.400 And seeking wisdom as people for navigating through adversity in life. 00:14:19.400 --> 00:14:26.500 James says this in verse chapter one and verse five, but if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to 00:14:26.500 --> 00:14:30.340 all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 00:14:31.820 --> 00:14:37.830 Now, some of you may be familiar with this verse, but there's a few things I want to point out to us as we just look at this text for a minute. 00:14:38.580 --> 00:14:44.540 When God is asking us to ask for wisdom, he's telling us, if you lack wisdom, ask for wisdom. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:48.400 It's important first to understand that the originator of all wisdom is who. 00:14:49.940 --> 00:14:51.380 God, right? 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:54.440 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. 00:14:54.600 --> 00:15:01.880 So what should happen is, as we as people in pursuit of wisdom in our lives, the place that it should drive us to the source of 00:15:01.900 --> 00:15:03.140 wisdom is God Himself. 00:15:04.880 --> 00:15:06.820 Meaning wisdom originates from God. 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:11.520 Therefore, your relationship to God should draw more intimate and seeking wisdom from God. 00:15:12.340 --> 00:15:15.680 The thing that God asks us to ask for in this verse is wisdom, right? 00:15:16.280 --> 00:15:17.240 So we come to God. 00:15:17.300 --> 00:15:18.380 We're asking God for wisdom. 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:19.860 What this verse isn't saying. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:23.040 As asked God what is true. 00:15:24.520 --> 00:15:29.220 I think there's a very important distinction needs to be made between truth and wisdom. 00:15:29.880 --> 00:15:31.100 Right. 00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:38.740 For instance, when I come before God and if this is maybe a cheesy example, but if a lion is in front of me and 00:15:38.740 --> 00:15:45.060 I stick my hand in its mouth, I don't need to pause and ask God, God, is it true that this lion will bite me, right? 00:15:45.860 --> 00:15:49.720 I mean, the lion's got teeth, the lion eats meat, the lion will bite, right? 00:15:49.860 --> 00:15:50.820 I don't have to ask God. 00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:51.700 God is a sky blue. 00:15:51.920 --> 00:15:52.960 God is the grass green? 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:55.660 Truth. 00:15:56.580 --> 00:15:58.640 Truth is truth, right? 00:15:58.760 --> 00:16:02.660 It doesn't require me to pray, to know if it's true. 00:16:02.660 --> 00:16:03.620 Truth is truth. 00:16:04.820 --> 00:16:08.580 This passage isn't telling us to pray, to ask God what is true. 00:16:08.640 --> 00:16:10.060 What this passage is telling us. 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:17.240 To pray is to ask God how to apply the truth to our lives, its wisdom, and taking the truth and making 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:19.680 the proper application in our world. 00:16:22.060 --> 00:16:29.080 This passage on wisdom is God taking that truth and helping us understand how to do what's right with it 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:30.780 being good in life with it. 00:16:30.820 --> 00:16:36.280 When James is writing this to the believers in the New Testament, the believers already have the truth. 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:38.360 They know what the truth is. 00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:39.440 They know who Jesus is. 00:16:39.740 --> 00:16:40.740 They've trusted in that. 00:16:40.740 --> 00:16:44.520 And when James is writing his book, he's writing to the believers because they're going through persecution. 00:16:44.940 --> 00:16:48.540 In fact, the next thing James dives into is considered all joy. 00:16:48.640 --> 00:16:55.920 My brothers, when you dive, when you when you face various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, you guys are going through hardship. 00:16:57.000 --> 00:16:58.080 You don't need to know what truth is. 00:16:58.140 --> 00:16:59.420 You already know what truth is. 00:17:01.460 --> 00:17:04.119 The sky is blue whether you want to pray it green or not. 00:17:05.099 --> 00:17:06.040 And the grass is green. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:08.230 Whether or not you want to pray and pretend like it's blue. 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:11.660 Truth is truth, but what God's people need. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:15.770 Is to learn how to apply the truth that God has given. 00:17:18.450 --> 00:17:20.550 If any of you lack wisdom. 00:17:22.540 --> 00:17:24.200 James's encouragement. 00:17:24.839 --> 00:17:25.720 Is to go to the source. 