Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] She's your daughter.
[00:00:03] At times, parents will say this to one another. When they see similar behavior in their kids, they reflect the other parents. You get that from your dad.
[00:00:16] You're just like your mom.
[00:00:19] If you notice, it's rarely anything compelling, it's rarely anything good. And most of the time, it's things that irritate the other parent.
[00:00:31] Most recently, my daughter Anna, who I really admire so much, and she's amazing. And you'll know why I'm saying that in just a moment.
[00:00:42] If you ask her an opinion for your an opinion, you're going to get an answer. And if you're around her, you learn not to ask her questions if you don't want to hear the answer, if you don't want to know the response. And again, I'm the same way, and I see that in her.
[00:01:03] Oftentimes when people begin to ask us what we think, it's almost as if we need to pull out a disclaimer and say, you asked for our opinion. You're about to get our opinion. Could you sign this piece of paper saying you will not be angry with us in light of what we're about to say? Or when people say, don't laugh at me when I ask you this or you're going to think I'm crazy. In our minds, we're going, yeah, we're probably going to laugh, and we do probably think you're crazy. Most things we say in response are direct, and they're most of the time out of love.
[00:01:42] But this week, Denae asked us both a question at the same time, which we looked at one another kind of shocked, as if she's asking for our opinion.
[00:01:53] And you normally don't have to ask for our opinion because we just give it. So we were shocked we were being asked for our opinion in this moment, and we were like, well, she's about to get a double whammy of opinions and what we think, and she's about to be destroyed with help that she's asking for because we're going to say what we are thinking.
[00:02:15] And we both said in unison at the same time to Denee, do you really want to know what we think? I mean, we said it in unison at the same time to her. And Denae said, y'all are the same person.
[00:02:31] And I said, yes, and she's awesome. She's great.
[00:02:37] This is the skill of reading Proverbs. We see these two main characters in the first half of the book. We see Lady Wisdom and we see Lady Folly, and they are crying Out. And they are seeking to entice the king to believe in them, to follow them, to live according to their voice. There is the temptation to throughout the whole book of Proverbs. And yet, when Lady Wisdom speaks up and she describes herself, there is a sense in which we are to think about someone else. And when we hear her voice, we are to say within our minds and heart, yeah, y'all might be the same person.
[00:03:29] Well, who is that person? That's what we're going to talk about today. But first of all, in chapter eight, the point is being made that for a king to rule, he must have wisdom. Look at verse 8 or chapter 8, verses 14 and 16. And we see there that wisdom is who provides strength and resources for the king. And then wisdom even says to the king there, you need me. Lady Wisdom is calling to the king here. Because by me, kings reign and rulers decree what is just. You need me to be a king. By me, princes rule and nobles all govern justly. So to be this king and remember, that is the purpose of Proverbs. It is a father writing to his son, a king who is training his son to be a king, a prince. He's writing to a prince. And you need to know what it's like to rule as a wise king. You need to have wisdom and remember wisdom. It's not just facts. It's not just information.
[00:04:44] It is the skill of living life, skillful living. It is applied knowledge, understanding how the world works and interacting with the world in light of the fear of God. We talked about that last week.
[00:05:01] But we see as Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly compete for the attention of the king, one of the things we notice is Lady Folly is always mysterious. She's deceitful in some ways. She's hidden. She's a trickster.
[00:05:20] While this chapter begins, Lady Wisdom, she's not in secret.
[00:05:25] She's on the hilltop screaming out, and she is saying, there is wisdom all around in the world in which you live. It has been there for a really long time. And she argues for her superiority to Lady Folly based on her history.
[00:05:45] And she says in our passage today, you should follow me, because I was there before anything existed.
[00:05:53] I was there before Folly came into the world. And in the passage we just read, the writer uses this very poetic description where he personifies Lady Wisdom as a person and describes Lady Wisdom as a person who's eternal. Now, I don't think Lady Wisdom is actually a person, but it is the personification of wisdom. To the point. As we see her describe herself, we are to say you act like someone else I know. I think you could almost be the same person here. In verse 24, wisdom was woven into creation by our Creator. This is how old wisdom is. Notice verse 24. When there were no depths, I was brought or the lord. Sorry, verse 22, the Lord Yahweh possessed me. Here Wisdom says the covenant keeping God, the creator of all things, possessed me before there was anything. Now a better translation of that word is birthed me.
