A Morning of Faith and Wisdom

It is so good to see y'all here this morning in the house of the Lord. Welcome to everybody today. We had planned to have two baptisms today. Hinton's daughter, Siman, was going to be baptized, but I wanted to ask y'all to pray for her. She had a high, high fever. Very high. It did go down a little bit overnight. So, please be in prayer for Siman. She wanted to be here, Hinton said this morning. But she was so sick that she was unable to, but she still wanted to come. So, Lord willing, in a couple of Sundays or sometime soon, we'll get to have Siman's baptism.

In addition to Siman, there's a special young man here that we love so much. Most of y'all know him by the name of Nico. Nico, he loves Jesus. In fact, in the hallway just now, he's overwhelmed right now. So, I just want to ask y'all right now to pray for Nico. This is a lot on him to come in the baptismal and in the water. It's new, and it's hard. So, please pray for him. But just now in the hallway, Nico was really, really struggling, and his mom had a beautiful prayer with him, and I did, and I asked him, "Do you believe in Jesus?" And he said, "Yes, I believe in Jesus."

A few months ago, maybe he came forward down this altar. There's nothing biblical about coming to the altar. You don't have to come forward. I accepted Christ on the shores of Carolina Beach. But it is a beautiful thing when we do that in the church because the whole church gets to see someone accepting Christ. And that day he affirmed that he has placed his faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And last Sunday his mom and I were talking, and they were waiting on—he's had a lot of surgeries. They were waiting on some wounds to heal, and she said, "I think it's the time."

So I'm going to ask Nico to come down. His mom, Vivian, is coming down with him as well. I believe his aunt, Laya, is coming down as well. Maybe others, as many as want to come in here, we'll take them. But please right now pray for Nico. He's very overwhelmed right now. So be in prayer for him. But Nico, I'm so excited. We're going to have you come down with your mom right now and your aunt.

Can you see everybody there? Look, you see everybody? Y'all give him a [Applause]. I'm so proud of you. Aren't y'all so proud of him? Nico, do you know that you're a sinner?
"Yes."
Amen.
You know only Jesus Christ can forgive you of your sins.
"Yes."
Amen.
Nico, have you asked Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins?
"Yeah."
Nico, have you trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?
"Yes."
Amen. Well, Nico, based on your public profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, buried with him in baptism, raised to walk in new life.
"Yes."
Amen. Amen. Thank you, Jesus.
"I did it."
He did it. He said he did it. Amen. Amen. Good job, Nico. Good job, Nico. You did it. You did it. You did it, Nico. Good job, Nico. Yes. Way to go. Way to go.

Oh man, God is so good. Nico was so overwhelmed, and he got in here, and I'm so proud of that young man. And I love he said, "I did it." Y'all keep praying for Nico. Thank you, Jesus, for an answered prayer just now. Thank you. Thank you for that young man. Lord, I just pray Holy Spirit power over that young man. Lord, thank you for the way he's got a smile better than most of us. Thank you, God, for the encouragement of Nico. And I lift that young man up to you for great and mighty things in his life. I just pray you have your hand upon that child. And God, most of all, I praise you that he has made the best decision ever to trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. And God, I pray if there is one here today in need of Jesus, in need of salvation, Lord Jesus, work in their heart today and let them trust in you. We love you. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Today I want to go to Proverbs 1, and we're going to read beginning in verse 1 through verse 7. And I invite you, if you would like and if you're able, to stand up with us in honor of the reading of the word of God. Proverbs 1, beginning in verse one. The word of God says:
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 and increase in 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.

Thank you, God, for your word. And God, I just pray that your word penetrates our hearts, God, and that you use it as believers to mold us, to shape us, God, more and more in your image. And God, I pray that as we preach the word and look at the word and ponder the word and meditate on the word, I pray you work in our hearts. And I also pray if there's one here listening that's never surrendered their life to you, Jesus, I pray today would be the day that they do. God, we love you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

What is Wisdom?

