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May I turn in your Bibles to 
Proverbs chapter one? Proverbs chapter one. Last week 
we introduced a series on the covenant of grace. We looked 
at the covenant made with Adam after the fall. And tonight we 
were supposed to look at the covenant made with Noah. But 
God willing, we'll do that next Lord's Day evening. This evening 
we're going to consider the purpose of the book of Proverbs. I'm 
convinced that we ought to make use of this wonderful book for 
the Christian life. The Bible speaks to all matters 
of faith and practice. And in a very certain way, the 
Proverbs highlights the way of a man to his final destination, 
not just the fact of it. being justified freely by God's 
grace, we then enter into the life of sanctification, or living 
the Christian life, progressing, growing in the grace and in the 
knowledge of our Lord Jesus. Therefore, we must be students 
of God's Word and the Christian ought to avail himself of all 
of the wisdom, the practical insight that the book of Proverbs 
affords. I'll just read verses one to 
seven and then we'll consider the purpose of Proverbs and the 
necessary prerequisite for applying the Proverbs. The Proverbs of 
Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, to know wisdom and 
instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive 
the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment and equity, to give 
prudence to the simple, to the young man, knowledge and discretion. 
A wise man will hear an increased learning and a man of understanding 
will attain wise counsel to understand a proverb and an enigma. The 
words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning 
of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Amen. Sometimes when children have 
a birthday party, they have a birthday cake and before they blow out 
the candles on the cake, they make a wish. Maybe you don't 
do that in your home, but it is a prevalent custom throughout 
the world that people make a wish before they blow out the candles 
on their birthday cake. I know when I was a kid, there 
would be the question given. If you found a genie in a bottle 
and he gave you three wishes, what would you wish for? You 
know, you have one kid that's a materialist that says, I want 
a million dollars. You have someone else that says, 
I want a new car. And then the really wise kid 
who says, I'd like a million wishes. So, that I'm able to 
have my fill of wishes as I live. Well, if you ask the question 
of Solomon, what do you wish as God did for him? He answered 
something I doubt most of us would. He asked for wisdom. If you were given a wish or you 
were given a request by God, would it be for wisdom? Would 
you say, Lord, I really want wisdom when God came to you and 
says, I will give you whatever it is that you want. Well, this 
godly King Solomon, who wrote the Proverbs of the bulk of the 
Proverbs, the son of David, under who under whom the kingdom of 
Israel reigned and enjoyed a period of great peace and of great prosperity. When asked this question, Solomon, 
of course, said that he wanted wisdom. According to First Kings 
four and verse thirty two, it says that he spoke three thousand 
proverbs and the songs were one thousand and five. In another 
one of his books, we learn, and moreover, because the preacher 
was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered 
and sought out and set in order many proverbs. Now, proverbs 
are simple statements, simple statements back. with a lot of 
truth. They are generally true. This 
isn't a book that says you'll never have trouble as long as 
you follow everything that it says. It's not like a mathematical 
formula, but rather is wisdom literature. It is designed to 
show you how you ought to live again, not just that you are 
safe, but the way you are to proceed now that you are saved. And as I said, we want to look 
at the purpose of the book of Proverbs under verses one to 
six. And then, secondly, the prerequisite 
to wisdom there in verse seven prerequisite. What has to be 
in place before we will actually operate according to God's wisdom? But in the first place, there 
is a general purpose to the book of Proverbs, and that is found 
in verse two to know wisdom and instruction to perceive the words 
of understanding. Now, wisdom, I think, has been 
accurately described as the application of knowledge to life. We know 
certain data, but in order to function properly, we have to 
apply that data. It's not enough for you to know 
that two plus two equals four. You need to balance your checkbook. You need to wisely live within 
your means. You need to operate according 
to wisdom. You need to take that knowledge 
and you need to flesh it out in your life. And interestingly 
enough, this is or ought to be a mark of God's people. It ought 
to be collectively a mark of the Church of Jesus Christ. Go 
back to Deuteronomy chapter four for just a moment. We see one 
of God's redemptive purposes for the nation of Israel is that 
they would be a place that displayed wisdom and in so doing would 
bring glory and honor to their God in Deuteronomy chapter four 
at verse five. Surely, I have taught you statutes 
and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me that you 
should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. 