00:17:27.300 --> 00:17:29.570 For the application of the truth that's been taught. 00:17:31.800 --> 00:17:32.720 Solomon. 00:17:34.700 --> 00:17:37.200 Being what the Bible says is the wisest man on earth. 00:17:39.320 --> 00:17:44.260 You may be saying this morning in your heart, Solomon was the wisest man on earth. 00:17:44.380 --> 00:17:48.020 But how could I ever how could I ever expect to be a Solomon in this world? 00:17:48.020 --> 00:17:49.480 And I would say, you're right, God. 00:17:49.620 --> 00:17:50.960 God only made one Solomon. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:52.680 But here's the convenience for us. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.880 Solomon, the wisest man, wrote books on wisdom. 00:17:59.740 --> 00:18:06.160 In fact, the Book of Proverbs is 31 chapters of wisdom written, written from the wisest man. 00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:15.200 And in fact, he starts chapter one of his book with the idea of how to prepare your heart to grow in 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:15.480 wisdom. 00:18:17.340 --> 00:18:18.840 The attitude to take. 00:18:18.860 --> 00:18:24.650 And I would encourage you this way if you're thinking in your in your life today, I just want to I want to become wiser. 00:18:24.940 --> 00:18:26.120 I want to grow in that wisdom. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:28.320 I want to learn how to navigate those gray areas of life. 00:18:28.800 --> 00:18:29.860 Here you go. 00:18:29.860 --> 00:18:32.810 In December, there are 31 days in the book of Proverbs. 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:34.140 There are 31 chapters. 00:18:35.740 --> 00:18:37.760 You can read a chapter a day. 00:18:38.780 --> 00:18:45.860 And when Solomon wrote the Book of Proverbs, he addresses it to his children, his older children, or his young, his older 00:18:45.860 --> 00:18:46.380 son. 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:46.720 He wants them. 00:18:47.140 --> 00:18:52.040 He wants them to read this as he's getting ready to enter into his teenage years to figure out how to navigate life. 00:18:52.140 --> 00:18:56.730 So let me encourage you as parents, if you're thinking about not only do I want wisdom, but I want to impart this to my kids. 00:18:57.540 --> 00:19:04.560 If you've got some older kids able to critically think in these areas of wisdom and these proverbs, I would encourage you to 00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:04.900 do it. 00:19:05.020 --> 00:19:05.510 One of your children. 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:09.520 Go through a chapter a day with your child and just discuss it. 00:19:09.580 --> 00:19:11.530 And let me let me just give you a little further thought. 00:19:12.320 --> 00:19:16.040 Some of this stuff is very specific to gender, right? 00:19:16.080 --> 00:19:23.240 And so if you have the convenience of mother doing it with daughter or father doing it with son, I would encourage you to do it that way, to talk about some 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:28.000 of these subjects that are significant for them in life to practice wisdom. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:32.820 But when Solomon opens up Proverbs chapter one, let me just read these thoughts to you. 00:19:32.820 --> 00:19:39.860 He says in verse two, to know wisdom and instruction, to discern the sayings of understanding of verse three, to receive instruction and 00:19:39.860 --> 00:19:45.130 wise behavior in verse four, to give prudence to the naive, to the youth, knowledge and discretion. 00:19:45.360 --> 00:19:49.320 In verse five, a wise man will hear and increase in learning. 00:19:50.800 --> 00:19:57.920 When you look at the first six verses of Proverbs, Solomon is describing the context in which people should have in their attitude to receive 00:19:57.920 --> 00:19:58.200 wisdom. 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:00.300 It's one of a learning position. 00:20:02.180 --> 00:20:05.600 It's one that's not ready to speak, but one that's ready to absorb right? 00:20:06.860 --> 00:20:13.900 There's a story about, Socrates that when he was, teaching his philosophy, a young man came up to 00:20:13.900 --> 00:20:16.910 him and said, Socrates, I want to grow in your wisdom. 00:20:17.800 --> 00:20:24.420 And Socrates looks at this young man and from the outside judged him as a little arrogant and proud, and only doing it to boast in front of his friends. 00:20:24.580 --> 00:20:25.650 So he said, follow me. 00:20:26.340 --> 00:20:33.380 And so Socrates walked out of the city, down the street, out of town, down to the ocean, and walked into the 00:20:33.380 --> 00:20:33.780 water. 00:20:33.780 --> 00:20:37.560 And the young man continued to follow him, and they turned around about waist deep. 00:20:37.580 --> 00:20:39.420 And Socrates said, now tell me what you want. 00:20:39.420 --> 00:20:40.610 And the young man said, I want wisdom. 