[00:07:10] It's not just that he had wisdom. He brought forth wisdom. Wisdom. Notice when at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old, before God began to create and before God began to interact with creation, Wisdom says, I was there.
[00:07:33] And however we remember this is poetic language. Just trying to describe it in this poetic way.
[00:07:41] However we try to figure it out in the mind of God when he decided to create everything that moment, wisdom existed. Now we don't think there was a point where God was unwise and then all of a sudden he was wise. What he's describing here is how wisdom came forth into the world. And wisdom is rooted in Yahweh, the Lord God who created everything. That's where wisdom comes from. And in verse 23 ages ago, I was set up, we could say, installed into the concept or the idea of reality in the universe. I was there in the very beginning when God began to create.
[00:08:28] And then we see wisdom was woven into creation by the creator. Notice verse 24. When there were no depths, I was brought forth. The word brought forth means to weave or shape. And so there was wisdom. And then God took wisdom and he began to weave wisdom into everything he did in creation. When there were no springs abounding with water, before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth. And so when God first spoke matter and and existence into the into reality, he began to weave wisdom into everything that he was doing. Even before the world, heaven and earth was shaped, there was wisdom that was being weaved into everything. Even see here in that section of scripture, one of the things wisdom is trying to do is saying, I am older than anything. I am older than the hills. I am older than dirt. And here he says he's older than. Or she says, I'm older than the dust of the world.
[00:09:36] Now we're to remember Adam was created from dirt. And so wisdom is saying, I was here from the beginning. I was here when God began to weave and shape and form everything that exists. And I am older than man.
[00:09:52] I am older than, than anyone. Notice next we See, Wisdom was established in creation by the creator. Notice verse 27.
[00:10:02] When he which is God the Lord established. The word establish means to make firm or make permanent. He established the heavens. He says, I. She says, I was there when he drew a circle on the face of the deep. And we begin to see almost pictures of a carpenter who's beginning to nail things down, who is beginning to concretize the world. And it's as if this carpenter takes out a compass and draws a circle. And the point is that there was design to even where the waters would go to. God designed that with perfection. Here, the coastlines, the circle of the deep. And in verse 28, when he made the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep. We see a point in Genesis 1 where God creates. And there is heaven and there is earth, and there is land, and there is sea. And God begins to. Or there is water. And God begins to take all of those things and shape the planet and shape the water and put all of those things in its place. And here Lady Wisdom is saying, I was there. And what she's saying is, I was a part of all of that.
[00:11:23] I was involved in all of that.
[00:11:27] Notice when he made firm the skies above. And when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned the word assign means to order or decree Wisdom into the world to the seas so that the waters might not transgress his command. You see that when God speaks, matter has to obey. When God speaks, the reality of the world that he was creating had to obey. And Wisdom stands back and says, I saw it all.
[00:11:59] Everything you see in this massive world, the glories of heaven and earth, they all had to obey God from the very beginning. He controls it all.
[00:12:13] He is sovereign over it all. And then he says, he marked the foundations of the earth. He set it all out exactly like he wanted. And we're seeing here that God is the one who has established laws and order into the world. Right and wrong. When we study science, math, logic, those things aren't independent of God. Now, when you study those things in school, you are finding out what God installed into creation. You are seeing the glory of God as you study, as you look out at the world and you're interested in things and you're drawn to sunsets and you amazed by the ocean and. And you're amazed by mountains. What you are seeing is the wisdom of God. He is drawing you to himself in the things he installed in creation that no other being could ever do. And Wisdom said, I saw it. I Saw him do it. And she says, verse 30. Then I was beside him like a master workman. She describes herself as an expert workman. Designer Wisdom says, I know how to do some things.
[00:13:40] I know how everything works.
[00:13:42] I know the intricacies of things.
[00:13:46] But when I saw him work, Wisdom in some sense says, I know it all. But then I saw someone who knew more than me, who was superior to me.
[00:13:57] Again, poetic language. Wisdom steps over here and says, as an expert designer, God took my breath away in the way that he designed the universe.
[00:14:09] God is wiser than Wisdom itself and can do things Wisdom couldn't even do. Again, this is the way she's trying to explain the glory of God in creation. And she says, I was daily his delight.
[00:14:25] God delighted in showing forth his wisdom in such a way that it blew Wisdom's mind.
[00:14:33] Notice rejoicing before him and then rejoicing in his inhabited world. Now, at that point, Wisdom kind of gets carried away.