Therefore, be careful to observe them for this is your wisdom 
and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will 
hear all these statutes and say, Surely, this great nation is 
a wise and understanding people. I have often thought to myself 
that if the church took seriously the word of God, if the church 
took seriously the mandate of Second Timothy chapter three 
and four, that if we really sought the wisdom of the scriptures 
and we applied it, The world around us would respond like 
this. Surely this great nation is a 
wise and understanding people who is God's holy nation, according 
to the New Testament, but the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. What Israel failed to be a kingdom 
of priests communicating God's grace and God's wisdom to the 
world around her. So God does in the church, because 
Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the new covenant, because 
Jesus secured the salvation of his elect. That then gives us 
the opportunity corporately to engage in this kind of religion. 
Notice what they continue on in verse seven for what great 
nation is there that has God so near to it as the Lord our 
God is to us for whatever reason we may call upon him and what 
great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments 
as are in all this law which I sat before you this day. I 
don't know if you've ever had the opportunity or you've taken 
the opportunity to discuss the Bible and its commandments and 
its laws and its ordinances and its and its wisdom. And you've 
talked to an unconverted person. You've talked to a non-Christian. 
And along the way, they say that makes a lot of sense. That really 
sounds good. That really does sound right. And you're nodding and saying, 
absolutely, because God knows what he's doing. God orchestrated 
this world, God made this world, God has spoken, and we are to 
take that word and we are to apply it. We are to have that 
general wisdom, the skill of applying the knowledge of God's 
word in day-to-day living. Now, of course, this presupposes 
that you're reading the Bible. that you're searching the scriptures, 
that you're taking in the data because you can't know it and 
you certainly can't apply it if you are ignorant concerning 
it. So, this is a plea, yet again, 
to each and every one of you to take up and read, to understand 
the scriptures, to realize that your ability to bear witness 
to this holy book may be used of God to cause an onlooker, 
a pagan, a worldling, to say, what a great God you serve. You 
might come up with something or apply something from the scripture 
and someone says, wow, that's brilliant. No, it's not my brilliance. It's what the Bible says. It's 
what the scripture declares. The general purpose is to know 
wisdom and instruction to perceive the words of understanding. This instruction is moral and 
intellectual discipline. It's a word we don't like. Discipline. 
I mean, it means getting up earlier, staying up later, not hitting 
the snooze button. Discipline means that we have 
to sacrifice and we have to give up certain benefits or we have 
to give up certain things that our flesh prays. Discipline is 
absolutely crucial in the Christian life. When Paul is encouraging 
Timothy on his role as a man of God, at least in the new American 
standard, it says discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. In the New King James, it says, 
exercise yourself toward godliness. And the word exercise is where 
we get gymnastics. Paul wants you to go out and 
do backflips in order to be godly, not literally backflips, but 
to exercise to discipline. There's one concern I have about 
the Christian church today is that we don't want to think We 
don't want to discipline ourselves. We don't want to work. We don't 
want to labor. We don't want to take up and 
read. We don't want to take a book and read from cover to cover. 
We're against linear thought. We like sound bites. We like 
information. We like blogs. We like everything 
quick, simple, and easy. Well, the book of Proverbs says 
no, you need to invest some time. You need to get your mind in 
the Word of God. You need to meditate on it. You need to contemplate 
it. Look at Psalm 119 for just a moment to see something of 
a method for Bible study. Psalm 119. Very familiar portion of Holy 
Scripture, one hundred and seventy six verses that celebrate the 
wonder which is God's word. It is an anthem of praise to 
God for giving us his written revelation, for giving us his 
laws, his statutes, his his ordinances, his gospel. Notice in verse nine, 
how can a young man cleanse his way by taking heed according 
to your word? Doesn't mean you older man can 
neglect the word. The idea here is instruction 
for young men on their way. They begin their life. You need 
to take heed according to the word of God. Now, notice the 
means or notice the method or the manner by which the psalmist 
engages in this blessed privilege of Bible study. With my whole 
heart, I have sought you. Oh, let me not wander from your 
commandments. Your word, I have hidden in my 
heart that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord, 
teach me your statutes with my lips. I have declared all the 
judgments of your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of 
your testimonies as much as in all riches. I will meditate on 
your precepts and contemplate your ways. I will delight myself 
in your statutes. I will not forget your word. 
