The Beginning of Wisdom

[0:00] Good morning, everybody. My name is Brian Hart, one of the pastors, and I just want to thank you for taking time out of your day to worship, hopefully with others.

[0:13] You may have heard that the guidance now is that we can gather in groups of 10. And so if you did not know that, our encouragement to you would be for next week to gather with some other folks, not because it's better to watch a screen, a video of a sermon with other people, but because it's better to worship with other people.

[0:33] And that's what we're doing. This may feel to you like a very passive experience because you're just watching a screen. But please remember that where you are right now, the Lord is with you.

[0:44] And when you're with others, there is something wonderful that happens when we worship together. So I would love to begin our time of worship together by reading from Psalm 65, verses 2 through 4.

[1:03] The psalmist says, Oh, you who hear prayer, which is just such a wonderful way of thinking about God, the one who hears us when we pray, to you shall all flesh come.

[1:16] When iniquities prevail against me, when I feel overwhelmed with sorrow for my sinfulness, you atone for our transgressions.

[1:28] You've taken it away from us. Blessed is the one you choose and bring near to dwell in your courts. We are so blessed because God has not stayed far away from us.

[1:40] He has come near to us even now. And we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple. Lord, we long for the day where we will actually be in the true temple.

[1:54] We will experience the kind of satisfaction of which we can only now dream when we think about what it's going to be like to see you face to face.

[2:04] And so, until such time, help us to be satisfied with your Holy Spirit that you give to us, the presence of the living God that we have now. Lord, we want to gaze on your beauty.

[2:16] We want to be enriched. We want to be fed. We want to enjoy you this morning. We pray that you would help us to do that. In Jesus' name. Let's sing.

[2:27] Good morning, Woodroper. Let's worship together. Promise maker.

[2:43] Promise keeper. You finish what you begin. Aquavision.

[2:57] Through the dancing. You see it through to the end. You see it through to the end.

[3:13] Though our guidance, ever faithful, never changing through the ages.

[3:26] From this darkness, you will lead us. And forever we will say, you're the Lord our God.

[3:40] You're the Lord our God. You're the Lord our God. And forever sing in the silence.

[3:51] In the silence. In the waiting. Still we can know that you are good.

[4:02] All your plans are for your glory. Yes, we can know you are good.

[4:14] Yes, we can know you are good. You are good.

[4:25] You are good. We won't move without you We won't move without you You're the light of all and all that we need We won't move without you We won't move without you You're the light of all and all that we need Let's just sing that again, we won't move We won't move without you

[5:26] You're the light of all and all that we need We won't move without you You're the light of all and all that we need The Lord our God is ever faithful Never changing through the ages From this darkness you will lead us And forever we will say You're the Lord our God

[6:42] Thank you.

[7:12] My heart is overwhelmed and I cannot hear your voice. I hold on to what is true, no I cannot see.

[7:25] If the storms of life they come and the road ahead gets steep, I will lift these hands in praise, I will believe.

[7:37] I remind myself of all that you've done. I am your son.

[7:51] Love came down and rescued me. Love came down and set me free. I am yours.

[8:04] I am forever yours. Mountain high and valley low. I sing out, remind my soul.

[8:15] I am yours. I am forever yours. My heart is filled with hope.

[8:29] Every promise comes my way. When I feel your hands of grace rest upon me. Feel you desperate for you, God.

[8:43] Staying humbled at your feet. I will lift these hands in praise, I will believe. You are so slim to believe.

[9:05] You are slim to believe. Love came down and rescued me Love came down and set me free I am yours, I am forever yours Mountain high and valley low I sing out, remind my soul I am yours, I am forever yours I am yours, I am yours All my days, Jesus, I am yours I am yours, I am yours All my days, Jesus, I am yours Jesus, we are yours

[10:22] And we hold fast to that In the midst of uncertainty We hold on to what is true Though we can't see You are what's true In Jesus' name we pray, amen Thanks for worshiping with us We wish we could all be together in one room But it's such a joy and a privilege To be able to be together in this way Take a minute to text or call somebody That you wish you were with And just let them know you love them We're going to move on into a time of prayer Good morning, One Harbor Church My name is Liesel And I'm one of the pastor's wives here I have the great privilege in leading us in prayer this morning I was born and raised in Zimbabwe