Wisdom, I think you could define in a lot of ways. I looked it up online on Google, and it says the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. Certainly, that's part of wisdom: having knowledge, having good judgment. It goes on to say the knowledge of what is true or what is right coupled with just judgment. We could come up with many ways we would describe wisdom. And many of us have people—do you have somebody in your life that you look at as wise? Anybody? A lot of us have people in our lives that when we think about them, we're like, that's a wise person. And there's something about loving to be around someone that's wise. But what we see here, true wisdom is not found without the fear of the Lord and without knowing and trusting in the Lord. We're going to speak more about that in a little bit.

But first, you know, one thing I was just going to speak about is, you know, to me, like in the Bible and just in life, we know there's a lot of value in wisdom. And when we go through Proverbs, there's a lot of verses that we can read, and we can see how, yes, that shows a side of wisdom that is so valuable. I mean, just in the book of Proverbs, it says in Proverbs 8:11, for wisdom is better than rubies. In other words, something so precious as rubies, wisdom is even better. It says in Proverbs 16:16, how much better to get wisdom than gold? You know, a lot of times, what do people attain for money and have riches and have material things in this life, but riches and money, that will not bring happiness and peace, will it? I know people—I think about a couple of people in particular that have a lot of money, but they're miserable. They don't have peace, and they don't have joy. Now, wisdom can help you be financially sound, but wisdom has much more reasons that it's far more valuable than gold, far more valuable than rubies.

There's value in wisdom. I tell you, there's a lot of reasons wisdom is valuable. I mean, for one, you just think about this. When somebody is wise, what do they always want to keep doing? They want to keep learning, don't they? They're a constant student. They know they don't know everything. Albert Einstein said, "The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know." They know there's more to learn. Proverbs 9:9 says, Give instruction to a wise man, and he will still be wiser. And it goes on to say, He will increase in learning. So, one thing that's valuable about one that is wise is they know they don't know everything. Have you ever met somebody that thinks they know everything, and you can't talk to them? You can't—they won't even listen to anybody because they already know it all. Someone that's wise knows they don't know it all, and they want to keep learning.

One that's wise, I mean, something else I think that's a value in wisdom is it helps a person live a better life. You know, you can go into a lot of hardships and hard times in this life, and you're going to, but when one has wisdom, it kind of helps you navigate. I mean, for one, a lot of life is about decisions. The most important decision, trust in Jesus. But a lot of life is about everyday decisions, and one that exercises wisdom is going to be helped oftentimes with navigating those decisions. One that's wise, they have a better life because of making those decisions and knowing what to pursue in life, knowing what's worthwhile to pursue in life. And is there anything more worthwhile to pursue in life than Jesus Christ, than a closer walk with Jesus? There's nothing more—someone that's wise understands it all begins with the Lord and with the fear of the Lord.

And as someone that's wise, as they're going about life and they're trying to figure out, you know, what's something that a lot of people in life struggle with—what do I want to do with my life? I think that can be a common thing of all ages and certainly when someone's getting out of high school or in high school and going to college, a common thing is, what do I want to do with my life? I remember when I was out of college, graduated from, I believe, the best university, NC State, Wolfpack. And I remember sitting on the beach of Carolina Beach and just thinking, I had something come over me like, I want to make a difference. I wasn't saved at that point, but I just remember this overwhelming feeling of, I want to do something that makes a difference. And I really wanted to do that. It was pretty cool. I think in a day or two, God opened a door for my first career with the Cape Fear Council Boy Scouts of America, who one of my dear friends, Sharon, who works with them, is back here with her daughter.

And man, I got to just share this while I'm talking about Sharon. I shared this maybe Wednesday night, maybe I shared it on Sunday, but Sharon is a godly woman. And I remember when I was running from the call, many of y'all have heard the story, but I'll share it. I was running from the call, and nobody really knew other than my wife, maybe one or two other people. Nobody at work knew. And one morning, I was in that coffee break room, and I knew I was running from God. I knew I wasn't listening. He was telling me to preach, and I was ignoring it. I was like, "No, I can't do that. I can't. How will it work?" And she said, "The Lord put this on my heart to give you this gift." And it was a wrapped-up gift that she gave to me that morning. And I opened it up, and it was a coffee cup that said, 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.So another valuable bit of wisdom in the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 3:5 and 6.