You don't come away from that description and wonder, how does 
he study the Bible? He tells you how he studies the 
Bible. It is his joy. It is his delight. He meditates. 
He contemplates. He rolls it around in his head. 
And I know that word meditation is abused. We often associate 
with transcendental meditation or Eastern meditation. Eastern 
meditation says empty your mind and let things happen to you. 
Biblical meditation is fill your mind with the Word of God and 
roll it around. Fill your heart with the truth 
of God and let it saturate, let it steep, let it permeate, let 
it affect you. So there is a general purpose 
in the book of Proverbs for wisdom and instruction. Notice, secondly, 
as we go back to Proverbs 1 and verse 3, there is a judicial 
purpose. to receive the instruction of 
wisdom, justice, judgment and equity. Remember that Solomon 
was a king in Israel. Solomon's sons, of course, would 
be heirs to that throne. And so Solomon had the desire 
to pass on to them God's revelation so that their rule would be just. In other words, the Bible applies 
not just to us in our religious life. The Bible applies to us 
not just on Sunday, but the Bible applies to us in the totality 
of our lives. There is not one square inch 
that escapes the rule and the reign of Jesus Christ. There 
is no place in the universe that is neutral. Everything falls 
under the word of the living God. One man has described the 
Proverbs as insights from the royal court. Solomon was a king 
and as such constructed a wisdom manual for kings and ruler, judges 
and wise men that would rule in the affairs of men. Turn to 
1434 for just a moment. We see how the Proverbs apply 
to nations, to governments, Again, a fear I have is that 
we as Christians have such a narrow application for the Word of God. 
We don't press the crown rights of Christ in every sphere. Therefore, 
we are not taken seriously when we press them in any sphere. 
We need to see the Bible as a comprehensive whole, as the Word of God to 
all men everywhere. Proverbs fourteen thirty-four 
righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any 
people. Proverbs sixteen and verse twelve. 
It is an abomination for kings to commit wickedness for a throne 
is established by righteousness. It is not wrong to point this 
out. When a man operates in disregard 
of God's holy law, when a man advocates not only the legality 
of, but the subsidization of abortion, it is incumbent upon 
the Christian church to say such a thing as an abominable deed. 
It does us no good to say, well, we can't ever challenge. We can't 
ever say anything. Sodomy is just the law of the 
land. But it is wrong. It is immoral. It is ungodly. 
It doesn't matter if there is pressure against the church telling 
us that we can't speak up against these things. We must obey God 
rather than men. When a king reigns, he must do 
so under God's authority. Now, I realize they don't, but 
that doesn't mean they're not supposed to. Proverbs chapter 
seventeen, verse seven. Excellent speech is not becoming 
to a fool, much less lying lips to a prince. I mean, it's become 
commonplace today to accept that everything a politician says 
is a lie. I mean, isn't it common? Well, he's a politician. We expect 
them to lie. It's like that's part of their 
training. They take their college courses. They get their education. They go to lying 101 if they 
want to become a politician. He's a liar. Well, he's a politician. We've associated those two things, 
and sometimes with lawyers and liars, too. That's not supposed 
to be that way. They're supposed to speak the 
truth. We Christians ought not to be 
satisfied with lying men in high places. We ought to pray to God. 
God, remove the liar and put in a truth speaker. Remove the 
liar and put someone in who fears you, who at least is more restrained 
by you than these other ungodly men. We could rehearse the places 
in Proverbs, but suffice those as a few illustrations. The third purpose is the design 
for the young. You young people ought to avail 
yourself of the Book of Proverbs. One of the applications that 
I'm going to make later, which I won't have to make later now, 
I'll make right now, is the providential design of the Book of Proverbs. 