[11:24] And then South Africa And it has been so hard to see what is happening In these countries As well as other developing countries around the world During this time There are no stimulus packages No food banks No loan programs And in some cases People are literally dying in their homes From starvation With no way to get help There are more than 70 million people in the world today That have been displaced And more than 90% of them live in developing countries This morning we would like to pray for the poor For the marginalized For the refugees For those who have been displaced All of them have been incredibly hard hit By this pandemic It says in Proverbs 31 verse 8 and 9 Open your mouth for the mute For the rights of all who are destitute Open your mouth Judge righteously And defend the rights of the poor and the needy So can we take five minutes and pray into those areas

[12:27] Number one Mercy for the poor The marginalized And the refugees In developing countries As well as our own Number two Ministries and humanitarian organizations Who are trying to help in these areas And have also been very hard hit And number three Wisdom and justice In government agencies Both local and global Let's pray Think of whoever it is Thank you.

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[33:27] And a perfect world.

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[34:27] We would.

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[35:27] It's a good, thank you.

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[36:27] Thank you.

[36:57] And I said, bed because he said, no, thank you. And I was like, no, it's time. He's going to bed. Put him in bed.

[37:32] No, thank you. Put him out of bed. Back and forth we went. Back and forth we went. And then his siblings were laughing in the other room. So I went in there and they said, you know, he just does this to everybody who watches him for the first time. You just have to put him in his bed and walk away. And so I put him in his bed and I hear him screaming to the top of his lung. No, thank you.

[37:51] So he still said, thank you. But, you know, it really meant no. I think a lot of times, silly story is that I think that's how we approach scripture. That's how we approach God's wisdom. We're not saying, no, I'm going to follow the devil. I'm not going to follow God. We're just kind of saying, no, thank you. We read the Bible and we think, probably for most people, most times, but in this case, I think I know what's best. In this particular instance, God, hear me out. I think that, I think my way seems better this time because of these various circumstances.

[38:23] It's no, thank you, but it's still a no. And that's how sin actually entered the world. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve, they didn't, they didn't know at the moment they were kind of doing a deal with the devil. They just thought in that moment that their way was the right way. It just seemed to make sense. And Proverbs 14 says it like this in verse 12, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. And that's, I think, the case for most of us. We're not going in here going, I'm going to follow the devil today. We're just kind of going, I'm going to do the best I can today. I'm going to do what seems right to me today. And that has all kinds of implications for relationships and work and money and all those things. We're not actually going, God, what do you have to say? We're going, that's good to hear, but I'm going to make the call. It's my life.

[39:21] So we have got to get a healthy fear of the Lord that makes us go, we really respect him enough that we're going to do whatever he says. And that means that the beginning of wisdom, while it starts with the fear of the Lord, it's also got to be combined with this humility.

[39:44] You know, before Solomon says, okay, God, here's what I want. I need wisdom. He says, I am but a little child. That's how a man who was the king of Israel spoke. He said, I am but a little child.

[39:57] I do not know how to go out or come in. I mean, what an exaggeration. Come on, you're the king. Of course, you know how to go out and come in. Yeah, but like with who he was speaking to, speaking to God, it was not an exaggeration. He literally knew nothing compared to this God that he was speaking to. And he came with this sense of humility. God, you got to help me because I'm like a little child here. And I'm trying to do this thing that is just beyond me. You and I are not going to get the wisdom of God while thinking that we're wise in our own eyes. We're going to need a lot of humility. We're going to need fear of the Lord. Now, a couple more things just quickly.

[40:38] A lot of us, we, maybe you've read through the book of Proverbs. Maybe you've done it kind of a proverb a day. I've done that stuff. It's really popular with like men's ministries and that's not bad, right? But a lot of times what happens is it means that we read the book of Proverbs like an isolated little kind of devotional and we take it out of the whole narrative of scripture, the meta narrative of scripture, the big story that the Bible's telling. And that would leave you and I to think that, you know, if we want wisdom, we got to go to Solomon. And that's because we don't really think about the whole rest of the story. Because when you think about the rest of the story, you realize that the best person to learn wisdom from is not Solomon. The best person to learn wisdom from is Jesus. I mean, listen to what Colossians 2 verses 2 through 3 says. To reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ. Listen to what we hear here.

