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Unleashing Gods Ancient Wisdom

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CLASS-2:  The Best Life Possible is Doing the Will of God for Life 

Unleashing Gods Ancient Wisdom

WOLBI Proverbs Class Themes

  1. God Has Given the Guide to Wisdom in Proverbs
  2. The Best Life Possible is: Doing the Will of God for Life
  3. Don’t Waste Your Life Like SOLOMON
  4. The Ultimate Sin is Pride
  5. The Second Greatest Day of Your Life
  6. The Un-intoxicated Life
  7. Raising Kids Who See Your Character & Look for the One God Says is Best
  8. Cultivating a Godly Work Ethic
  9. Fools, Focus & Avoiding Being Lost in Electronica
  10. The Power of Spoken Words

 

This is an application of the theme of the book stated in Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord. The overarching theme of this book and particularly the first 9 chapters is introduced—reverence for God (see v. 29; 2:5; 3:7; 8:13; 9:10; 14:26, 27; cf. also Job 28:28; Ps. 34:11; Acts 9:31).

This reverential awe and admiring, submissive fear is foundational for all spiritual knowledge and wisdom (cf. 2:4–6; 9:10; 15:33; Job 28:28; Ps. 111:10; Eccl. 12:13). While the unbeliever may make statements about life and truth, he does not have true or ultimate knowledge until he is in a redemptive relationship of reverential awe with God.

Note the progression here: 1) teaching about God; 2) learning about God; 3) fearing God; 4) knowing God; and 5) imitating God’s wisdom. The fear of the Lord is a state of mind in which one’s own attitudes, will, feelings, deeds, and goals are exchanged for God’s (cf. Ps. 42:1).[1] The phrase “fear of the Lord” appears nineteen times in Proverbs (1:7, 29; 2:5; 3:7; 8:13; 9:10; 10:27; 14:2, 26-27; 15:16, 33; 16:6, 19:23; 22:4; 23:17; 24:21; 28:14; 31:30).  

 

First, God’s Will Revealed for My Character

  1. God Wants to Make Me Wise, Not Foolish so that My Life Points towards Him as Lord:
  2. God Wants to make Me Teachable, Not Stubborn[2]:
  • God Wants to make Me Teachable, Not Stubborn because God says that wise people receive and love instruction (18:15;19:20);
  • God Wants to make Me Teachable, Not Stubborn because God says that wise people are always seeking to grow in wisdom (1:5;9:9;10:14).
  • PERSONAL INTEGRITY: Man’s relationship to himself (1:5; 3:3; 6:9–11; 11:4; 13:4; 20:11; 29:11)
  • See also: Exodus 13:9; Deuteronomy 6:8; Jeremiah 17:1; Ezekiel 7:19; Zephaniah 1:18; Matthew 7:16; 2 Corinthians 3:3;
  1. God Wants to make Me Righteous, Not Wicked.
  2. God Wants to make Me Humble, Not Proud.
  3. God Wants to make Me Self-controlled, Not Rash.
  4. God Wants to make Me Forgiving, Not Vindictive.

 

Secondly, God’s Will Revealed for My Relationships

  1. God’s Will revealed in Five Areas for our Relationship To Our Parents.
  2. God’s Will revealed in Five Areas for our Relationship To Our Wife.
  3. God’s Will revealed in Nine Areas for our Relationship To Our Children.
  4. God’s Will revealed in Seven Areas Relationship To Our Friends and Neighbors.

 

Thirdly, God’s Will for My Words

  1. God wants me to understand the Power of My Words.
  2. God wants me to know the Limitations of My Words.
  3. God’s Will for the Character of My Words.
  4. God’s Will is that I understand the Source of My Words.

 

Inspiration, Why Believe Bible Is True (BYT):

…because Jesus believed it.

…because all the apostles and prophets were convinced it was the very Word of God they spoke.

…because of its supernatural survival.

…because of its divinely engineered unity.

…because of its amazing prophetic accuracy.

…because of its absolute scientific accuracy.

…because of its complete historical accuracy.

