Proverbs - Wisdom For Troubled Times

Please sit down, and let's turn to the word of God. And we're starting a a brand new series. We don't know how long it will go on for, probably, quite a long time. Because it's quite a big book in the book of Proverbs. And I guess if we did every single a sermon on every single proverb, then we're here for the certainly the rest of my life, but we we probably won't do that.

Proverbs, chapter 1, and 1 of the reasons for doing this, I'm not sure if I'm taking anything from Tom. No. Is no. No. Yes.

1 of the and there's just a little word on the verses that Thomas is Tom's gonna preach on just to get it correct. 1 of the reasons is that we we just realized that we are in a world that's just so utterly confused. And really doesn't you know, you can't really talk about common sense anymore, not that this is common sense. This is this is god's sense. But and we thought we would have a go at proverbs because as pithy wise statements for for our world is is gonna be really, really helpful, I think.

So we'll do a series in this, and then we'll probably stop sort of halfway through and then do another series and then come back to it. So we're all quite excited by it. Proverbs chapter 1 verse 1. The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. For granting wisdom and instruction, for understanding words of insight, for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair.

Forgiving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young, let the wise listen and add to their learning. And let the discerning get guidance for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Alright. Thanks, Pete.

And good morning. Welcome from me, and welcome to those who are tuning in at home. It's good to have you joining us. And welcome if you're new, this morning and or if you're visiting, I know that there are some visitors amongst us today. John and John and Emma Maiden have joined us today.

So welcome to you. They serve with us on Contagious. Normally. And Emma used to be a member here a long time ago. Didn't you and then went to, yeah, here today.

So welcome. Just 1 other quick notice before we get into the passage. Many of you will know that Pete's mom, Jean, went to be with the Lord at the end of last month. And it's her funeral tomorrow. And so that's going to be taking place at SLough Crematorium at the end of the morning, eleven:thirty, and then there'll be a service in Windsor, a garden service in Windsor as well.

So do pray for that. It's wonderful. She knew the Lord Jesus Christ as her shepherd. She's gone on to be with her shepherd now forever. And let's pray that that service would be a good opportunity.

Do pray for me. I'm taking the service tomorrow. And there will be some family members there who don't yet know the Lord, and so just pray that the whole service in the day would give a good testimony to the gospel, and that there might be fruit fruit from that. So let's pray for that now and pray for our time together. Father, we do thank you very much for the life Jean, and we thank you for her her love and her family and her faith in the Lord Jesus.

We thank you that at the end of all things, she she was a wise woman because she feared the lord and she knew you. And we thank you that she is with you now. And we do pray that tomorrow, as we gather, even just a few to to celebrate and remember her, that you would help us to do that, that even in the grief and the sadness, there would be joy in in that life and in those memories and and the great joy that she knew you. And so just pray for that service tomorrow. When we pray again for our time as Peter has already asked.

We we do pray that you would speak to us and help us to understand perhaps this introduction is very well known to many of us. Or it might be the very first time we're coming to it. And either way, we pray that you would show us by the power of the Holy Spirit. The the the meaning of these words and the application of these words to our lives in Jesus' name, amen. Alright.

Well, we're going to begin with with this first point this morning, which is Proverbs, the purpose. So, we're gonna have a think first of all about the purpose of Proverbs. Now, if you are if you are learning to drive or if you already do drive, you'll know that the driving test has has 2 main parts. There's a there's a theory test, which is to say that you need to know the right things. It's a knowledge test about the road, and so they might ask you what kind of road sign this is and where you might find this on your car and how quickly you can go on this type of road and multiple choice and all kinds of other things.

That's a knowledge. You need to know the right things. But then there's also a practical test where you need to prove in 40 minutes or so that you can basically safely operate, operate the car. And you need both, So 1 without the other is not going to result in in a driving license. You know, you could know all of the theory and ace the theory test But if you can't operate the car, you're not going anywhere anytime soon.

But you might be able to operate the car really well, but if you don't know the theory of the road and what the signs mean in the markings, then you won't be driving for very long. So you need to know both. There's theory and there's the practical What is really frustrating is when you do know both and you can drive the car and you can pass the tech. You just cannot pass. They won't pass you.

That's the most frustrating of all, and you can sense my own bitterness in that that experience. Laura loves to rub that in my face. She's a first time passer loves to make that known. I won't tell you how many times it took me, but there we go. So you wanna think of proverbs.

