Nov 30 –
Intro: Today I am
beginning a two part series on the Book of Proverbs. The principles of heaven for men on
earth. Today from our scripture we learn
that the proverbs were written by Solomon, the Son of David and a child of
restoration.
1. Solomon was the
wisest man of his time and except for Jesus the wisest man of the
Bible. Talk about how it happened in 1 Kings
3:1-15. Now the word proverb
as we
Learned from your
outline means a short sentence showing some moral truth.
a. The book of
proverbs is a collection of moral, religious and spiritual truth. It is a
Brief discourse
on wisdom, purity, justice, temperance and a strong work ethic.
b. The proverbs are
the breathings of the Holy Spirit to help us today.
2. Our passage today
is Solomon’s prologue and reason for writing this collection of 560
Proverbs. Interesting enough this book is not the whole
collection of his proverbs. In
1 Kings 4:32, we
learn he wrote 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs.
He obviously
Inherited his
father’s musical ability. He taught on
botany, biology, animals, fish,
Reptiles and
birds. We learn that some 2440 proverbs
are missing.
Now Solomon shares with us there are eleven reasons why the
proverbs were written. Which we will
look at briefly..
1. For
attaining wisdom and discipline. Wisdom
is knowing what to do with the
Information and
knowledge that has been revealed. It is
skill in life. Common sense.
The ability to
discern between the godly and the wicked.
Solomon wants his readers
To have this
skill. That is why he presented these
560 proverbs. Those who trust in
God have found
true wisdom instruction and understanding.
Discipline is self control.
The ability to
live the priorities, follow through with goals and plans, to stay focused,
To live your
values and morals, to stay true to your convictions and attitudes. To
Conduct your life
in a manner that is pleasing to the philosophy of life, that you
Subscribe
to. For the Christian it is patterning
your life after the life, example and
Teachings of
Christ and following through with it in your thoughts words, actions and
Attitudes.
2. For
understanding words of insight. Solomon
knows that is a skill to understand
Words of insight
so he chose a simple grammatical format.
He showed the contrast
Between the
godly and the wicked. The godly are one
way and the wicked are the
Opposite. The wise are one way and the fool is
opposite. Yet the true skill is to
Under stand this
comes from the Holy Spirit. To have real
understanding, it must
Begin with God
and end with Him also. To understand
means to fathom, conceive,
Make sense or
simply put, “Get the message.” Vs 2
3. For acquiring a discipline and prudent
life. It means following through
what you
Say, think and
do. To be prudent means you, think
things through, are careful and
Discreet. To have discipline, you must be self
controlled, have proper discernment
Justice, faith,
love and peace.
4. Doing what is right, just and fair. True morality is always following
God’s word
And following it
through. You will do what is right. The law of love will always
Guide you. Matt 22:37-40
You will always be just. Your
personal bias will be set
Aside and you
will treat people as you would want to be treated. You will be fair.
The proverbs
help show you these things. The proverbs
and the word of God is the
Solid foundation
and it is grounded and centered on your relationship with Christ.
Vs 3
5. Giving
prudence to the simple. These
proverbs help bring an ability of being able to
See long range to
the person who normally sees things short term.
Help the impulsive
Person to be
discreet and careful. To help the self
absorbed person to think about
Those around
them. To help the person who doesn’t know God to see godly
Principles. The simple are straight forward and ordinary
people who chose to stay that
Way. It also means that a person can be easily
persuaded.
6. Knowledge
and discretion to the young. Solomon
wanted to help the young who are
Normally immature,
inexperienced, impulsive, self absorbed and generally know it
Alls to have a
little help. He wants to give them
working knowledge of life. Some
Common sense
help. This book was designed to give
moral instruction to young
People. This collection of moral, religious and godly
maxims are designed for young
People. Thus the simple format. It is written at a grade six level of
understanding.
He has aimed
these sayings at a young audience. He
wants the following generations
To benefit from
the wisdom he received from the Lord Himself.
Solomon was not
This wise
himself. This wisdom came from the
Lord. Solomon understood that every
Generation would
face the same devil, worldly and fleshly influences. He knew that
Successful
generations would need these tidbits of kingdom living. Vs 4
7. Let
the wise listen and add to their learning.
Solomon lived in a age and society that
Valued
wisdom. 1 Kings 4:30-31 says he was wiser
than all the men of the east and of
Listen and these
proverbs will add to their learning.
Proverbs show us the good side
And the bad side,
to get the message across that we must show forth God in our lives.
8. Let
the discerning get guidance. Those
that are able to see the right and wrong.
The
Person who sees
that good and bad are linked with the concept of reward and penalty
The individual
who has insight and distinguishes the fact that God shows Himself in
Love and
justice. Solomon wants that element of
his audience to use these proverbs
To help guide
their lives.
9. For
the understanding of proverbs and parables.
We have learned what proverbs
Are. A
parable is a simple story or account that reveals a moral, religious and godly
Truth. Jesus used this method in his teachings. His are the supreme example of this
Form. Jesus never taught the people of his day
without using a parable. The pearl of
Great price, the
prodigal and the house on the rock are just some examples. This
Book applies to
many avenues of life and we can learn greatly from them.
10. The sayings and riddles of the wise. I want to remind you that Solomon and
the
Writers of the
Bible were men of eastern and middle eastern thought. In the east they
Love riddles,
mind puzzles, pithy yet weighty sayings.
They value wit, intellect, and
New ideas more
than the west. The west is concrete and
logical thinking. The east is
Abstract and
more esoteric thinking. The west is five
senses orientated as the east is
More,
spiritual, and para-physical. Solomon in
this book brought to light the
Philosophy And
teachings of his day to us. He gave us a
glimpse of his world
And view of
life.
11. The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and
Discipline. The fear of the Lord is mentioned 14
times in the proverbs. It is the
Major theme.
Solomon is a prime example of what happens when a person forgets
This.
a. He started off
well but in the end it was his love for his foreign wives that made him
Fall away. In this way Solomon acts as a guide post but
fails as an example. He
Points the way to
wisdom but shows the path of folly. It
shows us that it is not how
You start that
matters, but how you end.
b. The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom. James
writes in James 3:13-16, that
Human wisdom is bitter, envious, selfish,
ambitious, boastful, denies the truth, it
earthly, unspiritual,
disorderly, is based in every evil practice and of the devil.
c. James then says true
wisdom is pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of
Mercy, good, fruitful,
impartial& sincere. Wise people are
peacemakers who sow
Peace and raise a harvest of
righteousness. James 3:17-18.
Conclusion
1. We have spent some
time in the proverbs. We have learned
about who wrote them
And why. Next message we will learn things we need to
survive and prosper in this
Crazy mixed up
world.
2. The proverbs are
designed primarily for young people.
This is your book. Spend
Some time in it
and gain, wisdom, knowledge, understanding and experience.
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