 

Number One: Jesus Christ Believed The Bible

The first reason why I believe the Bible is utterly true can be distilled down to one or two words.  Jesus (and the second word is) Christ.  Jesus Christ utterly was convinced that the book you hold in your hand was the word of God.  Now that does it for me.  I mean, I don’t need anybody else’s opinion, but I’ll give you six more reasons.   Jesus believed this book, and over and over we find the Lord Jesus asking everyone who questioned Him, He’d say to them, “Haven’t you read?  The Scriptures say…”  That’s how He answered those who came to Him.

JESUS CHRIST: Because our Lord Jesus Christ said so!  Over and over we find Him asking those who questioned Him, “Have you never read?”, “It is written” and “Search the Scriptures”. He believed in:

Jesus believed in the Verbal (every word) Inspiration of the Scriptures (Matthew 5:18). In His Private Life (Mt 4 quotes Deuteronomy), He uses it in His struggle with Satan. In His Public Ministry (Mt 5-7 quotes Isaiah 61.2), He uses it to teach multitudes by the Sea. In His Personal world (Mt 24 quotes Dan & prophets), He uses it to explain the future to His disciples.

Jesus believed in the Inerrancy of the Scriptures (John 10:35; 17:17) so much so that one out of every ten recorded words of Jesus are Old Testament quotes[3]!

Historical Reliability of Scripture as in: Adam and Eve (Mt. 19:4-5); Abel (Mat 23.35); Noah and flood (Mt. 24:37-38); Abraham (John 8:56); Moses and the bush (Mk 12.26); David (Mt 12.3); Elijah (Lk 4.25); Daniel (Mt 4.17); Jonah (Mt. 12:40-41)

Jesus believed the Bible you hold.  He read the Bible that you read.  He prayed the words of the word of God that you and I have today.

 

Number two: The Absolute Testimony of the Apostles & Prophets

The second reason why I believe the Bible is true is because the apostles and the prophets were absolutely convinced that it was God’s Word. Just write apostles and prophets, okay?  The second reason why I believe that the Bible is true is that all the apostles and all the prophets, thousands and thousands of times, over and over repeated that the words that they were saying were not their own.  Do you remember what Paul said?

1 Thessalonians 2:13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. NKJV

It’s the word of God.  That’s an apostle speaking.  The prophets said the same thing.  In the Old Testament 8,000 times they say the Lord, the Lord said.  And it comes out.  Did you know that the apostles and prophets believed that this book came from God?  And if Jesus Christ believed it, that settles it for me.  But Jesus and all those who were closest to Him, all those who knew God face-to-face, those who were His emissaries, they say that the book that you hold in your hand is the very word of God. The apostles and prophets secondly are the second reason why I believe the word of God.

 

Number Three: The Survival Of God’s Word

The third reason why I believe the Bible is the Word of God is the Bible’s survival.  There is no other reason that you can explain why this book exists.  There has never been any book ever more targeted for destruction than this book on this planet.  This book has endured through the ages despite being the target of empires and emperors, despite armies being sent and dispatched to utterly destroy it and to rid the earth of it.  Infidels have waged their war against this book.

But, the Bible stands like a rock undaunted through the raging storms of time.  Its pages burn with the truth eternal and they glow with the light divine.  The Bible stands though the earth may crumble.  It will firmly stand though the hills may tumble.  I will take my stand on this firm foundation for the Bible stands.  Remember that song when you were a little kid?  It’s still true.

 

Number four: Absolute Unity

The third reason is because of the Bible’s absolute unity.  If you look at the Bible, there is an incredible unity demonstrated in the fact that as I mentioned before, 40 different men, most of whom who never saw each other… Those people that wrote the Bible didn’t even know each other.  They were living in three different continents.  They were writing over 60 generations of time, 1,600 years.  Most of them never saw what the other one wrote.  And yet, this book has an absolute unity.  It fits together better than the most machined parts.  It totally unites.  And when you look at this book, you find that there’s an unmistakable fabric that was woven from prison to palace, from desert to dungeons, and from hillsides to holy places there’s one common denominator.  There’s one shared theme.  There’s one united message.  There’s only one system of doctrine.  One system of ethics.  And there’s only one plan of salvation.  There is a supernatural, unearthly unity to this book.