00:20:40.740 --> 00:20:41.040 And he takes. 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:42.160 He takes the young man. 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:45.560 He holds him down under the water for about 15 seconds, and he lets him back up. 00:20:45.620 --> 00:20:47.040 And Socrates says, now what do you want? 00:20:47.040 --> 00:20:48.600 And the young man says, I need wisdom. 00:20:48.700 --> 00:20:52.700 So he shoves him back under the water again and holds him there for 30s this time. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:54.290 And he asks the young man, what do you want? 00:20:54.320 --> 00:20:55.350 And he says, I want wisdom. 00:20:55.500 --> 00:20:56.100 And he takes the young man. 00:20:56.100 --> 00:20:59.440 He holds him down for over a minute and finally he lets him up and he says, what do you want? 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:01.900 And the young man says, air, I need air. 00:21:02.140 --> 00:21:03.360 And Socrates looks at him and says. 00:21:05.080 --> 00:21:08.440 When you crave wisdom, like you crave the air right now. 00:21:09.560 --> 00:21:11.040 That's when you're ready to receive it. 00:21:13.300 --> 00:21:16.220 Proverbs chapter one carries that idea. 00:21:17.700 --> 00:21:21.720 I mean, it's easy to sit here and say, I want to be wiser, right? 00:21:23.720 --> 00:21:25.990 But the reality is there's got to be a hunger there for. 00:21:28.280 --> 00:21:30.800 Wisdom is something that you apply your life to. 00:21:32.280 --> 00:21:38.920 You don't just wake up today and say, I want to be wise, right? 00:21:39.080 --> 00:21:41.120 On the same token, I don't think people wake up. 00:21:42.220 --> 00:21:42.920 And say, you know what? 00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:45.480 I want to wreck everything in my life. 00:21:49.280 --> 00:21:52.210 Jesus tells a story in Matthew chapter seven. 00:21:54.060 --> 00:21:55.630 It's the end of his sermon on the Mount. 00:21:57.780 --> 00:21:59.780 He makes application at the very end. 00:21:59.780 --> 00:22:03.730 And it's sort of this now choose statement Jesus makes. 00:22:04.980 --> 00:22:08.160 He describes a house, right? 00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:12.700 And Jesus says in verse 24, therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them. 00:22:13.720 --> 00:22:16.020 Maybe compare it to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:20.900 The rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house. 00:22:21.080 --> 00:22:21.920 And yet it did not fall. 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:24.880 For I had been founded on the rock. 00:22:26.180 --> 00:22:32.320 Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 00:22:32.700 --> 00:22:35.960 The rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against the house. 00:22:36.080 --> 00:22:39.000 And it fell, and great was its fall. 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:43.510 So what Jesus is saying is it looks like this. 00:22:43.560 --> 00:22:45.580 You know, people are going to build their houses in life. 00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:47.280 You're going to build your house, you're going to live in it. 00:22:48.100 --> 00:22:51.900 And from the outside when you just all you see is a house, you think, oh, that's pretty. 00:22:52.040 --> 00:22:52.420 They got a house. 00:22:54.580 --> 00:23:01.680 But it's when the rains come and the storms start to fall that you begin to discover exactly how that house 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:02.700 was built. 00:23:03.760 --> 00:23:04.720 Is it made to last? 00:23:07.060 --> 00:23:09.860 And that's what wisdom represents in the story. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:15.980 Wisdom isn't something that you wake up and you say, I want to be wise, and foolishness isn't something. 00:23:15.980 --> 00:23:17.590 You wake up and you say, I want to be a fool. 00:23:17.740 --> 00:23:24.880 But over time, as the storm begins to rage against the home, you see where the foundation of 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:25.740 that house rests. 00:23:28.220 --> 00:23:33.340 Wisdom is something you begin to apply to your life today because tomorrow you don't know what it holds. 00:23:35.020 --> 00:23:40.700 And as the rains come, the effort that you spent in the wisdom displays itself. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:48.170 I mean, you can think in your own life if you ever get in a pinch in some situation, who's the first person you call? 00:23:50.380 --> 00:23:51.270 It's not the full. 00:23:53.580 --> 00:23:54.440 It's someone in. 00:23:54.440 --> 00:24:01.540 Whatever that situation that you're facing is going to help you navigate through that scenario, because they have gained the wisdom for that particular situation 00:24:01.540 --> 00:24:02.620 in order to encourage you. 00:24:05.380 --> 00:24:07.140 And Jesus comes to the end of his sermon on the Mount. 