The providential design of the book of Proverbs. God is sovereign 
in providence. That means he governs all his 
creatures and all their actions. Everything that happens, happens 
because of our sovereign God. Now, when the Proverbs were originally 
composed, there wasn't chapter and verse distinctions. But lo, 
in the unfolding of God's plan, it happened that when they put 
these things into chapter form, there's 31 chapters. Take one a day and read it. I guarantee you that as a youngster, 
I always like to say youngster. When I was young, they would 
say, you youngsters. I don't even know if that's a 
common term today. Youngsters, you young people. 
Take and read chapter one on the first day of the month, chapter 
twenty five on the twenty fifth day of the month. I guarantee 
that if you did that and you did it consistently and you did 
it year in and year out and you did it carefully and you did 
it meditatively and you did it contemplative way. That means 
you contemplate God's word and you pray for wisdom and you pray 
for grace to put these things into practice. I guarantee you 
that if we meet in twenty years, you won't say to me that was 
bad advice. You will say just the opposite. In fact, those of you who choose 
not to do it will probably see me in twenty years and say I 
should have done what you said. There is advice, there is counsel, 
there are maxims, there are instructions here to the young. My son, verse 
ten, if sinners entice you, do not consent. We need to hear 
that because there's a lot of sinners out there that are seeking 
to entice us throughout the Book of Proverbs. We see this emphasis 
on not running with bad men, not being around ungodly men, 
not being with unwise men. Why? Because God knows the reality 
that those who weren't around will affect us. We like to think 
we're so holy, we're so godly, we're so righteous that will 
affect everybody else. But usually it's the opposite. 
Usually they can pull us down more than we can pull them up. 
And so Solomon continuously highlights the need my son again, verse 
one of chapter two, my son, if you receive my words, chapter 
three, verse one, my son, do not forget my law. Chapter three, 
verse eleven, my son, do not despise the chastening of the 
Lord. Chapter three, verse twenty one, 
my son, let them not depart from your eyes. There is instruction 
here for the young. There is instruction here for 
the youth. There is instruction here to 
avoid sexual immorality. That comes up over and again 
in the Book of Proverbs. We live in an ungodly, licentious 
age. So did Solomon. We live in a 
debauched, immoral age. So did Solomon. We need to take 
up and read. We need to learn the remedy in 
chapter 5 on how to avoid sexual sin. Solomon's three R's to sexual 
purity. Remove your way from the immoral 
woman. Very simple. Don't go near her. 
You can't be corrupted by her if you avoid her. He says, don't 
even go near the door of her house. He doesn't mention her 
bed. He says, don't go near her door, because if you avoid the 
door, certainly you're going to avoid everything else. So 
remove your way far from her. Secondly, rejoice in the wife 
of your youth. That's whom God has given you 
for those particular blessings. And then the third thing he says 
is, remember that God is watching you. That's a very important 
motivation. This is what Job said in Job 
31. I made a covenant with my eyes. And one of the things that 
he is consciously real is that he lives in the conscious realization 
of is that God sees him. The eyes of the Lord are in every 
place, beholding the good and the evil. This is a threat. You know, it is a promise. God sees that and you need to 
beware. There is instruction for the 
wise. There is for the young. There 
is instruction as well for the simple. I put this with the young, 
not to not to say the younger given the simplicity, but there 
is that emphasis on the simple verse six of chapter seven. Again, lengthy discussion on 
avoiding the strange woman. Avoiding the immoral woman and 
avoiding the harlot. And one of the reasons or one 
of the things that he says or he highlights is that I looked 
and I looked through my lattice and saw among the simple. I perceived 
among the youth a young man devoid of understanding. The simple 
may need to take heed to the word of God. You don't have the 
mental equipment to be processing and trafficking all these things. 
What you need is God's work. You need to pay attention. You 
need to think the way God calls you to think. A fourth means 
or fourth purpose in the book of Proverbs is the moral design. Moral design. Verse five, he 
says, A wise man will hear and increase learning and a man of 
understanding will attain wise counsel. The Proverbs instruct 
a man in every area of life. We conducted a study, some major 
themes in the book of Proverbs a couple of years ago. We see 
that the Proverbs deal with diligence. What kind of worker ought you 
to be? You ought to be diligent. You shouldn't be the lazy man 
at work. In fact, the Bible and the Proverbs speak very, very 
severely against such an attitude. Loving sleep. It's like a door 
turning on its hinges. Get up! You're going to be poor. You're going to go hungry. You're 
going to be starving. You need to get out of bed. Solomon, 
it's like he just walked around and he observed the world around 
him. He said, you know, I was walking 
by this field and I saw that it was all grown over with weeds. 
