Dr Greg Bahnsen - Proverbs: Proverbs 8:6-21 (The Broad Relevance of Wisdom) (Part 21)

We're continuing this morning on our exposition of the Book of Proverbs. So please turn with me in your Bibles to Proverbs, the eighth chapter, where we'll take as our reading verses 6 to 21, Proverbs 8, verses 6 to 21, Where I'd like you to consider with me the broad relevance of God's wisdom as it's found in this passage. Proverbs 8, beginning at the sixth verse. Hear this now, as it is the very word of God to hear. For I will speak excellent things, and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall utter truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing crooked or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth and right to them that find knowledge, receive my instruction. And not silver and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies. And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared unto it. I, wisdom, have made prudence my dwelling, and find out knowledge and discretion. The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil. Pride and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the perverse mouth do I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound knowledge I am understanding, I have might by me. Kings reign and princes decree, justice by me. Princes rule and nobles even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me, and those that seek me diligently shall find me. Riches and honor are with me, yea, durable wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of justice. That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance and that I may fill their treasuries thus far, the reading of God's word. I've got an axe to grind this morning. I have a grudge that I'm bearing against the table of contents of Time magazine. No, not this last week's Time magazine or even the week before, but the table of contents in Time magazine as it's published week by week by week by week. And I should make it clear that it doesn't have to be Time magazine that's the focus of my distress. It could be any number of other publications. Because what Time magazine does in its table of contents is simply reflect a mentality, a way of looking at things that's pretty pervasive in our society at large. And it's that mentality that I really have an axe to grind with. It's a mentality that makes religion one one of the areas of life. A mentality that says there's a place for agriculture and business and cinema and medicine and politics and. And television and sport and, oh, and, oh yes, up there in the R's religion to be stuck in as well. It's a mentality that sees religion as one of the slices of the pie of life. Just one of the things in which we get ourselves involved with as people. Just one of the aspects are things for conversation in this world. And I have an ax to grind with that because as a matter of fact, if the word of God is what it says it is, religion cannot be consigned to a narrow domain of life. Just think of the value of the Scriptures as they've been delivered to us. In second Timothy 3, 15, 17, which I'd like you to turn to, Paul tells us of the function and the broad value of the Scriptures. Second Timothy, the third chapter, beginning at verse 15. Paul says here that from a babe thou hast known the sacred writings which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Every Scripture is inspired of God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work. Paul says about the Word of God, the Scriptures that Timothy knew from a child. He says, these Scriptures are able to make you wise unto salvation. Notice the function of the Scripture is to make one wise and with a wisdom that leads to salvation. A saving wisdom is imparted by the Word of God. God has revealed His Word so that his people might know him in wisdom and salvation. The Bible, very simply put, is the source book of saving wisdom for believers. And then Paul goes on to speak of the value of these Scriptures. He says they have a benefit both for doctrine and for instruction in righteousness. The wisdom that is imparted in the Scriptures not only leads us to believe the right things about God and man, but it guides us to have a behavior which is honoring to God in this world. And the wide scope of that value is made clear by Paul when he says that the Scriptures will perfectly equip us to every good work, perfectly equip us. There is nothing lacking in the Word of God. The Bible is thorough in its relevance, able to equip, able to guide in every single one of our decisions and every single one of our attitudes, every single one of our actions which are pertinent to living ethically. There is no good work that is not covered by the Word of God, no good work in whatever area of life fails to be covered by the wisdom imparted in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. And so if the Bible is what it claims to be, the source of saving wisdom for God's people, a wisdom that teaches them to believe correctly and to live correctly and to do so in every area of life, so that no good work is lacking, if that is what the Word of God is, then religion cannot be what the table of contents of Time magazine makes it out to be. Just a slice of life. Religion is life. Religion is the foundation of life. The Word of God, which is the source book of our religious wisdom, is the sourcebook of our salvation and life. The Word of God is foundational for every endeavor, everything we see and everything we do. Very simply put, I think that's what Proverbs chapter 8 is trying to teach us. In this section that we've read this morning, in verses 6 to 21, we see God speaking as personified wisdom. And speaking as personified wisdom, God points out the perfection of His Word. God points out that everyone's heart's desire is met by His Word, and that His Word is relevant to every area of life. Let's look at that point by point. First of all, who is speaking here? Well, it's someone who is called Wisdom. Now, the Bible tells us God is love. The Bible tells us God is light. The Bible tells us that God is jealousy, that God is a consuming fire which we could go on and on. There are many biblical descriptions of God portraying Him as identical with one or