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:14.360 Not only again is he identifying himself as the source of wisdom, but he's saying to everyone, listen, there is a choice and there is a result to what you say 00:24:14.360 --> 00:24:15.160 in me. 00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:17.280 If you say this morning, you know I want to grow in wisdom. 00:24:17.880 --> 00:24:18.800 It's great. 00:24:18.800 --> 00:24:21.740 Solomon wrote 31 chapters with 31 days this month. 00:24:22.040 --> 00:24:29.240 And then Solomon says in Proverbs chapter one and verse seven, sort of this hinge thought that pulls all of this together in 00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:29.600 wisdom. 00:24:29.600 --> 00:24:30.180 He says this. 00:24:31.780 --> 00:24:32.500 The fear of the Lord. 00:24:34.300 --> 00:24:35.330 It's the beginning of knowledge. 00:24:37.180 --> 00:24:40.260 Fools despise wisdom and instruction. 00:24:45.140 --> 00:24:45.440 Wisdom starts. 00:24:47.380 --> 00:24:48.300 And the fear of the Lord. 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:55.860 Your willingness to humble yourself before God and rather than just tell him what you want. 00:24:58.040 --> 00:24:59.190 Receive what he has to give. 00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:07.480 This word for fear of the Lord is one that, to be honest, sometimes I struggle with explaining. 00:25:08.340 --> 00:25:10.980 And the reason is because there's both this reverence. 00:25:12.840 --> 00:25:13.780 In God's fear. 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:17.310 This all inspiring power that God possesses. 00:25:18.500 --> 00:25:22.240 But at the same time, it's invitational, right? 00:25:22.280 --> 00:25:25.840 Solomon wants us to recognize in this verse God's authority over us. 00:25:27.420 --> 00:25:30.740 But also in that authority the invitation to rest under it. 00:25:30.740 --> 00:25:32.780 Right. 00:25:33.290 --> 00:25:38.980 I try to think of the best example that would explain what the fear of the Lord is, and made me think of. 00:25:38.980 --> 00:25:46.440 When I was a kid, I lived on the ocean down in the Gulf, and I lived with my father for a little while, and I 00:25:46.440 --> 00:25:49.420 happen to be in a few hurricanes while I was down there. 00:25:49.540 --> 00:25:52.320 And my dad is like this adventure junkie, and he had a Camaro. 00:25:53.280 --> 00:25:56.740 And every time, every time one would roll through town, we would go play in it. 00:25:57.380 --> 00:25:58.990 It was not was not smart. 00:25:59.380 --> 00:26:05.000 And one time we get out in the hurricane that we're in, the area that we're in is about to go through the eye of the hurricane. 00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:11.850 I didn't know this, but we're in probably one of the most powerful storms that I had gone through and that the Gulf had seen in a while. 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:15.700 And we're out and driving around in it starts to get really dangerous. 00:26:15.760 --> 00:26:19.350 And we notice this was different than the other hurricanes, that we needed to come home early. 00:26:19.700 --> 00:26:26.880 And so we come home to the house and I'm sitting inside and this hurricane's just raging and all of a sudden it 00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:27.360 just stops. 00:26:29.040 --> 00:26:35.880 And I thought that was odd because I'd seen hurricanes before, just breeze through town and the trickle effect of the rain just continues for quite a while. 00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:39.440 And I'm inside and the wind's just blowing, the wind's is blowing. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:40.360 And all of a sudden it just disappears. 00:26:43.320 --> 00:26:50.380 I go out front and I'm looking around at the debris that the hurricane is knocked down, and neighbor's house had a tree 00:26:50.380 --> 00:26:51.060 landing on it. 00:26:51.120 --> 00:26:56.520 I remember looking at all that, but then I walked out into the street, into a field across from where my house was located. 00:26:56.940 --> 00:27:00.920 And I look up and the sky is just blue, not even a cloud around. 00:27:02.600 --> 00:27:07.160 You wouldn't even know, other than the evidence of the tree branches laying laying on the ground that a hurricane had even passed. 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:15.940 And I began to look, and I noticed as I'm staring around in this, beautiful open space, blue sky, there 00:27:15.940 --> 00:27:19.820 are birds everywhere and a ridiculous amount of birds. 00:27:19.880 --> 00:27:24.380 So much that you just want to cover your head and duck because you feel at any moment you may get bombed, right? 