Think of proverbs a little bit like that. Okay? There is both a knowing and a living component. There is a kind of theory, stuff that we need to know, and there is a life that that follows. There's knowledge and this this this practical.

But unlike the driving test, these aren't so separate as I just made out. So it's not that you need to know the right thing and live the right thing. They all kind of flow into each other, really. Right knowing leads to right living and right living is the first for right knowing, and they kind of all go together, this theory and this practical. And then there's a there's a third aspect to Proverbs, which is touched on in verse 3.

If you have a look at verse 3, there's a kind of ethical side of it as well. For receiving instruction in prudent behavior for doing what is right and just and fair. So we need to know the right things and live the right way, and part of living the right way is this this righteousness, this practical concern for justice and fairness. And as far as I know, I don't think that is part of the driving test. You know, I don't think there is an ethics test.

Alright? What sort of person should you be on the road, you know. But in proverbs, that's quite important. So that's that's the purpose. This is a book that is fundamentally saying to us, be a teachable person, be a learner, be someone who is ready to know the right things, to live the right way, and to care about the right things.

And as you can see in the introduction, there are lots of different words for what this life looks like as instruction and insight and prudent behavior and you know, there there are people who spend a long time trying to divide up those words and spell out exactly what that means and what that 1 is, but I think it's worth considering it more like the driving test in a sense that there are different aspects to it. There's hazard perception and scenarios and but it's all part of learning to drive. So we might look at some distinctions further along the line, but this is this is fundamentally what it's about learning to learning to live the wise life. And as we're gonna see, this is for all of us. So this is not a book just for a special wisdom class of people.

And in ancient times, it was quite common to have those people who were set aside from the ordinary responsibilities and burdens of life just so that they could think. And do philosophy and become wise and you would go to them, these experts in wisdom. But Proverbs is not like that. It's for all of us. It's actually wanting to equip all of us wherever we are to live the wise life, whether that's at the school gate with other moms and dads, whether that's in the office or at home.

It's wanting to equip us as ordinary people in the lives that we lead to know the right things, to do the right things, and to care about the right things. And as we're gonna see, this is a this is a group pursuit. Wisdom is to be done as a as a people. So here's a verse from deuteronomy 4, verse 5 to 6. And I guess this is like some of how the original heroes would have would have taken it.

And here it says, see, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations. So the Lord's purpose is not just to have a load of wise individual jewels doing their own thing in the world, but actually to be a group of redeemed people who live the right way, who know the right things and who care about the right things. This is a pursuit that we do together. In fact, we're gonna see in proverbs that it's the simple person who rushes off on their own and thinks that they can make decisions for themselves without hearing the voice of wisdom.

So this is for all of life, for all of God's people, and it's a group pursuit. So that's something of the purpose. Secondly, let's look at Proverbs, the instructor. And often it is the case when people start learning to drive that they want a trusted instructor. So if they know somebody who's passed, they'll say, you know, what was he what was he like?

What was she like? Were they good? Can you recommend them? Can you give me their number? Can you can know how many I mean, I think in Cornerstone, 90 percent of the people who drive a pass with the aid of like 1 or 2 people because name gets around and that's what we want, isn't it?

We want someone who is basically kind and patient. Unless face it, we want someone who gets results. Don't we? Yeah? Someone who someone who someone who actually gets people through the through the test.

Well, have a look at verse 1. Look at the instructor we've got here. Oh, come on to that. The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, King of Israel. The Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.

So as we'll see, maybe towards the end of the book, not all of proverbs were actually written by him, but mainly they were, and he was a top instructor. Is what the Bible wants us to know. Solomon is really worth listening to. So if you have a look at these verses from 1 kings 4 and verse 29 to 30 29 and then 32. God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on Seashaw.

He spoke 3000 Proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and 5. He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also spoke about animals and birds and reptiles and fish. So this is a really wise person. Okay?

They know lots about the world and the way the world works, lots about nature, And so in driving terms, Solomon, it's like he wrote the highway code, and he's got his own driving school. So he knows what he's talking about when it comes to life and wisdom. And that made him a really famous man. So 1 King's 4 34 tells us that from all nations people came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world who had heard of his wisdom. I was looking up the most followed person on Instagram this week?

Does anyone know who the most followed person is? Anyone want to guess, the most followed person 293000000 followers Christiana Ronaldo. Yeah. The footballer, Kristiana. He's the most followed person in the world.