more attributes of his own. You see, God above all possesses these qualities. Above all, God possesses love. He is love par excellence. Then he is the exemplar. He is the origin of such attributes as love or light or what have you, purity, perfection. And I think in that context, we can understand why Solomon and other writers would have been led to take wisdom, which is one of God's attributes, and personify it as God himself. God as wisdom now speaks to us. When wisdom speaks, it is God who speaks to us. In particular, what wisdom offers is what the word of God offers. It's what it lays before men. Now, personified wisdom is God's word come to life then. And if personified wisdom is God's word come to life, we can Understand how Proverbs 8 and the personification of wisdom found there has affinities with, indeed is something of a limited foreshadow or anticipation of the prologue To John's gospel. In John 1 we read that Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, God the Son who came into the world, is the living Word of God. Moreover, Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians 1:30 that Christ has been made wisdom unto us. For According to Colossians 2, verse 3, in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are deposited. Christ is the living embodiment of the wisdom revealed in God's Word. He is the Word. He is the wisdom of God. And so in Proverbs, the eighth chapter, I don't want to suggest that all of that New Testament doctrine has been understood and has been put into practice. But the author of the Book of Proverbs, this particular chapter, was able to take an attribute of God, wisdom, personify it, and so doing, let God speak as that attribute to us. And so God as wisdom speaks. And what God tells us in verses six to nine, first of all, is that His Word is perfect. Hear, for I will speak excellent things. And the opening of my lips shall be right things, for my mouth shall utter truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing crooked or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth and right to them that find knowledge. There's a very probing message here about what we in philosophy call the logic of perfection, the logic of perfection. You see, when an attribute, a perfection, especially an honorable thing, perfection itself, it may be when some honoring attribute or perfection is attributed from one person to another person or another thing, there's a certain logic, there's a certain mentality, there's a certain line of thought that's implicit in that. When I attribute some perfection, let's say in public speaking to someone, that is to say first and foremost that we share a common standard. And I think that he's excelled at that stand standard. I agree with what he's trying to do, and I think that he's done a good job. Now, that says something about me, it says something about him. It says something about objective standards. And we could go into this in greater depth if you were interested, but for our purposes this morning, notice that Proverbs says we are to attribute perfection to God's speaking. And that tells us something about God. It tells us something about the proper standards we should have. It tells us something about ourselves. My concern this morning is especially with those who in our day and age have made such a to do about the inerrancy of God's Word. Those who find it so hard to say, as far as I'm concerned, when God says it, it's true. Those who deny the inerrancy of God's word, it seems to me, need to reflect more on this logic of perfection. For when God says something in the Scriptures and we say, well, I'm not so sure that's right, or it seems to me that we've learned over here in, say, science, or we've learned over here in ethics, or we've learned over here in history that that can't be true, that we shouldn't see it in that particular way. That is to say that we exalt ourselves above God, that we have a standard higher than God, and that we would indeed determine good and evil for ourselves. And that's the very essence of sin. The very essence of sin. To make yourself a law, to make yourself an authority above God and his word. When Jesus, who was the very embodiment of the truth of God, when Jesus our Savior, prayed his high priestly prayer In John the 17th chapter, I trust you remember how at verse 17 he said, Sanctify them by the truth. Thy word is truth. Thy word is truth. Proverbs speaks to us and tells us, here I will speak excellent things in the opening my lips right things, for my mouth shall utter truth. When God speaks, the maker of heaven and earth, the one who knows the end from the beginning and determines every event and every detail of history. When God speaks, the one who is completely holy and righteous and good, the one in whom all perfection is found. When God speaks, the one who will be the judge of heaven and earth and every thought of men. When the God speaks of whom Paul said, let God be true, though all men are liars. When that God speaks, our only option is to say, it's true. It's true. And when God says things that we don't like, we had better change the way we think. When God says things that are contrary to the way we live, we'd better change the way we live. Because when God speaks, that is the standard of perfection. When God speaks, it's beyond challenge. Remember how Job wanted to have his interview with God? He ended up realizing that he was in no position to interrogate God. He was in no position to draw a question before God to expect God to meet his standards. Remember when Israel was in the land of the wilderness, traveling to the promised land, and there they murmured against God because he didn't meet their expectations, he didn't follow their agenda. What did God reveal to Israel There at Massah and Meribah, striving and rebuke, he revealed to them, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. The very words Jesus quote when standing on the pinnacle of the temple, Satan said, go ahead, show that God's word is true. Prove it in your own experience. Jump off and see if he'll give his angels charge over you. And Jesus says, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. The truth of God's word is not in question. My veracity