I saw that it wasn't tended to, it wasn't taken care of. What's 
the message there? Don't let your fields grow over 
with weeds. Be diligent. The Book of Proverbs 
deal with zeal. What is zeal? Zeal means energy, 
means fervency, it means a desire to serve the living and true 
God. That's one of the lacking elements in the church today. 
We have a lot of people that say they love Jesus, but is everybody 
expressing that love? I don't mean we have to have 
holy roller meetings and, you know, engage in a lot of weird 
sort of thing. But zeal and the way we do our 
lives, the way we love our wives, our husbands, our children, our 
children, our parents, our church life. Why so often on a Sunday 
morning is like we're dragging in here. We're falling in here. 
We're, you know, fighting to keep our eyes open when Friday 
night or Saturday, we have no problems. Please be zeal. You serve the Lord with a holy 
zeal. It's amazing to me that in the 
promise of Isaiah 9, 6, and 7, the establishment of Christ's 
kingdom says the zeal of Jehovah of hosts shall perform this. 
God out-zeals his people. God out-does his people. When we should be imitating him 
and loving and serving him zealously. The Book of Proverbs deals with 
laziness, deals with faithfulness, deals with family, society, church, 
relationships, warnings, deals with the use of our tongues, 
deals with the use of self-control. I mean, where in the realm of 
literature are you going to find such glorious truths like what 
we find here in the Book of Proverbs? A man who has no self-control 
is like a city broken down without walls. I mean, a city in the 
old in the old world that didn't have a wall was open to attack. It was open to influence. And 
Solomon likens a man without self-control to that sort of 
a man. The Book of Proverbs speaks to our world and life view. You 
know, we often recite Proverbs three, five and six. I hope we 
all haven't committed the memory. Trust in the Lord with all your 
heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways. 
Acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. That's not 
just some little personal message for you and your little heart. 
It provides a comprehensive world and life view. You need to think 
God's thoughts in each and every area of life, whether it's religious, 
whether it's ethical, whether it's political, whether it's 
social, whether it's in the family, whether it's in the home. The 
Bible is comprehensive and we as God's people need to start 
thinking that way when it speaks of counsel here. He will attain 
wise counsel. The idea is guiding or steering 
or directing. It highlights the importance 
of right thinking and experience in decision making. We need to 
understand that we seek our counsel first and foremost from God. You've ever heard that people 
are saying, I'm waiting on the Lord. Well, what does that mean? 
I hope it means you're studying his word. That's what we ought 
to be doing. I'm waiting for the Lord to show 
me. He's shown you. Oh, man, take 
up and read. Put your face in the book and 
look for answers. One of the things I marvel at 
is in my Christian life, I've met people who want to know the 
will of God for their lives. God tells you his will for your 
life. He tells you in 1 Thessalonians 
chapter 4, this is the will of God for you, that you abstain 
from sexual immorality. He tells you in 1 Thessalonians 
chapter 5, this is the will of God for you, that you're joyful, 
that you're thankful, and that you pray. This is the will of 
God for you, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, 
pleasing to God. I guarantee you, you take those 
three expressions of God's will for your life, and you will be 
busy from here on until you die. There is enough in those three 
texts to keep you busy. If you finish those and you satisfy 
those, you get an A+. Come back, we'll look and we'll 
see what more the Lord has for you. It is a comprehensive world 
and life view. This is how Christians need to 
think. Francis Schaeffer, a Christian philosopher in the 20th century, 
said this is the problem with Christianity. We think in piecemeal. We think in little bits. We think 
in, you know, separated ideas. Good Bible, good theology, good 
doctrine, we need to bring together and we need to have that comprehensive 
world and life view. We need to train our minds such 
that when an issue presents itself, we search the mind like Google 
search engine and we come up with what the Bible says. Are 
there explicit texts? Are there implicit texts? Are 
there good and necessary consequences so that we can use our Bibles 
for our daily lives? That's what we want to be about. 
