Intro to Proverbs
Have group members describe the book of Proverbs in their own words.
Have group members define wisdom. How is it different from worldly wisdom? Who can obtain it?
Proverbs describes how life generally works and how to grow in wisdom. They can be read quickly…but they require thought to accurately apply them and take them into ourselves. They don’t work like the law of gravity…drop ball, ball falls. Proverbs is a book of wisdom—wisdom to not think of self-first, wisdom to know what God is up to, and wisdom to know what is in the hearts of others—it is wisdom in the streets.
You can think of Wisdom as having SA (situational awareness) or the Read Act Leadership Model terry described.
Our objective today is to look at our summary verses for 2020 and understand the two keys to growing in wisdom (and making sense out of Proverbs): The Fear of the Lord and Christ is the wisdom of God.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
“My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
Question: What is “the fear of the Lord”?
Answer: Awesome respect. God alone is powerful, wise, good…who am I compared to Him? Without that beginning point we will not end up in wisdom. We don’t start with us and end up wise. We begin with God and submission to Him, then we are positioned to become wise.
Question: Can fools participate in wisdom as described in Proverbs?
Answer: Fools cannot participate in wisdom because they reject God. “It is the fool who says in their hearts ‘There is no God.’” (Ps 14:1) Wisdom begins with God. This doesn’t mean people who don’t believe in God are stupid, ignorant, or unintelligent. We must be careful to not make these foolish and wrong characterizations of others.
Question: So, is wisdom about intelligence or intellect?
Answer: No, Biblical wisdom is something else altogether, more like virtuous or good. You could have little education and low IQ and be wise using the Bible’s definition of wisdom.
Question: What did Terry mean by his statement “Wisdom follows Worship”?
Start with God not with you.
Start with God not with circumstances.
Start with God not with the cynicism of others.
This is not about “blind faith”…this is about right starting places.
Start with God…awesome reverence…fear…then move to wisdom.
Question: Why is it important for us to see God (the fear of the Lord) as He is?
Answer: The more likely we will want what He wants…we will want wisdom.
Question: Read Col. 2:2,3. What do we learn about wisdom?
Answer: in Christ “lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” Jesus’ wisdom is the most profound expression of God’s wisdom. We read Proverbs now through the Gospel lens…we see Jesus all through the book. Wisdom follows worship…Jesus is center of our worship. So read Proverbs to become wise… to become like Christ.
Know that you can grow in the wisdom of Christ…but it will require:
- Surrender to Christ “The answer is ‘yes’ what’s the question?”
- It will require full effort…read, think, live, encourage, repent, worship, grow.
- Ask God to Help you reorient your heart in the right direction.