The Beginning of Wisdom

Christ Restoration Church Sermons

Proverbs 1:1-33
September 8, 2024
preached by Pastor Doug Cooper
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“Other stories are always looking for ways to humanize God and deify us, but God’s story exalts Him and brings appropriate humility to us as His creatures. All wisdom starts here. If you miss it, you are on the wrong path and without hope.”

~ Edward Welch (1953-present), American counselor and writer

“Not until we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God’s holiness and sovereignty… acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own thoughts, and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours.”

~ J.I. Packer (1929-2020), a British-born Canadian theologian

“Without knowledge of self, there is no knowledge of God. Our wisdom, insofar as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.”

~ John Calvin (1509-1564), French theologian, pastor and writer

“If knowledge is the accumulation of facts, intelligence the development of reason, wisdom is heavenly discernment. It is insight into the heart of things. Wisdom involves knowing God and the subtleties of the human heart. More than knowledge, it is the right application of knowledge in moral and spiritual matters, in handling dilemmas, in negotiating complex relationships.”

~ Oswald Sanders (1902-1992), New Zealand educator and writer

“Wisdom is the right of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.”

~ C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), English pastor and writer

“The cross lies at the heart of all God did through Jesus Christ. It is the supreme example of God’s power and wisdom displayed in what the world considers weakness and foolishness. And anyone who wants to know God must find Him in Christ crucified.”

~ Donald S. Whitney (1954-present), contemporary writer, professor

Sermon Passage

Proverbs 1:1-33 (ESV)

¹ The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
² To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
³ to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
⁴ to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
⁵ Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
⁶ to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
⁸ Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
⁹ for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.
¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you,
do not consent.
¹¹ If they say, “Come with us,
let us lie in wait for blood;
let us ambush the innocent without reason;
¹² like Sheol let us swallow them alive,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
¹³ we shall find all precious goods,
we shall fill our houses with plunder;
¹⁴ throw in your lot among us;
we will all have one purse”—
¹⁵ my son, do not walk in the way with them;
hold back your foot from their paths,
¹⁶ for their feet run to evil,
and they make haste to shed blood.
¹⁷ For in vain is a net spread
in the sight of any bird,
¹⁸ but these men lie in wait for their own blood;
They set an ambush for their own lives.
¹⁹ Such are the ways of everyone
who is greedy for unjust gain;
it takes away the life of its possessors.
²⁰ Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
²¹ at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
²² “How long, O simple ones,
will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
²³ If you turn at my reproof,
behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
²⁴ Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
²⁵ because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
²⁷ when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
³⁰ would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,
³¹ therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.
³² For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
³³ but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”