544 –1 WISDOM SPEAKSApril 27, 1980
Henry F. Kulp
Proverbs 1: 20 - 26 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
This morning as we look at the first chapter of Proverbs, we have to realize that your Bible is the most attacked document in all of human history. And it continues to exist, and it will continue to exist forever. I want this thought firmly planted in your mind. The Bible contains teachings that you need and need desperately. You cannot be a happy, joyful individual apart from them. All the problems in the world today can be traced to the fact that humanity has rejected the Word of God. But the saddest part is that many believers have rejected much of the Bible. They would never say that the Bible is not the word of God, but they do not know what it has to say—they do not know the teaching of the word of God, and so therefore, they are lacking in this area.
1/ God is here talking to teenagers. King Solomon, the great preacher is talking to young people, and he recognizes the coming generation is going to determine the condition of the nation. It is well to realize when this was written, within twenty years there was that great civil war among the Jews, which split them, and they have been split down to this very moment. The Ten Tribes of the North became one nation, and the two tribes became another nation.
2/ What caused the split? The teenagers in the days of King Solomon as they came into leadership in the nation were the ones who created the split.
3/ What was the problem? The teenagers traveled with the wrong crowd. The wrong crowd has always been with us, and as long as man lives under man, there will be a wrong crowd, and the Jews of Solomon’s day did travel with the wrong crowd, and later caused the civil war and the split of the nation.
4/ We have a parallel of that, today. Traveling with the wrong crowd is a disaster for any nation. I am mainly interested in the believing teenager. They can change things, they can make things different, for remember, our nation’s tomorrow depends upon the teen-ager of today.
5/ What is happening in Bible-believing circles today? It Is the lack of separation being taught to teenagers. The believer looks just like the unbeliever, especially in his actions. Whereas, when I came into the world as a teenager, the churches taught definite separation from the world. You were to be different from the world, not to be like the world. I was raised in a Bible-believing home. My father did not permit me to go to movies, to dances when I was a teenager. I can’t understand how believers can go to movies and see the filth of the day. It is really not entertainment—it is all a message—a message of letting down the bars sexually, morally. Drinking is accepted as being the normal situation, and everyone lives together and doesn’t worry about getting married. Sex becomes the most important thing in the world.
Then you take the music of the day—how horrible it is. It is all destroying to our youth’s morals. Rock music has a beat—an insidious beat that destroys. Take smoking and drinking. How can parents say anything to their children, who take drugs and follow the crowd, when they themselves drink and smoke cigarettes?
6/ Praise God in Proverbs we have the answer. We have the solution to the wrong crowd. And what is it?
7/ Verse 20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
Wisdom crieth without. Just what does that mean? What is wisdom? The simplest definition I find of wisdom, is the Word of God. It is wisdom. You can search and look around and look for other definitions, but this is it. But it is more than just the Word of God. Wisdom is the application of the Word of God to everyday life, and so here we have the answer. Here we have the solution. The Word of God applied to everyday life.
8/ TO CRY In the Hebrew is PUBLIC SPEAKING SITUATION. IN FRONT OF A LOT OF PEOPLE AND THE SPEAKER HAS TO SHOUT TO BE HEARD.
This, of course, is looking ahead to the future of Israel. There are prophets who came along; Jeremiah, Isaiah, and many others. They stood up in the public places and they cried out against the sin of the people and told them the Word of God. These prophets warned the people to come back to God—to make the things of God count in their lives.
9/ Let us get an example of what we mean.
Isaiah 53: 1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
We could ask that same question today. Who has believed the Word of God?
10/ Proverbs 1: 20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
So Proverbs anticipates the great men of God who are to arise and cry against Israel’s sin.
11/ She uttereth her voice in the streets. Not accepted by the leaders of the nation—the religious leaders—the political leaders don’t want them and have no time for them.
12/ Verse 21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
Here wisdom crieth in the chief places of concourse. What does that mean? That would mean the open air auditoriums, that were in the center of town, where a great number of people could be gathered and reached. Notice, not in the assemblies, not in the religious gatherings, but this is outside.