But I remember, you know, oftentimes somebody in life, they'll be searching for what to do in life. Well, true wisdom will help guide you on what to do. There's so much value in wisdom. Hey, when you're wise, people will appreciate you. Not that that's the most important thing, but it says in Proverbs 12:8, a man will be commended according to his wisdom. You know what I mean? If someone's wise, and they're humble—you know, someone that's truly wise, by the way, is humble. But you appreciate them. You like being with them. Isabelle and I were going on a walk Friday morning in this area we used to walk in, on the road we used to live in. There's a little you can cut through some homes, and all of a sudden, you're in woods in a neighborhood and a pond and all this. And when we came out, one of our old neighbors saw people walking. He said, "Hey, hey, hey, who are you?" Then I turned around, I haven't seen him in like 10 years. I said, "Larry," he said, "Oh, Josh." And we got to talking. But I thought to myself after I talked to Larry and how much I enjoyed it, I was like, you know, Larry's one of those guys that's got some wisdom. He's just fun. Like you appreciate being around somebody that's truly wise. You know what I mean? There's so much value in wisdom.

And I tell you what else about wisdom in the Bible and in Proverbs, we see a lot of characteristics of a wise person. A lot of kind of marks and characteristics of a wise person. And more than anything, what Proverbs 1:7 tells us is it begins with the fear of the Lord. I mean, wisdom starts with the Lord. Wisdom is not about just having knowledge. And by the way, there's a lot of smart, smart, smart people that God's given them a great mind, but they don't trust in the Lord. And that's not wise. Wisdom always starts with the fear of the Lord because God made us. God created us. We can't be wise without putting the Lord first and trusting in the Lord.

So that's one characteristic. I tell you, there's so many more. Again, they want to keep learning. It says, The heart of the wise teaches his mouth and adds learning to his lips. In Proverbs 16:23, Proverbs 10:14 says, Wise people store up knowledge. Proverbs 15:14 says, The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge. They understand they can keep learning. Proverbs 15, from our passage today, says, A wise man will hear and increase in learning. Something else, another characteristic of a wise person is they're humble. Again, someone can be really knowledgeable and really smart, but if they don't have humility, they're not wise. It says in Proverbs 11:2, But with the humble is wisdom.

I tell you another thing about one that's wise is they hold their peace. It says in Proverbs 11:12, But a man of understanding holds his peace. How easy is it to lose our cool? Anybody ever lose their cool? Anybody ever get overwhelmed in wrath? Well, we know that's not of God when we do. A wise person, a man of understanding, holds his peace. Proverbs 14:29 said, He who is slow to wrath has great understanding. Hey, if you ever struggle with that, let's all remember one that's slow to wrath is wise. One that's slow to wrath has great understanding.

Proverbs 12:15, it says, He who heeds counsel is wise. Sometimes people will act like, "Well, you know a lot of stuff. You don't need to listen to this person or that person." The right kind of counsel is wise to listen to. Amen. Because listen, there's no way that any one of us know everything. There's just not, it's just not possible. And by the way, the way I think God can really work through us in a lot of ways and, more than anything, the most important way to spread the gospel, to make disciples, is seeking counsel. You know, as a pastor, I believe with all my heart, I need godly counsel. Now, not all counsel is godly. Not all counsel is wise, but a wise person understands the importance of having godly counsel.

You know, one who's wise will listen to correction. Have you ever—I mean, we've all probably had the times we've done this, but ever seen somebody they just won't ever listen to correction? It says Proverbs 15:5, He who receives correction is prudent, is wise. There's times when somebody's correcting us, and hopefully it's in a loving way, where we need the correction, where you need the correction. Can you take correction? Can I take correction? One that's truly wise, when it's the right correction and it's loving, it's a correction of love, wants to take that correction.

I tell you, there's two more. I'll share two more characteristics. You know, someone that's wise, they fear the Lord. That's where it all begins. And they want to walk with the Lord. They don't want to live in sin. They don't want to live in ungodliness or evil. Proverbs 14:6 says, A wise man fears and departs from evil. So, if we're living in sin and we're living just ungodly, there's no way we're wise because, like it says in Proverbs 1:7, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And I love what it says in Proverbs 11:30, And he who wins souls is wise. He who wins souls is wise. I just think about this earth is fleeting, and this earth is fading, but eternity is forever. He who wins souls understands the best work is eternal work.