That brings us to the fifth and final concern in terms of the 
purpose, the intellectual design. Now, you may not be an intellectual. 
I don't consider myself an intellectual. I love Psalm 19 that says the 
law of the Lord makes wise the simple. But in God, in Christ, 
having the mind of Christ, having the spirit of God, we are given 
the ability by God to understand his word. So you all ought to 
be with the Holy Spirit, intellectual scholars in the school of Jesus 
Christ. Notice to understand a proverb 
and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. There is to be continual growth 
in grace and knowledge and the application of the word of God 
to everyday life. It's simply unacceptable that 
we've been Christians for 25 years and we don't know what 
the doctrine of justification is. That is wrong. Or it shouldn't 
be the case that if somebody says, how do you know Jesus is 
God? We say, I think it's in the Bible somewhere. You need 
to get those texts in your mind. The God haters, the rebels, the 
apostates, the opponents, they've got their facts in their head 
and they're ready to rumble. And we as Christians in an increasingly 
hostile world, especially here in North America, where it's 
not getting easier to be a Christian, in many respects, it's getting 
more difficult. We need to out think the pagans. It's not to be proud. It's not 
to be arrogant. It is to be like Jesus. Why? Because in Jesus, according to 
Paul and Colossians 2, are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and 
knowledge. We need to be growing. Albert 
Barnes says the book has yet a further scope. These proverbs 
are to form a habit of mind to gain through them the power of 
entering into the deeper meaning of other proverbs is the end 
kept in view. That doesn't mean that we look 
for some hidden meaning that's not there. We considered this 
in hermeneutics a few weeks ago. We're not looking for anything 
other than what the spirit intended for us. In other words, you shouldn't 
take a verse and say, well, yeah, that's what it says and that's 
what it means. But there has to be something deeper. No, it 
has to mean what the Holy Spirit intended it to me. That was a 
method of interpretation that the early church used and that 
many today still duplicate called the allegorical method to go 
beneath the literal meaning of the text to some hidden special 
meaning. Don't do that. Go to the literal 
meaning that the Spirit put in the text through diligent study 
through prayer, through comparing Scripture with Scripture. You 
all ought to do very well in your understanding of Holy Scripture. Well, let's go on to verse seven, 
the prerequisite to wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning 
of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom. and instruction. The 
fear of the Lord is the starting point, or it is the basic ruling 
principle. Now, what we have done customarily 
in our church has tried to define the fear of the Lord first as 
to what it isn't. The fear of the Lord isn't running 
and hiding under that piano because God is going to get me. The fear of the Lord, rather, 
is me running to God and bowing before him. The fear of God is 
best defined, not best, I don't want to say that, but it's very 
well defined by Professor John Murray, who labored at Westminster 
Seminary in the 20th century. He said, The fear of God in us 
is that frame of heart and mind which reflects our apprehension. That means our understanding 
of who and what God is. And who and what God is will 
tolerate nothing less than total commitment to Him. I love that. We understand who God is, what 
He is. We understand ourselves in relation 
to Him, and we give Him that total commitment. that he demands. The fear of God is the beginning 
of knowledge. It is the starting point. It 
is the ruling principle. Notice in chapter two, verse 
five. Then you will understand the 
fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. So you don't 
search out these general purposes, these judicial purposes, these 
maxims for the young or the moral commands or the intellectual 
properties of this book and a spirit of autonomy. You don't come to 
it as just another book. You don't come to it as just 
another, you know, well, I can do it however I want. No, you 
need to fear God. You need to seek the presence 
of the Holy Spirit. You need him to guide you and 
teach you and instruct you. You need him to lead you. Your 
ultimate goal in life as a Christian is to be like Jesus and to love 
your fellow man. That's how you come to this book 
with that fear of God framing your heart. Proverbs 3, verse 
7, Proverbs 3, verse 7. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from 
evil to love that sometimes people struggle with sin. They struggle 
with evil. They struggle with temptation. 