 

Number five: Prophetic Accuracy

The fifth reason I believe the Bible is God’s Word is prophetic accuracy.  And we’re going to have a fun time.  We’re going to spend a whole service looking at the absolute accuracy of the prophecies of the word of God where God told exactly what was going to happen right down to the nth degree, and every single thing God said happened.

I hold in my hand the ONE Book that God wrote—the Bible. That one book has TWO parts—the Old Testament and the New Testament. Those two parts are made up of SIXTY-SIX individual books we call the 39 Old Testament books and the 27 New Testament books. This one book, made up of 66 books has a total of 31,103 verses.

Of all the verses in the Bible 8,352 verses are prophetic or spoke to future events. All Biblical predictions about the future in these thousands of verses can be grouped into 737 different predictions[4][2].

Of these 8,352 verses, 6,312 (or 522 different predictions) have already happened to the letter, JUST LIKE God’s Word said they would.

That leaves just about 2,040 verses with 215 specific predictions from God about the end of the world that are in process of being fulfilled[5].

So, the Bible contains many specific events that would signal the end of days for life on planet earth as it has been for the past several thousand years.

Each of the prophetic signs Christ and His apostles gave are specific and not vague.

Jesus explained to us in Matthew 24, verses 8 and 33-34—that these events would begin at the same time, run concurrently, and crescendo like the pains of a woman giving birth—the closer we get to His Second coming.

Matthew 24:8, 33-34 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.

The list of Biblical signs of Christ’s return will not actually be full blown until the Tribulation time. Each of the signs of Christ’s Return He said–are trends.

These trends are speeding up—the last seconds of the countdown clock of Christ’s return are clicking down. Each day the prophetic picture Christ painted grows clearer. Each of these signs were captured by the apostles and prophets between 2,000 and 3,500 years ago.

Now they are happening in our lifetime! But, in all of history–ONLY our generation has seen EVERY ONE of these events starting to unfold.

 

Number Six:  Scientific Accuracy

Did you know that every time God speaks of a scientific issue in the Bible it is utterly accurate?  Utterly.  Did you know just in the last two decades they’ve come up with the reality of the Bible where it says God separated the light from the darkness, and they found out that over 97% of our universe is made of dark matter?

 

Number Seven:  Historic Accuracy

Finally, not only did Jesus Christ believe it, and the apostles and prophets believe it. God’s Word has survived, it’s absolutely united, it’s prophetically accurate, and it’s scientifically accurate.  What is the last reason we can believe the Bible?  It’s historically accurate.  There has never been proven one historical error in this book.

Well, what does that mean?  It means that the book that you hold in your hand this morning, you can trust.  And if you can trust this book, then you ought to read it every day.  In fact as it says in Psalms 132 you shouldn’t find a place for your head to lay at night if you haven’t found a place for God in your life.

How do you let God in?  How do you let God into your life?  Well, I’ll just tell you a little secret.  This is the voice of God, the breath of God.  This is the spirit of God, distilled down onto paper and if you want to let God into your life, you ought to open this thing up every day.  And if you open up the morning paper or if you open up the Good Morning America or if you have to start your day with Rush instead of with God, then that’s a mistake.  And if you end your day with the sleazy, slutty, wickedness of the night shows instead of with the glories of the eternal, infinite God, shame on you.  Shame on me.

Read it to be wise.  Believe it to be safe.  Practice it to be holy.  This book contains light to direct you, fruit to sustain you, comfort to cheer you.  It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff.  It’s the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, it’s the Christian’s chart.  Here paradise is restored, heaven is open, the gates of hell are disclosed.

Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. The Bible.  The book you can trust.