Okay? He's a big influencer. In the Instagram world, and I don't know what the world population was when Solomon was alive. I doubt it was as much as that, but everyone went to him Everyone wanted to follow him, to be influenced by him, to gather to him, to hear his wisdom. Even great rulers wanted to go to him so that they might know how to live wisely as as he did.

Now, it's worth remembering, of course, that Solomon was not the source of this wisdom them. I mean, that that's very clear in the bible that his wisdom was a gift from God in order to help him lead. And sadly, if you know anything about Solomon's life, I mean, he he ended up crashing the car of his life because he departed from the wisdom which he so eloquently wrote down. You know, he wasn't able. He didn't live God's way for all of his life, and yet we're supposed to know as we come to this book, that this is the holy spirit word from the pen of a man who was wise under God.

God had given him wisdom and insight and knowledge. And so if we want to learn to drive the car of our lives, then we can't do much better than better than him. So there's the purpose, there's the instructor, and now let's look at proverbs the audience. Proverbs the audience. And as we're gonna see throughout this book, the the book does not assume that every reader is in the same boat moving in the same direction.

Proverbs knows that we might be gathered here today as a group, but there will be big differences amongst us. Big differences. There are those who are verse 4, if you have a look, those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young, There are those verse 5 who are wise and discerning, and then there are those verse 7 who are fools. And broadly, those are the 3 groups that Proverbs talks about. Those are the 3 groups.

So you've got the simple who could basically just be those who are untaught, those who are untaught, or maybe those who are young in years. And they just do not yet know the right way to live, the right things to know, and the right things to care about. They just don't know. Or sometimes it looks like the simple person actually does know what is right, but they're only as strong as the last voice that they hear. They're very likely to be influenced by the loudest and most popular voice.

You might imagine them walking through the night looking at fireworks and they see a bright 1 over there and they head towards that. And then 1 goes boom over there and they head towards that. They're they're very vulnerable Proverbs wants us to see the simple person is very vulnerable because they're only as strong as the last voice that they that they hear. And so wisdom is actually very and proverbs is very compassionate on them. I was reading about a a seventeenth century minister called Samuel Rutherford, who was reflecting on his youth.

And he says this about youth. He says there is not such a glassy icy, and slippery piece of road between you and heaven as youth. There is not such a glassy, icy, and slippery piece of road between you and heaven as youth. And Proverbs knows that, youth is a dangerous time It's a slippery time. It's an icy time.

It's very likely to slip there because the voices are so loud. It's so hard. Not to be influenced by the popular voice, and Proverbs is very compassionate on those. And it's saying, no, listen, come on. Let me get your attention early.

Let me give you the ice boots so that you can dig in and walk straight on the path to heaven. Then there's the fall. If you look in verse 7, we're told that the fool, despises wisdom and instruction. So this person is not like the simple 1. They actually do know and seem to have a pretty clear grasp of what is right and what the Lord says, but they willingly despise it.

They don't like it. They don't wanna listen to what God says. They don't wanna listen to wisdom. They wanna go their own way even to their own destruction. There's the fool.

But this book is also for those who are already wise. You see that in verse 5. Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance. I was speaking to my neighbor this week and they've just bought a new new car, and she was telling me that she hates this new car that they bought. The husband loves it.

She hates it. And taking her ages to get used to it because it's massively bigger than their old 1. Much more technical, and she just doesn't really know what's going on with and it's quite interesting because she was saying, I've been driving for years. I've had my I've had my license for years, and yet it feels like I'm having to learn all over again. To learn how to drive.

Even though she's had the license for years, she's having to relearn what it means to drive this new car. And proverbs is something like that, that the wise people know that they are never standing still in life. They know that they are always in a state of flux moving from 1 stage of life to the next. And they know that for every new stage, they need God's wisdom to navigate it. When they move from youth to teenage years, teenage years from school, school to adulthood, called maybe to singleness or to marriage, singleness then marriage or marriage then singleness, children perhaps or not work life, moving country, moving retiring, entering later years, kids leaving home, the wise person knows that their life is always in a state of flux.

And they don't think, well, I learned what it was to be wise years ago, and so I'm set with wisdom now, they think I need to go back to the scriptures now to learn how to navigate this new season of my life. I need to go back to learn what I need to know to survive this new challenge and to care about the right things. That's what the wise person does. They're in a ongoing state of learning. They've always got an l plate on the car.