[41:28] In whom? In Christ. In Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So according to the Bible, Jesus, not Solomon, is the best person to look to for wisdom. I mean, Solomon asked for wisdom, but Jesus is wisdom. He is wisdom. And in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom, all the treasures of knowledge.

[41:52] Those two words are kind of neat. Knowledge is like book smart and wisdom is like street smart. And normally you meet people who are either book smart or street smart. But if you have knowledge and you have wisdom, you have a powerful, potent combination of both. It's like you, if you're going to be a doctor, you go to school and you get book smart, you get knowledge. And you do a residency and you get street smart, you get wisdom. You apply that knowledge to real life situations.

[42:17] And we need both. And so to get both, we don't just need to read the Proverbs. We need to look at the life of Jesus. Without following, when you follow Jesus, you really get into like a residency. That's what discipleship is. Jesus said, come and follow me, watch me, do life with me. It's a residency where we get to see this wisdom of God lived out. You see the way Jesus treats people. You see the way he spoke.

[42:44] You see the things he did. And you find a kind of wisdom that is unparalleled in all of human history. Jesus unlocks the universe. He shows us how not to waste our lives. Man, what a treasure.

[42:56] Meanwhile, we're searching for stuff and health and all these things. Actually, the real treasure is Jesus himself. It's him. And like any good treasure, you got to dig a bit for it. So Jesus says to everyone, he says, ask and seek and knock. Invites us to join this residency, to come alongside him and to learn how to live. Spend a lot of time with Jesus to get this wisdom. Some of the stuff Jesus says is going to sound crazy at first and you have to spend time with him and journey with him. And over time, you and I gain a wisdom that is just incredible. I'm not going to get it all in the first hearing, but as we spend time with him, we learned how to live this life in a way that we never imagined, the way we were made to live. That's the last thing, you know, and instead of making us try to find wisdom from above for ourselves, God came down to us, but then he died on a cross.

[43:57] And so I just want to run to this tension. First Corinthians 1, Paul does the same thing in verse 22. He says, Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. It's a stumbling block to Jews. It's folly to Gentiles. What does this mean? This is the last thing I think we need is to know that Jesus's wisdom, it looks like foolishness at first. Greeks seek wisdom. Well, that's great because Jesus's wisdom and the whole Bible's wisdom should be a slam dunk. Nope.

[44:28] Because Christ, like Jesus as King, plus Jesus as King who got crucified equals, well, folly, which just means absurdity. It means foolishness. It's to those people who are seeking wisdom, Jesus on a cross looks like the opposite of wisdom. How is he the Christ? How is he the King if he was killed? And here's how. There's a big difference between dying and laying your life down. Big difference.

[45:00] I don't know if you've seen the documentary Waco or the Netflix show about the Waco with David Koresh. Not to spoil it for you since it happened a very long time ago, but he died. All right, so spoiler alert.

[45:15] He died. And that was like a moment where you go, oh, well, I guess this guy really wasn't who he said he was. I guess he really wasn't the Messiah. I guess he really wasn't, right? Because he died. I won't tell you how he died. You can watch it for yourself. It's not even that great, but you can watch it.

[45:33] That's the difference, though, between Jesus and David Koresh or all the other people like David Koresh. There's a difference between dying and laying down your life. And Jesus makes it emphatically clear in John 10, verse 17. For this reason, the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. In case you missed it, he says, now, no one takes it from me. No one's taking it from me. Yeah, but you were hauled off. No, he wasn't. If you go back and read, he walked forward. He volunteered. He chose to do this. Knowing all that would happen, Jesus came forward. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back up again. And the wisdom of Jesus, the Christ, the God King, choosing to lay his life down, it looks like foolishness to a world that says, only you matter. Your happiness is the only thing that matters. To the world that says, wisdom is shoving everyone else down so you can land up on top. The world that says, come let us plot how we can get rich quick off the vulnerable. To that world, this looks like foolishness, this dead so-called king. But for those of us who see Jesus for who he is, we find true wisdom, and we find more than that. We find hope. To those who think they can earn their way to heaven, the cross is folly. But to those of us who know we can't cut it, who've sinned, who know we've fallen short, who know we'll never be wise enough for a holy God, Jesus has become enough for us. 1 Corinthians 1, 26, consider your calling, brothers. Consider how you got in this whole thing in the first place, Paul says, because not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. You weren't powerful. You weren't of noble birth. God didn't look down and go, well, that right there, that's a winner. We're taking him. No, but God, to the sweetest words in the whole Bible, chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. Chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, was low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring nothing to nothing, things that are so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who what? Became to us wisdom from God. The wisdom that came down for us.