[00:14:45] And the language used of rejoicing is, it can even be translated, God was having fun. Fun.
[00:14:53] God was so happy and so excited and so delighted in his creation.
[00:15:01] He was creating things and stepping back and almost laughing and looking at Wisdom saying, did you see that?
[00:15:08] Wisdom was in awe of God's Wisdom?
[00:15:14] Wisdom was amazed at God.
[00:15:18] There was much joy and happiness. And then we see the apex of God's creation when man was created. Notice delighting in the children of men. And we read in Genesis 1 that each day of creation was good, was good, was good. Adam was created and then Eve was created. And at that moment, it was very good. And Wisdom stands back and says she was blown away by it all. It was amazing to her, this created world that the Lord God brought into existence.
[00:15:55] One of the points we should make here is that to be wise, you must be absolutely amazed at the world around you that God has designed and established such wisdom in the world in which you live, how it works, how it functions.
[00:16:17] From sun up to sundown. You look around and you're like, wow, this place is amazing.
[00:16:22] Even as you look at people who reject God, who are idiots according to Proverbs, you can look into their life and go, God has created human beings in such a way that it's amazing even when you have nothing good to say about them. You can even look at people in the world and say, yeah, they're a moron, but my goodness, created in the image of God. Look at the skill they have, look at the creativity they have. God has established all of that in his created order. And it is Good for you to step back and as we talked about last week, unself in the world, to remind yourself of your place in the world by looking around at creation and seeing the wisdom in creation. That's what you should be doing at school. As you study these subjects and they're mind blowing. You're diving into knowledge. What you are doing is saying, I didn't put this into the world, God did. And you're living in the fear of the world in this way. And it is good. You probably should memorize Psalm 104, verse 24. Oh Lord, how manifold are your works in wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Memorize that verse this week. And that will be one way in which you can live in the fear of the Lord. As you walk around and look at creation and you are amazed by the wisdom of the Creator.
[00:17:56] But one of the main points today is to be wise in the world. We must know who established wisdom in the world.
[00:18:04] We must through wisdom who describes herself here. We must through her begin to understand the Creator she's talking about.
[00:18:15] And how do we do that?
[00:18:17] This was a question that is asked in Proverbs 30, verse 34.
[00:18:23] The person talking says, I'm a fool, I'm an idiot. I have tried to live life in light of the fear of the Holy One, but I still don't know who he is, and that's why I live so foolishly.
[00:18:40] And in chapter 30, verse 4, we read, who has ascended to heaven and come down, who has gathered the wind in his fist. If you want to be wise, you got to know this person, the Creator, who has wrapped up the waters in a garment, who is sovereign over heaven and earth, land and sea, who has established all the ends of the earth. Back to chapter eight. Who is this person?
[00:19:09] And it's asked, what is his name? And what is His Son's name?
[00:19:16] And often Son can refer to king. And so the question is, the one who created all things, he's wise. And if he has a Son, his Son should be king.
[00:19:32] His Son should be the king. Surely you know. And yes, sitting here today, we know who that is. We know who the wise Creator is. And we know who His Son is. And we know he is a wise king. His name is Jesus. And we see in Jesus the Creator's wisdom has been revealed to us. We see that In Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 through 3, where the writer of Hebrews has said, God has spoken in all kinds of ways throughout history. He has spoken in dreams. He has spoken in wisdom, but he has once and for all and finally spoken to us in. In his Son, Jesus Christ, who he has appointed heir or king of all things, through whom he also created the world. And so in the beginning, there is Wisdom who is amazed at God as creator, but she's also amazed at someone else who's there. And it is the Word by which God is creating all things. And we know who that Word is. We know who that word is, and it is Jesus. Jesus is God's word, wisdom revealed. And In John chapter 1, verses 1 through 3, we see Jesus as described as the Word. In the beginning was the word which the word there means the explanation or reason for all things. In the beginning was the explanation of all things. You may even say the wisdom of all things. And the wisdom was with God, and the wisdom was God. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through him, and without him, nothing was made. Jesus is the Creator's wisdom revealed to us. We don't have to wonder who this is. We don't have to wonder who possesses all the wisdom in the universe, the cosmos, the galaxies. It is Jesus through whom God has created all things.
[00:21:33] Jesus as king explains everything in the world in which we live. And so the point of that is to be wise.