13/ In the opening of the gates. Every gate of an ancient city had a place where someone could stand on steps which would form a platform and look over a great crowd of people and then speak. News was broadcast from these gates. People would come down to the gate closest to their home or place of business and they could stand there and at certain times of the day they could hear the news report—what was going on in their vicinity, and what was happening in the world. So in this place where the news was given, these prophets, these men of God would come and speak the Word of God and the people would hear it. But again, they are excluded, if you will notice.
14/ God was raising up men to take the Word of God to the nation.
15/ Verse 22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
There are three things we can find in this verse. The first one—how long ye simple ones. How tame that sounds, but really in the Hebrew it is not very tame at all—it is the Hebrew word, PETH-HEEM’ and it does not mean what our English word, simple, means. Actually there is not a parallel in the English language to tell us what it means. The best you can actually do is to say it is the word, stupid. So he says, how long will you stupid ones love your stupidity? This means someone who is engrossed in the detail of life and puts the Word of God—not even second, perhaps away down the list. Remember, HE IS TALKING TO A BELIEVER, CRYING OUT TO A BELIEVER.
16/ Again it is the principal of Matthew 4: 4. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
How many people I see wearing the pin, Jesus First. Is it mockery, is it blasphemy? Do you really mean it? What are some of the details of life? We can say, SUCCESS. There is nothing wrong with being successful in life if it doesn’t come ahead of the Word of God. For if you lose success and the Word of God is second, you are going to be miserable.
Then take LOVED-ONES. Every one of us has someone that we love more than anyone else. What happens if that loved one dies? The Word of God is not ahead of that loved one, you will be miserable and not be able to face the situation. Take HEALTH, and it is not wrong to have health, but if health is taken, and the Word of God is second to health, you will never be able to live with the situation. Take MONEY, SEX, SOCIAL LIFE. All these things are in the same category.
17/ PLEASURE. I know all of us need some pleasures, there is no question about it. God has these things as a break in life. But are these pleasures more important than the Word of God? God wants you to put His Word first in your life.
18/ How can you make wisdom or the Word of God have first place in your life? By studying it every day of your life. Then by going to church where it is taught—not just for Sunday School or the morning worship service, but by getting a steady diet if doctrine.
19/ How long? Oh, believer, will the details of life be more important than the Word of God?
20/ Then we have the second category, and this is an interesting one. And the scoffer delights in their scoffing. What is a scoffer? SOMEONE WHO RIDICULES OR DOWN GRADES, CRITICIZES OR TAKES A DIM VIEW OF WISDOM WHICH IS DOCTRINE.
The scorner delights in his scorning. So, It is someone whose principle of life is emotionalism. Everything depends on how he feels. If he feels good it is great, if he feels bad it is terrible. So this is a believer who is motivated by his emotions, rather than by wisdom, the Word of God.
21/ Then the third category. This can be a believer and an unbeliever. He is called a fool because he hates knowledge. Yet all three reject Bible doctrine.
22/ Verse 23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
Here is the first solution. Turn ye. In the Hebrew, TO MAKE AN ABOUT FACE, TO TURN AROUND. This, of course, means seeing the error of your way and turning from the way you have been going. Going with the wrong crowd, despising, rejecting God’s Word. Wisdom—the Word of God is now first in your life. I believe there are those listening to me this morning who are indifferent to the Word of God. You need to have a new scale of values, a change of mental attitude. The word, reproof, of course, is important, and to be a believer and in the will of God you will have to be able to take reproof.
Seek Wisdom. Wisdom is the application of the Word of God to our everyday life. Seek Wisdom young man.
Teenager, you can change things, you can make things different, for remember, our nation of tomorrow depends upon the teenager of today.
AMEN
Ref: 04/27/1980 / 544-1 WISDOM SPEAKS / 02-26/2021
No comments:
Post a Comment