is in question, My integrity is in question. My righteousness is in question, but not God's. And so in the Book of Proverbs we read wisdom saying, my mouth shall utter truth. There's not a perverse or wicked or crooked way in me. You see, attempts are made in our day to hold to the truthfulness of God's word in some narrowly religious fashion and then say other things outside of really relevant religious things. Other things that we find in the word of God need not be true. When the Bible talks about natural science, it doesn't have to be true. The important thing is that we know how to get to heaven. And when the Bible talks about details of history or geography, it need not be true. Because the important thing is that we have a relationship with God. When the Bible tells us certain things about Old Testament morals that we don't happen to like, that doesn't have to bother us. Because the important thing is, well, we have this religious dimension that is being guaranteed that sacral sank that is not going to be intruded upon. There are people who actually think that they honor the word of God by saying such things. Such people are fools. Yes, they're fools. That's harsh language. It's true language. It's language that needs to be used. Jesus says to Nicodemus, if I've told you earthly things and you don't believe me, how will you believe me if I tell you, you heavenly things? If the word of God is not trustworthy when it speaks about such mundane things as geography and history and natural science, then why should we trust it when it tells us about God and his character and our relationship to him and the only way to heaven? Now this idea of having a Bible that is right in some areas and wrong in others is totally unacceptable. The inerrancy of God's wisdom is an all encompassing inerrancy relevant to everything taught in the Scriptures about any and all areas of life. If God is unreliable in any place, God is not reliable anywhere else. I say things that are true, and I say things that are false. The fact that I've said some false things doesn't mean that everything I say is false. But the fact that I do make mistakes means that I should not be held as an ultimate authority in matters of life and death. And anyone who is relying upon my preaching or my teaching, and not the word of God or the teaching and opinions of any other man, really is a fool. Because when it comes to these matters, it's far too important. Too much is riding on the decisions that have to be made in the religious domain for us to have the opinions of men be our foundation. Foundation? No. We must trust the word of God from beginning to end, from COVID to cover. When God speaks, it is so, for thy word is truth. Secondly, the book of Proverbs tells us here in verses 10 and 11, the wisdom of God's word is the heart's desire. Receive my instruction and not silver knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies. And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared unto all wit. Everyone's looking for something to satisfy them, something to make their life complete, to give it meaning, to bring them happiness. Everyone is looking for something, and not one of the things that people try to put in the place of God and his truth can genuinely satisfy. For only God's wisdom is to be desired above all else. God says, you're interested in money, you're interested in fame, you're interested in good health, you're interested in popularity, you're interested in this, and you're interested in that. But above all, wisdom will be your heart's desire. This must then be true for everyone. Isn't that the case? Notice it doesn't say wisdom is to be more desired than silver and gold and rubies. If you're this kind of a person, if you. If you're a fundamentalist, then of course wisdom is what you want. If you're an evangelical Christian, but then again, if you're some kind of atheistic industrialist, that may not be for you. Or if you've got to be some world leader, that may not be for you. Or if you've got to be some popular entertainer, that may not be for you. No, it says here that wisdom is the heart's desire for all men. There is nothing higher than that that can be achieved in this world. And so notice what Proverbs is building up to. We see first that the wisdom of God's word is true and right in every one of its teachings. And now we read that it can bring satisfaction to every person, something of the broad relevance of God's Word. The broad relevance of wisdom should be dawning on our consciousness by now. And if it isn't, then as we move into the next section of Proverbs 8, it's made all the more clear, because the wisdom of God's Word is relevant to every area of life. As I said in my introductory remarks, attempts are made to turn Christianity into a narrow religious domain, one that doesn't bear on day to day life in this mundane world, that doesn't bear on family matters or education, one that doesn't bear on the arts or upon sports or economics or business and industry or politics. And the reason why people do that with their understanding of Christianity is because they have, working within them implicitly, a sacred secular dichotomy. A dichotomy is to cut things into two. And life is dichotomized, cut into two by many people. There's a sacred realm and there is a secular realm. By the way, it's almost inevitable that when people do that, they make the secular realm much bigger than the sacred. The sacred realm turns out to deal with matters like going to church and prayer and reading your Bible and going to heaven in the future. And then there's everything else, you know, as wide as the deep blue sea. Everything else in life is not religious, has no bearing on religion and religion has no bearing on it. It's a dichotomy, sacred and secular. We have people that take the attitude that Christ is not interested in matters of culture, that Christ, if anything, is against matters of culture. The medieval monastics retreated from culture, did not want to be part of ordinary life, day to day affairs, theirs because they were supposed to be religious men. Modern fundamentalists have done the same thing in many ways, without intending to, but in many ways have retreated from culture and have had a