[00:21:42] You have to know Jesus. He is God's wisdom that's been revealed to you. One of the ways Jesus tries to concretize this concept is In John, chapter 14, verse 6, when he says, what is it like that I am wise wisdom revealed from God? And he says this, I am the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.
[00:22:09] Now, how does that relate to Proverbs? Well, all through Proverbs we see the path the way. Proverbs is about the truth, which is wisdom. And Proverbs is leading us to life. And Jesus stands up and says, I am in flesh, the one who is revealed. All of that from God. I am God's explanation of the world. Jesus says, I am the way. Now, the word way is used in Proverbs 75 times to be on the way 29 times. This word path is used in Proverbs. And Jesus stands up before us today and he says, I am the way. When you read Proverbs and you're trying to think about the path, and it seems abstract and generic, and there's these two voices out there, how do I get on this path? Jesus is the path you trust in, and you look to Jesus as the way. Jesus is the way to God. The only way to God. If you want fellowship, you want relationship, you want communion with God, you want. You want to experience God, it doesn't happen. Apart from the way, who is Jesus? And see, the danger Proverbs gives us is.
[00:23:31] There is a way that seems right to man, but its path leads to destruction. Why is it important that Jesus has revealed himself as the way? Because in our mind we have our own ways.
[00:23:48] And our way leads to hell and our way leads to destruction. And so each day you've got to think about Jesus as the way in which you're going to live. If you're not a Christian here today, you cannot know God. You can't be saved from your sins, you can't be covered in the righteousness of Christ, and you will not go to heaven. Hear me. Apart from Jesus Christ, he is the absolute only way you will get to God. He is the only way. No one comes to the Father except through him. And so today, are you going to be wise or a fool? Jesus has told you he is the way. Are you going to believe in Him? Are you going to follow him as the way? But then, if you're a Christian here today, every day you ask the question, am I going to be wise today? Well, am I going to follow Jesus? He's the way I've got to live today. We get caught up in all kinds of destruction, folly, foolishness because we are on another way. We wake up and we say, I want to do things my way. You've got to ask tomorrow when you wake up, are there practices, Are there people? Are there things that are going to help me on the way to follow the way? Who is Jesus? Jesus in John 14:6 says, he is the truth, and truth is what corresponds with reality. Jesus says, I am the truth and he is the truth. Because he is the ultimate expression of God in the world. He is God's ultimate revelation of himself. That means that Jesus defines reality. And you are a fool if you allow anything else to define your reality.
[00:25:32] Anything to. As you wake up, what is it that will define your thoughts and your feelings throughout the day?
[00:25:42] Well, Jesus is the truth.
[00:25:45] Why would you allow anything else?
[00:25:48] Are you going to wake up and you're going to be defined by your feelings?
[00:25:53] Are you going to be defined by your circumstances?
[00:25:56] Are you going to be defined by the fools of the world who are telling you what is right and what is true? Or are you going to go to Jesus and say, you tell me who I am. You tell me who God is, even for Those of us who are in Christ. This is where we struggle.
[00:26:13] Because a lot of us are unsure of things because we allow something else other than Jesus to define reality. We're worried. We're anxious about the future. We're anxious even about our personal salvation. And you begin to look into that and you say, why? It's because you're allowing something else other than the truth to define that if you are in Christ, the truth defines who you are in Christ. You are crucified and you are righteous and you are risen. And that truth is what is to define every day of your life. He says, I am the life.
[00:26:54] Jesus is the culmination of all life. The Bible blessing favor from God. And to pursue anything else is to pursue death. Proverbs teaches us this.
[00:27:07] But next we see Jesus is the Creator's wisdom ruling. Not only is he the Creator's wisdom revealed, that we have to know to be wise. We must know Jesus. He is the Creator's wisdom ruling. We see that in a passage we talk about often around here, Colossians chapter 1:15 through 21, that describes Jesus as the beginning of all things, the firstborn. That just means he is king over all things. And he was there ruling before anything existed. And he created everything that exists. Jesus is God's creator who is ruling right now. And when we get to heaven, Jesus will be the Creator's wisdom ruling forever. This is why there is a cry in Revelation 4, chapter 11, from everyone in heaven who says, worthy are you, Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and by your will they exist and recreate it. The bottom line is God's wisdom is ruling in Jesus. It always has been and it always will.