I mean, I know we could have all kinds of thoughts about wisdom, but as we think about wisdom, I've got that question. Do you want to be wise? Do you want to grow in wisdom? I remember my first training I went to with the Boy Scouts of America was a two-week training they called PDL1, professional development level one. And it was in Irving, Texas. And you were there with other people that were just starting. And you went there for two weeks. And there was one little training session. And I wasn't saved at this point. And there was one little training session where what I kind of remember about it, it impressed me because I remember one word came on my heart. It was asking you to think about something in your life you want to be. I think it even said one word. I did not know the story of Solomon, by the way, at that point in my life. But I remember overwhelmingly what came on my heart is wisdom. I want wisdom. Now I didn't really know where true wisdom comes from and begins with the fear of the Lord. But that's what was on my heart to want wisdom.

I wonder today, would you like to be wiser? Do you want wisdom? I don't know about y'all, but to me, when somebody is truly wise, and again, to be truly wise, it starts with the Lord, I enjoy being around that kind of person. You know what I mean? They bless me. They give me godly wisdom. They're thinking about things from the viewpoint of the relationship with the Lord. And that's the thing I just kind of want to wrap up and hone in on is what it says in verse 7, that I believe you could say is the theme verse for the book of Proverbs: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

See, when we fear the Lord, by the way, that term fear the Lord, what do you think that means? Does it mean that we're supposed to live in fear all the time in terror of God? I think, you know, we should recognize he's God. And, you know, he does have the right to punish us. He does have the right to have consequences for sin. But overwhelmingly when I think about the fear of the Lord, first I think about how it starts with salvation. True wisdom begins with understanding I'm a human. I'm flawed. I'm a sinner, and I need help to help me from my sin. True wisdom understands I need forgiveness. True wisdom understands I need a way to be made right in God's eyes. True wisdom understands it all begins with surrendering my life to Jesus. True wisdom understands I need Jesus. I need to give my life to Jesus.

And it continues. Now, you know, you think about Solomon, and he was known as the wisest man ever. But in my mind, as I read the Bible, it seems like he was the wisest man ever until he turned from God. You can't have true wisdom without putting God first in your life. True wisdom and the fear of the Lord. I think about his understanding. God is God, and I'm just his creation. And true wisdom and the fear of the Lord is understanding he made me. And the fear of the Lord is understanding I'm in awe of God. I'm in wonder of his awesome power and how mighty he is. He created the heavens. He created the earth. He created all things: the stars, the moon, the sun, and he holds them in place. He's not just the creator, he's the sustainer of everything. And true wisdom fears the Lord in the sense that, you know, he's God. He's almighty. And I want to live for him.

Fearing the Lord and having a fear of the Lord is about saying, he is my God. He is so full of grace. He is so full of mercy. He is awesome. He is gracious. He is mighty. And because of all he's done for me, I want to put him first in my life, and I want to live for him. Have you done that? Have you made that decision? First, have you made the decision as it relates to fear of the Lord to trust fully in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? And second, as a believer, are you living with a fear of the Lord as a believer? Not in a way of being scared and being in terror. In a way of saying he is God and in a way of saying, "Man, with all he's done for me, I ought to live for him."

Is anybody thankful God saved you? Do you remember who you were before God saved you? Do you remember what God did to save you? Do you remember how God has changed you? True wisdom understands fearing the Lord means every day I want to live for Jesus. I want to make him first in my life. I want to spend time with Jesus in prayer. I want to spend time in the word of God. I want to make God first. That's what the fear of the Lord is about.

Will you be wise and fear the Lord? Will you be wise first and saying, "I'm a sinner. I know only you can forgive me, Jesus. I'm asking you, Jesus, forgive me my sins. And I'm trusting you, Jesus, as Lord and Savior." Listen, if you're here and you've never done that, it starts with salvation. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Will you be wise and make that decision? And when we talk about fearing the Lord and will you be wise and fear the Lord, will you be wise and fear the Lord from the standpoint of saying God saved me, and with all God has done for me, I want to live for him.

Life, more than anything, is about asking God to help me live for him. I tell you what, the fear of the Lord and having the fear of the Lord, that's what it's about in my opinion. It's about living in a way that I know God has been so gracious to me and so good to me, and he is God, and I'm his creation, and I want to live for him. Are you making that decision daily to say I'm putting him first in my life? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.