[48:06] Didn't just say, well, if you want, come on up. You can be wise. Come on up. No, God's wisdom incarnate. Jesus came down for us, from God for us. If you're watching this and you're not yet a follower of Jesus, I want you to see that pursuing God's wisdom without pursuing God is impossible, and it really misses the point. The Bible isn't there just to be a Wikipedia of random information for us if we need something. But I don't want to, I don't even feel scolded for approaching it that way. My hope and my prayer is that for you, like for many, this pursuit of wisdom, this I need to have an answer on how to do this thing in my life, would lead to your life getting better. I sincerely hope that, but I hope that more than that, it'll ultimately lead you to this God of the wisdom, wisdom, not just the wisdom of God. If you're watching this and you're already following Jesus, this is now a moment where you and I will hopefully celebrate by taking communion. We'll honor this Jesus by taking communion. And really what we're doing is we're celebrating the folly of the cross, the foolishness of the cross, the wisdom of God on display that doesn't make any sense until your eyes are open. You go, oh my gosh, he did that for me. He laid down his life for me.

[49:30] Talk about not getting what you deserve. Talk about getting what you don't deserve. Talk about I lived out the Proverbs and then I got crucified. He never did anything wrong, yet he was hauled off like a lamb to the slaughter, nailed to a criminal's cross, abandoned and spit on and shouted at and murdered.

[49:53] And he did that for me and he did that for you. That's the folly of the cross, the hope of our salvation, the one who became to us wisdom from God, Jesus.

[50:10] You know, worldly wisdom leads to us boasting in ourselves, but this kind of wisdom leads to us boasting in him. I would encourage you to do that now, whoever you're with. Hopefully you're with a group of 10 or less watching this, taking communion together. Man, go around and just boast in Jesus.

[50:27] Take as long as you want. Just boast in Jesus. Brag on Jesus. Talk about all the amazing things he's done for you. If you're able to give, we know that not everyone in this season is able to, but if you're able to, it's such a huge blessing to so many. I encourage you to do that. You can do that online. You can mail your gift in, or you can check out the screen here. There's some ways that you can text to give. And I want to just point to the connection between that and this thing we've just heard because giving sounds foolish, seems foolish. Isn't life all about getting? Why would we ever give?

[51:04] But it's not foolish when you and I remember that everything we have belongs to him anyway. And what we have, we can use to be a blessing to others. So God bless you guys. I hope this has been helpful. Have a great week.

[51:18] The passion of our Savior The passion of our God The passion of our God The cross that leaves no question Of the measure of his love Our chains are gone Our debt is paid The cross has overthrow The grace For Jesus' blood That sets us free He means death to death

[52:20] And life for me The innocent judge gave to you The grace While the guilty one While the guilty one walks free Death will be his portion And our portion Our portion of liberty Our portion of liberty Our chains are gone Our chains are gone Our debt is paid The cross has overthrowed the grave For Jesus' blood The blood that sets us free That sets us free Means death to death And life for me I give my whole life

[53:21] I give my whole life I give my whole life To honor this love By the Lamb who was slain I'm forgiven I'm forgiven The sinner's savior I'm forgiven The sinner's savior Crown him forever For the Lamb who was slain He will be my whole life For the Lamb who was slain For the Lamb who was slain I'm forgiven I give my whole life I give my whole life To honor this love By the Lamb who was slain I'm forgiven I'm forgiven The sinner's savior Crown him forever For the Lamb who was slain Crown him forever Crown him forever Crown him forever For the Lamb who was slain He is risen Crown him forever He is risen Our chains are gone Our debt is paid Our chains are gone

[54:22] Our debt is paid The cross has overthrowed the grave For Jesus' blood That sets us free Means death to death And life for me Means death to death And life for me One Harbor was so good To worship with you We have a whole week To make disciples Push back darkness All for the sake of the gospel We'll see you soon