00:27:24.420 --> 00:27:25.450 You're looking like where? 00:27:25.860 --> 00:27:27.940 Where did all these birds come from? 00:27:27.940 --> 00:27:28.550 This is insane. 00:27:28.920 --> 00:27:31.020 It's like a meeting after the hurricane. 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:31.960 I don't know what they're doing. 00:27:32.080 --> 00:27:32.810 I got to get back inside. 00:27:33.320 --> 00:27:35.040 And I hate seagulls. 00:27:35.080 --> 00:27:36.360 They're like rats with wings. 00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:40.620 I'm just thinking they're going to eat everything, and they just trash birds. 00:27:40.620 --> 00:27:41.120 They just want to devour. 00:27:41.600 --> 00:27:43.600 I'm like, oh, no, they're going to pick at me. 00:27:43.600 --> 00:27:44.700 And I know I've been on the beach. 00:27:44.700 --> 00:27:45.790 I know what they do to people. 00:27:46.280 --> 00:27:48.920 And so I go back inside to get away from these birds. 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:55.780 And I turn on the radio thinking, how does a hurricane go from amazing, amazingly powerful to just nothing in seconds? 00:27:56.120 --> 00:27:56.640 And I find out. 00:27:58.320 --> 00:27:59.430 I'm in the eye of a hurricane. 00:28:01.560 --> 00:28:04.520 Eye of a hurricane spans from about 20 to 50 miles wide. 00:28:06.600 --> 00:28:07.690 You know, in the middle of a storm. 00:28:07.840 --> 00:28:09.390 It's the calmest place to be. 00:28:10.900 --> 00:28:12.880 And the reason those birds were in the eye of the hurricane. 00:28:14.780 --> 00:28:18.080 They respected its power and they knew there was a place of safety. 00:28:19.320 --> 00:28:24.840 And so when the hurricane comes, they fly into the center of the storm. 00:28:25.820 --> 00:28:28.920 And they have a 30 mile span in this hurricane. 00:28:28.920 --> 00:28:30.370 I was it was over 30 miles wide. 00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:32.480 Where they were safe. 00:28:35.480 --> 00:28:36.280 That's the fear of the Lord. 00:28:38.620 --> 00:28:41.930 God is powerful. 00:28:42.520 --> 00:28:44.510 All inspiring power he possesses. 00:28:46.760 --> 00:28:48.090 But in the midst of the storm. 00:28:50.020 --> 00:28:51.400 He calls you into the center. 00:28:53.180 --> 00:28:54.680 Because it becomes your place of protection. 00:29:01.940 --> 00:29:01.940 Wisdom. 00:29:01.940 --> 00:29:02.080 Is needed. 00:29:02.080 --> 00:29:02.870 Like we need air. 00:29:05.180 --> 00:29:12.240 And God in his great powerful fear of the Lord, wants us to recognize that one. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:19.260 He is the authority through which wisdom comes, but he also invites you in that power to take solace and the 00:29:19.280 --> 00:29:23.920 protection of who he is, that you may grow in the wisdom that he possesses. 00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:29.640 One of the things I love about fear of the Lord. 00:29:31.660 --> 00:29:35.090 As it calls me to take responsibility for my faith. 00:29:37.420 --> 00:29:39.580 I think too often we put our trust. 00:29:41.260 --> 00:29:43.820 And people for our spirituality, right? 00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:45.780 People will fail. 00:29:47.880 --> 00:29:49.670 The Lord endures forever. 00:29:50.980 --> 00:29:52.580 When you think about the fear of the Lord. 00:29:52.700 --> 00:29:57.970 I was reading in James chapter three and God's talking about wisdom and the way that it works in our lives. 00:29:58.220 --> 00:30:05.480 And I feel like when God's describing this, not only is he describing the way wisdom works in our lives, but he's also describing the character 00:30:05.480 --> 00:30:08.420 of God, because wisdom is what comes from God. 00:30:08.460 --> 00:30:15.940 And he says this in James chapter three and verse 17, but the wisdom from above is pure, peaceable, 00:30:15.960 --> 00:30:23.020 gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering without hypocrisy, and 00:30:23.020 --> 00:30:28.860 the seed of whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. 00:30:31.520 --> 00:30:33.020 Here's my encouragement to you this morning. 00:30:35.420 --> 00:30:37.580 We talk about moving past in our spiritual lives. 00:30:39.480 --> 00:30:40.650 We can't discuss everything. 00:30:43.020 --> 00:30:45.500 But you know that God, through whom all wisdom comes. 00:30:48.020 --> 00:30:50.500 In fact, you have books that are just written on wisdom. 00:30:52.580 --> 00:30:56.690 And you have a God who in his great power gives you the invitation to come in. 00:30:57.960 --> 00:30:59.040 To learn from him. 00:30:59.840 --> 00:31:00.810 To grow in him. 00:31:02.220 --> 00:31:05.270 If we would respect and reverence the fear of the Lord. 00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:11.610 And entrust our lives to him to find the protection to which he gives to those who desire to walk with him.