We thank you for your word, Oh God, forever settled in heaven.  Turn our hearts by way of your word to the cross of Christ.  Where we first met Christ was in your word.  Where we grow with Him is in your word.  And the Christ of the word is the only one we’re ever going to know because your word is forever settled in heaven.  Open our eyes, behold wondrous things from your word for Christ’s sake, Amen.

 

Structure, Poetic Books & Proverbs Do slides,

Paul revealed a wonderful truth about Christ. He said 1 Corinthians 1:30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. (NIV). Jesus becomes that wisdom as His brother James said James 3:17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. (NIV). In the Proverbs we find the wisdom of Christ distilled in a very practical form.

Some have said that the three books Solomon wrote may have arisen from the three stages of his life.

Song of Solomon from the young man in love.

Proverbs from the wisdom of a mature man at his zenith. And

Ecclesiastes from and old and bitter man looking back on his wasted opportunities. . .

 

Remember we are in the third of the five Books of Hebrew Wisdom Literature. Each is a Divinely Inspired insight on a facet of life.

 

In JOB He is our Sure Redeemer. This book   gives THE TRUTH FROM GOD ON SUFFERING.

In PSALMS He is our Shepherd. This book   gives THE TRUTH FROM GOD ON WORSHIP.

In PROVERBS He is Wisdom Incarnate. This book   gives THE TRUTH FROM GOD ON LIVING (principles not promises).

In ECCLESIASTES He is the only hope of contentment. This book gives THE TRUTH FROM GOD ON LIFE.

In SONG OF SOLOMON He is our Beloved. This book   gives THE TRUTH FROM GOD ON LOVING.

 

 

There are a number of important themes addressed in Proverbs, which are offered in random order and address different topics, so that it is helpful to study the proverbs thematically as illustrated.

The two major themes which are interwoven and overlapping throughout Proverbs are wisdom and folly. Wisdom, which includes knowledge, understanding, instruction, discretion, and obedience, is built on the fear of the Lord and the Word of God. Folly is everything opposite to wisdom.

 

  1. Personal Wisdom: Man to SELF
    1. Character [20:11]; anger [29:11]; wealth [11:4] and foolishness [26:10-11].
    2. Wisdom [1:5]; pride [27:1]; speech [18:21]; laziness [13:4]; self control [6:9-11] and kindness [3:3].
  2. Relational Wisdom: Man to MAN
    1. Love [8:17]; friends [17:17]; enemies [19:27]; gossip [20:19] and truthfulness [23:23].
    2. Fathers [20:7; 31:2-9]; mothers [31:10-31]; children [3:1-3]; education in the home [4:1-4] and discipline in the home [22:6].
  • Theological Wisdom: Man to GOD
    1. In death [15:11]; fear of God [1:7]; sin [28:13] and rewards and punishment [12:28].
    2. In righteousness [10:25]; tests [17:3]; blessing [10:22]; commandments [6:23]; humility [3:34]; and trust [22:19].

 

 

[1] MacArthur, J., Jr. (Ed.). (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed., p. 877). Nashville, TN: Word Pub.

[2] The original ideas for this study were based on an article from:  From the NIV Study Bible, Introductions to the Books of the Bible, Proverbs
Copyright 2002 © Zondervan. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

[3]  Scroggie says that the Gospels total 3,779 verses. The words of Christ total 1,934 of them. Jesus quotes the Old Testament 180x so just under 10% of His recorded words are Old Testament quotes!

[4]  Bible Prophecies can be divided into EIGHTEEN chronological categories (by the timing of the events). There are only FIVE categories of the eighteen left to be fulfilled. They are: church prophecies, Second Coming prophecies, Millennial prophecies, Final Judgment prophecies, and New Jerusalem prophecies.

[5]  J. Barton Payne, Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980), pp. 631-675.

Slides


Check Out All The Sermons In The Series

You can find all the sermons and short clips from this series, Ancient Wisdom – Unleashing God’s Secret In Proverbs here.

Looking To Study The Bible Like Dr. Barnett?

Dr. Barnett has curated an Amazon page with a large collection of resources he uses in his study of God’s Word. You can check it out here.