They struggle with witness. Wickedness. Are you fearing God? The fear of the Lord is to abhor 
evil. Proverbs 8, 13 says that when 
we fear God, we will hopefully avoid that temptation or that 
evil that is seeking to corrupt us. Proverbs 8, 13. I mentioned 
9, 10, 10, 27, 14 to 14, 26 and 27. Several other places in this 
book. The fear of the Lord is the beginning 
of wisdom. John Flavel, the Puritan, said, 
This fear is a gracious habit or principle planted by God in 
the soul, whereby the soul is kept under a holy awe of the 
eye of God and from thence is inclined to perform and do what 
pleases him and to shun and avoid whatsoever he forbids and hates. It is planted in the soul as 
a permanent and fixed habit. To fear man is natural, but to 
fear God is wholly supernatural. Amen and amen. Well, how do we 
get this fear of the Lord? On this side of the Bible, John 
Newton probably described it best in Amazing Grace. "'Twas 
grace that taught my heart to fear." So the way that we come 
to this book of Proverbs and maximize its potential in our 
lives is to first come to Christ to first believe the gospel. 
To first understand that we are sinners and that God is holy 
and that Jesus came into this world to live in perfect obedience 
to the law was as if everything true of the Proverbs was fleshed 
out in the life of Christ. Diligent, not lazy, zealous. I mean, think about Jesus going 
into the temple, taking that that that that that scourge and 
driving out the money changers. I mean, he is the New Testament 
counterpart to Phineas and the zeal that he displayed in the 
book of Numbers when he drove that javelin into the Midianite 
woman and that Jewish unbeliever. Jesus Christ was with Jesus Christ, 
all of the good things spoken of in the book of Proverbs were 
true in Christ. Well, he lived in obedience to 
his father. He died ultimately as a sacrifice 
and as a substitute. We need to get that concept down 
in our understanding of gospel. Jesus was a substitute. Jesus 
stood in our place. If I would have been hit by a 
truck tonight, Pastor Cam would have preached. He would have 
substituted. He would have stood in my place. 
He would have taken over. Well, that's the glory of the 
cross. Jesus stood in our place. And the Bible says when we believe 
those truths, we are saved. When we believe those truths, 
the fear of God is put into our heart. This is a promise of the 
New Covenant, according to Jeremiah chapter thirty two and verse 
forty. Looking forward to what God will 
do in Christ in the New Covenant, he says in Jeremiah thirty two. At verse thirty eight, then they 
shall be my people and I will be their God. Then I will give 
them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for 
the good of them and their children after that, and I will make an 
everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from 
doing them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts so that 
they will not depart from me. Yes, I will rejoice over them 
to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land with 
all my heart." and with all my soul. So God through the Prophet 
looking forward to the coming of Jesus Christ says, I will 
put my fear in their hearts. So Newton was absolutely right 
when he wrote, it was grace that taught my heart to fear. So if 
you have come here tonight and you are ignorant, you are unsafe, 
believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And with that fear 
of the Lord resident in your heart, take up the book of Proverbs 
and read and study and pray and apply for this is our wisdom. This brings glory to God. When the pagans can look on and 
say, what kind of a God do they have that gave them such good 
commandments and such good laws? Maybe that will be one of the 
means that people will say, let me come, let me sit under, let 
me hear, let me learn the law of Zion as it is proclaimed. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for the scriptures. We thank you for both the Old 
and the New Testaments, and we acknowledge, God, that they are 
God breathed that they are trustworthy in all that they affirm. They 
are the inspired and inerrant and infallible word. And our 
father, we just pray that you would increase our conviction 
of these things and cause it to reflect in the way that we 
take up this book and read. I pray for the children that 
they would develop good habits in their youth. I pray for each 
of the adults here that we would seek to implement good habits, 
that we would be men and women who are lovers of the truth of 
Jesus Christ and who seek, by your grace, to apply these things 
in our lives. Go with us now, God. We pray 
again for those ladies who are pregnant. We pray for our brother 
Joe, that you would just heal his back and enable him to return 
to work. And for all those who are traveling 
and the various other needs that we know as a congregation, we 
trust in your sovereign care. We trust in your provision, and 
we trust that you do all things well. We ask that you would go 
with us now, and we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.