[00:28:18] It's not just this abstract wisdom, isn't just this thing that's out there, kind of this ethereal thing that we can't grab hold of? No, it is the rule of Jesus. And apart from the rule of Jesus, there's only foolishness, there's only folly. And so for us to be wise, we have to understand that Jesus is king. And for us to live in wisdom, we have to live as if he is king. That is what it means to be wise, to make Jesus king. We talked about last week, knowing our place in the world.
[00:28:52] What that means is simply saying, I'm not king.
[00:28:56] Jesus is king. And that's where wisdom begins. And so ask yourself today, are you wise? Well, who is king in your life? No, no, really, who is king?
[00:29:07] Who do you live for?
[00:29:10] Who do you work for? Daily, when you talk, who do you represent in your speech?
[00:29:18] When you save and make and spend money, who's king of that money?
[00:29:28] Whose authority do you live by? Whose wishes and desires do you live by? Well, Jesus is this wisdom that was there from the beginning and is ruling all things and will rule all things. Jesus must be king. But as we've seen in Proverbs, the king must have wisdom. And we talk about over and over. Wisdom is lived out. It means to live well. And so we see Jesus is the Creator's wisdom lived. Hopefully you're following this along in the outline. This word that created all things, this king who rules all things is not at a distance. In John, chapter one, verse 14, we see that he takes on flesh and he lives and dwells among us. And so the wisdom that created all things and the wisdom that rules all things is actually real wisdom according to Proverbs, because it's wisdom in flesh and blood. It's not abstract knowledge, it's not an abstract rule. It is wisdom that has taken on flesh and lived among us, dwelt among us.
[00:30:39] One of the amazing things that we read about the life of Christ is when he is a little boy, one of the only descriptions of him is that he is growing in wisdom.
[00:30:52] Do you realize? Wisdom that created all things takes on flesh to become a child that has to grow in wisdom.
[00:31:02] And he grew in wisdom to the point that the teachers in the synagogue were like, wow, this kid knows some things about the Bible.
[00:31:12] Wow.
[00:31:14] And what we are seeing there is not. Well, Jesus had to kind of dumb himself down and then learn again. No, he's just a real person. He took on flesh and bone and he had to experience. And one of the things he had to experience is what it meant to grow in wisdom.
[00:31:32] The same thing you have to experience to grow in wisdom. And then we watch the life of Christ and he is at parties and he is at weddings and he's at get togethers and he goes to funerals and he has meals with friends and we read and we say, oh, here come the Sadducees, here come the Pharisees, here come these Legalists. And then there's this conflict. And we see him angry and we see him furious at times. And then we see him with people, we would say, oh, he should be really mad at them.
[00:32:04] He's kind to them, he forgives them of their sin.
[00:32:10] And what we are seeing there is the wisdom that created all things, the wisdom that rules all things, living, breathing, showing us what wisdom looks like. And when you look at the life of Christ, you stand back and say, I don't know how to do that.
[00:32:29] I don't know how to do that. I don't know how to feel in those moments. I don't know how to think. And what you are seeing is the wisdom of Christ in flesh and blood. And that's how you have to read Proverbs.
[00:32:41] Jesus as king explains everything, not just in your life, but in Proverbs.
[00:32:46] As you read Proverbs, you are seeing the wisdom of King Jesus in real life. That's what it means. So as you read Proverbs, you're not just pulling things out and going, I'm going to put this over here and I'm going to hold on to this and put it on the refrigerator until I have this moment. No, what you are doing in Proverbs is day after day, you're sitting at the feet of wisdom and he is coaching you. He's saying, okay, this is the way that you live with wisdom.
[00:33:16] This is how you confront that friend.
[00:33:19] This is how you encourage that friend. And by the way, you need to be better with your money. This is what someone who is wise does with their money. And by the way, you also need to get better friends.
[00:33:35] You also need to be around people who are going to lead you on the way and save you from destruction. When you open up the book of Proverbs, you are setting before the wisdom of Christ that has lived and he is showing you how to live. He is your mentor, he is your discipler, he is your teacher day in and day out.
[00:33:59] But the final point we are going to make today is that Jesus is God's wisdom revealed. We have to know him to be wise. Jesus is God's wisdom ruling. We have to make him king to be wise. Jesus is God's wisdom lived. We have to live with him day in and day out before the word of God. What is Jesus going to teach me today? How is he going to show me how to live today? And finally, Jesus, wisdom is wisdom that rescues.