Yet always got an l plate on the car. They're learners for life because they know they're not standing still. And so you can see just in these few verses, Proverbs is for all of us, isn't it? For the fool, for the simple, for those who are wise, and it's saying we need to listen. So that's the audience.

And then we've got Proverbs, the mess proverbs the mess. And hopefully, you'll see what I mean. It's not lifted from any 1 verse, that title, I'm afraid. Just the mess. And I think this is 1 of the things that really has really struck me about it, is that that Proverbs knows that life is not neat and orderly, and that life is actually pretty, is pretty messy, and this book is for the mess of our lives.

I mean, you take you take driving again. It it would be amazing on the driving test. If the roads were almost completely clear, and you only had to solve 1 problem after the next. So you went and you did your parallel park, that's done. Went away, went onto the a 3, did your quicker road test.

That's done. Did your reverse round corner? You know, you just were able to just quietly move from 1 problem to the next, box it off and move on to the next 1. But it's not like that. You're driving along, you're about to do your parallel park, a dog runs out behind you, then you're trying to wait for the dog dog to go, somebody pulls up in front of you, and you can see their hand moving towards the horn because it's taking you so long to get in.

And all all of everything is coming at you at the same time. There's a messiness about the whole process, and Proverbs knows that life is like that I was really helped by 1 commentary on this, and and the lady who wrote it was saying, yeah, that is absolutely what Proverbs is saying. That but our battles in life are not neat and orderly. Like, Monday, I have to fight gossip. That's always a thing on Monday.

Tuesday is being a grumpy dad. That's Tuesday. Wednesday is my battling lust Day. Thursday is avoiding greed. And then Friday is battling worldly anxieties.

You know, it's not that you just go from 1 battle to the next to the next in a neat way. But that they all come at us at the same time. From the moment we wake up at the morning, there might be a temptation to gossip or to be angry or and they all this all coming, not not in a neat orderly way. And Proverbs understands that life is like that, and it wants us to be like the wrestler with our heels dug in that is braced and waiting for for impact all the time in in lots of different ways. So it's for the mess of our lives.

It's also for the mess of our decisions. It's for the mess of our decisions. And as you'll, you know, you'll know, very well, that rarely is it the case in life that 1 choice is absolutely immoral and the other is absolutely righteous. It rarely is life as simple as that. So, you know, should you get a new job?

Well, if it's as part of an international drug ring, then the answer is no. I mean, it's a fairly straightforward. Although Alex Wadworth is wondering, you know, I saw that. It depends on the price. Doesn't it?

You know? Yeah. But most people would say, no, that's an obviously bad choice, but it's not always like that, is it? I mean, you know, we we could do, we could get a new job, and maybe we should because we've been a bit lazy, and we're not as ambitious as we ought to be, and we could work harder and give more and influence a new place for the gospel, or maybe we shouldn't. Because right now, I quite enjoy the money that I have.

I don't need a new job Maybe it would be good for me to live a simpler life. It allows me to get home to be with my family, to spend quality time with my family, the sort of time where I don't have to be on my phone when I'm with them, still doing work. And it means I can give a bit and attend church, and there's all there's all kinds of things to factor in, isn't there? And no choice is obviously sinful a lot of the time. And so what we need is wisdom to help us to weigh difficult situations to weigh all of the different factors.

I think that's something of what verse 6 is saying, that proverbs is for understanding proverbs. That's an interesting thing, isn't it? Proverbs is for understanding proverbs and parables the sayings and the riddles of the wise. So we need God's wisdom to help us understand riddles, difficult things, It's not always clear cut, and so Proverbs helps us with the mess of decisions. And then thirdly, And then under this point, it helps us with the mess of culture, with the mess of culture.

There was 1 of the sessions that we did in our recent Explore course, where we spent a whole evening looking at loneliness, and we were looking at a number of different articles, which have just said, as many of you will know, that that we have a loneliness crisis on our hands in this country. I was reading just an article about it this week saying, and the title was even when I'm with others, I'm alone. And this this profound sense of loneliness and alienation that so many people feel. And when you read the art you know, they they're trying to sort of fumble around for an answer to how we might fix this problem, and they hit on some right things. You know, we need more community and we need to educate people about loneliness and there are some good things that they say.

But without wisdom, It is like trying to do a jigsaw in the dark, isn't it? You know, we might get a piece in, but basically we're gonna miss the big picture. We need wisdom to know the whole story. There's another quote from a commentary I was reading that just really helpfully put it like this. With wisdom, we know what to do even in the situations that experts spend endless time debating.

With wisdom, we know what to do even in the situations that experts spend endless time debating. And loneliness is 1, you could choose all kinds of stuff. There's experts debating and debating and debating. And wise people know that these things aren't simplistic, But basically, because we know the fear of the Lord, and God has told us what people are like and how serious sin is, we sort of know the answer to everything, don't we? Not in a simplistic way, as I say, but that people need to be reconnected to the God who made them.

No wonder we feel alienated in life when we've walked away from our creator. People need to be helped to find relationship with their lord, relationship in a church. And so wisdom gives us help in the mess of culture. And lastly, under this point, it's for the mess of me. Is for the mess of me.

And so you remember that the audience of proverbs, you've got these simple and these wise people, but again, it's not it's not neat. And I know that in my own life, I am a mass of contradictions, a tangled mass of contradictions, There are sometimes when by God's grace, we do make wise choices. Perhaps most of the time, we try to make wise choices by the word of God And broadly speaking, proverbs would say if you trust the Lord Jesus Christ, you're a wise person. And yet, I'm amazed at how simplistic and naive and foolish my own heart can be. How easily influenced I can be by things I know should have no power over me.

How easily I can be led astray down roads I've been down before and I know where they lead And yet somehow, there's a temptation to go back down there. We are we are a mess, aren't we? A mass of contradictions. And Proverbs knows that. There might be general patterns that are true of us, wise, false, simple, but it recognizes there's always a tendency and we need to keep keep listening to the word of God.

So proverbs is for the mess, for the mess of life, for the mess of decisions, for the mess of culture and for the mess of me. And lastly, Proverbs is Proverbs the heart. I've called this 1 Proverbs the heart. And if you have a look at verse 7, this is the the big, well known verse from this introduction. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction, the fear of the lord, is the beginning of knowledge that fools despise wisdom and instruction.

It's such a famous verse and it it is really the key to unlocking this whole book. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. What does it mean? We were at we had our first refuel back here, which our student bible study this week, and we were talking about Ephesian 6 and spiritual warfare. And 1 of the questions we discussing is, you know, what what do people believe about the spiritual world in our day?

And I was learning from some of the students there that there's been a massive resurgence amongst teenagers and people at people at uni with like crystals, new age crystals, and and channeling energy, channeling energy from the sun and the moon and trying to connect have a crystal to connect with you. And there's also these things called manifestations. Which apparently is a popular thing, which seems to basically be that you command what you want to happen from the universe. So you would say, you know, I want to meet Cristiano Ronaldo 5 or 6 or 7 times. And it's a way of sort of ordering the universe if you believe it enough and speak it out enough, then that thing is gonna happen.

So I was quite surprised to hear this. There's even a part of TikTok now, which is being labeled Wichita, witchTok, because so many people are getting interested in new age, wit witchery and crystals and this sort of thing, young young people, And as I was driving home, I was thinking like, what what is the attraction in that? Why do people why would we go back to channeling the energy of the moon and commanding things from the universe. And yet, it is the old the old temptation. It it makes me God, doesn't it?

Is trying to put myself in the position of God to channel the energy of the sun and moon to command things of the universe that I can command things to happen and they will. And it's this desire to go back into God's position. And Proverbs would tell us, that that is absolutely wrong, that the fear of the Lord means that I know that I am not the creator of the universe. I am a creature, and I do not know how to navigate this life by myself. I need help from outside of myself to go forward.

But more than that, I'm not just a creature. I'm a sinner. And that means I'm actually prone to choose the wrong things. I'm very likely to walk in a foolish path because I am a sinner. Fear the Lord means I know I'm a creature, to know I'm a sinner, but it's also to know that God is my judge.

He is a holy judge and he has the power to throw me into hell. That's what Jesus says, isn't it? I'll tell you who you should fear. Fear him who after death has the power to throw both body and soul into hell. Yes, I tell you.

Fear him. There should be a holy fear of God as our judge, but it's not just the fear of being harmed or the fear of being failed by a driving instructor. Verse 7 says that the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge. And as we saw in 2 kings, that word lord, capital, l o r d, is the covenant family name for God. So it's not just the fear of a God is the beginning of knowledge.