[00:34:31] Because here's the thing, we need to be rescued when we read Proverbs.
[00:34:36] If you're like me, you read Proverbs and you walk away feeling foolish.
[00:34:42] And if you don't, maybe you just have it together. Which Proverbs at some point is going to tell you you're a fool for doing that too.
[00:34:51] But that's the point of Proverbs. We think about the law of God, the commandments of God, what are their purpose?
[00:34:58] The law and commandments of God are to reveal God's holy character so that we say, I'm not holy.
[00:35:06] The Ten Commandments, they reveal someone who is perfect and righteous, and it's not you, it's God. And they reveal someone who ultimately lived in perfection and righteousness. Who is it? It's Christ.
[00:35:24] And if the law of God, like this massive spotlight on your life, Proverbs, is like little lasers all the time hitting you. And you read through and you're thinking, man, I'm pretty good at that. Oh, no, I'm not good at that.
[00:35:42] And it's like these lasers that are shining in your life and saying, you don't have it all together.
[00:35:48] And you get to the end of Proverbs and you say, I don't have anything to boast about.
[00:35:54] I don't have righteousness in and of myself. Proverbs 29 says, who can say, I have made my heart pure, I am clean from my sin. That's the question of as the Son hears the wisdom of the Father all throughout Proverbs, he finally says, how in the world can I do that with a wicked heart?
[00:36:18] I can't. And I can't make my heart unwicked. I can't clean myself from sin. Well, the good news is you don't have to. Because as you read through Proverbs, from the very beginning, we read of this instruction. For a son to take the commandments of God, to take the law of God and never ever forget them. The Father is pleading. He says, write them on your heart.
[00:36:45] Keep them with you at all times.
[00:36:48] Obey my teaching. Remember your mother's voice who taught you the commandments at all times.
[00:36:59] And we're thinking, I can't do that.
[00:37:03] But we know one who has. We know one who, when he came out of the waters of baptism, he made his Father glad.
[00:37:14] He made his Father glad by obeying the commandments of God.
[00:37:19] And here's the good news we Read in Proverbs 16, verses 12 through 15. It is an abomination to kings to do evil. For the throne is established by righteousness. By righteousness. Which means you can't establish the throne because you're not righteous. But there is one who has come, and he has lived and he has died. One of the things Proverbs teaches us too, is that the unrighteous will hate the righteous and they will kill the righteous.
[00:37:54] But we also read this, that the fruit of the righteous is a tree life.
[00:38:06] And we have seen one who lived in righteousness, and yet he was nailed to a tree because of his Righteousness, and it has produced fruit of righteousness for us. And this is how the kingdom is established. And this is what Paul tells us in First Corinthians, chapter 1, verses 29 through 31. While you come to the book of Proverbs and you don't have anything to boast in, this is what Paul's teaching. We think about the cross and we think about the wisdom of God, and we think about the foolishness of man. And the question is, when you stand before God, what are you going to boast in?
[00:38:40] You have a list of Proverbs, and you checked a lot of them off, but there were still some missing.
[00:38:47] You're not righteous, so you can't boast in yourself. But Paul says, and because of him, you are in Christ, who has became the wisdom of God.
[00:38:57] Righteousness, wisdom and righteousness. Jesus is your wisdom. Jesus is your righteousness, your sanctification and your redemption. Everything that it requires to be righteous before God, Jesus is before you. And that's where the book of Proverbs is leading us to where Paul says, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. This is what you are doing when you're reading the book. You're saying, oh, you just want me to be miserable in my Bible study, to read it and just be. I just can't do it. This is horrible.
[00:39:31] No, I don't want you to do that. I want with every syllable of Proverbs, for you to boast in the Lord Jesus Christ, for you to look in at amazing, breathtaking wisdom and be amazed at Jesus. And then for the Christian who trust in him, you can boast in righteousness, but it's not yours, it's his. And you take the book and you say, look at this righteousness. Look at this righteousness before God. God looks upon his righteousness in your place.
[00:40:07] As you hear wisdom called out, you'll say, I recognize that person.
[00:40:13] And you'll look at Jesus at times and Lady Wisdom and go, are y'all the same person?
[00:40:20] Well, the good news.
[00:40:22] You read Proverbs and you see yourself say, we're not the same person, but Jesus as king, crucified, risen, righteous in him.
[00:40:36] God looks upon you and says, y'all are the same person. Let's pray.