But the fear of the covenant Lord, Yahweh, is the beginning of knowledge. And for all of God's people they would know that that name meant safety and belonging and trust. And so Solomon In this book is saying to us, knowing God in a promised relationship as your father is the beginning of knowledge. And only through Jesus Christ, can we come into that relationship with the Lord? 2 Timothy 3 verse 15 says this, Paul writing to Timothy, from infancy, you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

The whole of the bible, and this book of Proverbs is wanting to make us wise for salvation in Jesus. That is the purpose of it that we would read it and look to Jesus and trust him and be wise. To fear the Lord in that ultimate sense is to know and trust and walk with Jesus to walk in the shadow of his cross as a forgiven, redeemed sinner part of God's people living under the shadow of the cross, fearing the Lord by walking with Jesus. And you can see that is what this is about even in verse 1. The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel.

So the very first sentence is reminding us of this sweeping story, Solomon, son of David, the Messiah like king, who would point us on to the great Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the king of God's people. And so all of this book is saying, you need to follow Jesus. That is how you fear the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 1, as Pete read, Paul calls Christ, the power and the wisdom of God. Jesus Christ is God's wisdom with skin on.

He is wisdom incarnate. He is our ultimate instructor and teacher we must trust him and listen to him, and that is what it means to fear the lord. And so in light of that, as we finish, let me ask at the end of this introduction, how how wise are you as we begin this journey on the book. How wise are you or to put it another way, what is the big fear in your life? Fear has a powerful effect on us, doesn't it?

The fear of something can can alter the whole direction of our lives. You think about the fear of failure. And how it can produce the most incredible cover ups, can't it? From the little cover ups that we do to the massive international cover ups the fear of failure, the fear of money, either having too much of it or too little of it, can produce great anxiety in us. The fear of other people can cause us to live in a constant state of flux where we always have to be a slightly different thing depending on who we're with.

It's a powerful thing fear, isn't it? To shape the way that we live. The fear of how we look. The fear of how we look can lead people to believe that the sort of trainers that they wear is the defining statement about who they are, that their identity is tied up in a pair of shoes. That is a powerful fear, isn't it?

The fear of being stuck can motivate huge upheavals in people's lives when they suddenly realize, is this it? Is this it now for the rest of my life? It's gonna be this house, these 4 quick We better find a new relationship or move away or get a new home or go traveling for 10 years or, you know, it can cause massive upheaval to have the fear of being stuck. The fear of growing old and dying. I was reading a book on holiday called The Children Act, where The lady, the main character who's a judge.

At the beginning, the book discovers her husband is is planning to leave her. And he says to her, look, I need it. I'm 59. This is my last shot. I've yet to hear evidence for an afterlife.

Our relationship is cozy and sweet and I love you. But before I drop dead, I want 1 big passionate affair. That's what he says to her. The fear of growing old and dying can cause people to throw in the towel in all kinds of areas And the truth is we all have fears operating under the surface which shape us. None of us is immune to that.

And the Lord is pleading with us to fear the right things, to let God be God. To choose wisdom and live and to know Jesus Christ. Because in the end you could be a master of ancient philosophy But if you don't know Jesus Christ, you're a fool. You could be on trend in every area of your life But if that is the big fear, then wisdom would mock us. And so you're living for the wrong thing.

To know Christ That is the fear of the lord. That is wisdom. So what is the big fear in your life? This book is for all of us. It is for the mess of life.

It is to help us to know and do and care about the right things. And ultimately, it's to connect us to Jesus Christ. That we might trust him and walk with him. Let's pray together. Father, we do thank you for this amazing introduction and we pray that as we begin this series together, that you would please be our teacher, that we would adopt the position of of a of a learner that we would want to learn and add to knowledge to grow in wisdom, to gain understanding, to be prudent people, to make right decisions, to weigh things properly.

And, lord, we confess that we are so so blinkered sometimes. We we just don't see things properly. We think that we do, but so often we don't. Or we think that we basically know what it means to be a Christian. And therefore, there's no learning left no need for further knowledge, and we can become like the fool so easily.

And we pray that you would help us to have open ears and open heart to all that you would teach us. We thank you lord that ultimately to fear you means to trust in your son Jesus Christ. To know that we are dearly loved by a savior who has died and risen for us and to know you as our father and that we might walk closely with you through our lives applying all that Jesus is in every area of our lives. And we pray that you would help us to do that all in Jesus' name. Ah, man.