mentality that says crisis against culture. If anything is found in the world, is pursued by people in the world, then we don't want to do that because we don't want to be worldly. If people go to movies, we don't go to movies because we don't want to be worldly. If people eat pizza, we won't eat pizza because we don't want to be worldly. There's something wrong now. And we do eat pizza though, right? And we do dress like people in the world, right? And we have two eyes and a nose and we breathe and we walk and we make money and we have families. And you see, that isn't where the lines to be drawn between what is done in the world and what is done by us. The lot is to be drawn in terms of ethical distinctions, doing what is pleasing to God and doing things in a way that brings glory to him, obeying God or disobeying God in the way we eat or drink or whatever it may be. There are also people, it seems to me, that don't want to see the wisdom of God's word as relevant to all of life because they have this kind of slogan that goes like, well, but the Bible is not a textbook of science. And, well, the Bible's not a textbook of economics, and the Bible's not a textbook of philosophy, and the Bible's not a textbook of this and a textbook of that. To which I say, you're right. You're absolutely right. The Bible's not a textbook of any of those things. It's much better, much better, much broader than any such thing. It's just a textbook on one narrow end of life. What I want to know, though, is when the Bible spread speaks to economics, when the Bible speaks to history, when the Bible speaks to philosophy, is what it says true? Is it to be followed and obeyed? And the answer of any true follower of the Savior must be yes. When the Bible speaks, it need not be a textbook on any subject, but every subject it touches on, it touches on purely, righteously and truly. And so let's not try to say, well, you see, Christianity can't have anything to say to politics because the Bible's not a textbook of politics. There are also people who tell us we must make common cause with unbelief in this world when it comes to such matters as business or economics or politics. We can't have a distinctive religious perspective on that because we have to work with unbelievers and people of other religions. And so we can't take the word of God into that domain. We have people who tell us, you can't take the word of God into politics because there's a separation of church and state. As though, having said, that settles the matter, I want to suggest to you, if the separation of church and state means that I can't take the Bible into politics, so much the worse for the separation of church and state. Now, just to set your minds and hearts at ease, separation of church and state isn't violated by taking the Bible into politics at all. Separation of church instead is not the same as the separation of God and state, the separation of morality and the state. And when I as a Christian, have to make political decisions either as a voter or as a leader. When I as a Christian, enter into that domain, I take the word of God with me and I make decisions pleasing to God in that area. The church doesn't dictate to the state. I mean, Pastor Bonson is not going to go to the mayor of Placentia and tell him, because I'm the pastor, you, you must do so. And so he can be sure that I'm going to preach from this pulpit as loud as I can as to what he ought to be doing. And then he before God will have to answer for his decisions. I don't want the church to dominate the state and I don't want the state to dominate the church. I believe in their separation institutionally. But nothing is separated from God. Not the state, not my finances, not my family, not my recreations. Nothing is separated from God because he made it all. He governs all and he will judge all. And so let's see very quickly in closing here, the relevance of wisdom for ethics and philosophy. Verses 12 to 14 I, Wisdom, have made prudence my dwelling. I find out knowledge and discretion. The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil. Pride and arrogancy in the evil way. In the perverse mouth do I hate. Counsel is mind and sound knowledge. I am understanding, I have might. God says, speaking as personified wisdom. I have knowledge, I am knowledge, I dwell in discretion. The goal of philosophers for ages has been reliable, well founded knowledge to have a basis for what we know that can make a better life and guide our conduct in this world. And God speaking his wisdom says, here it is, I am knowledge, I am prudence, I give discretion. If you want to know what is true and to live in a way that is right, follow me. Now how can I as a philosopher then go into the study of, say, epistemology, the thing theory of knowledge or the study of ethics, the study of metaphysics? What is real? What isn't real? How can I study such basic and fundamental questions and then say, but the Bible's got to stay closed, of course, back in my room. I mean, that's religious. Well, I mean, what could be more religious than to ask what is true? What is fundamental? Where do we come from? Where are we going? How should we then live? I mean, that is as religious as can be. You can't escape it. You can't close the Bible if you do philosophy. Wisdom goes on and points out its relevance to politics. Verses 15 and 16 by me Kings reign and princes decree justice. By me princes Rule and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. God says, if you want to enter into politics, you'd better listen to me. If you want to be a leader among men, you need what I have to offer. I mean, away with this silly notion that the Bible doesn't say anything to politics. By me. Kings reign by me. All the judges of the earth are to know justice and equity. What do we have if we don't have God's word in politics? How are judges to make their decisions? How are legislatures to make their laws? What are we to be governed by if we don't have a transcendent word from God? Well, the alternative is going to be an authoritative word from man. But you see, that's our problem. Man. If man weren't a sinner, we wouldn't need politics. If man weren't a sinner, we wouldn't need such leaders. If man weren't a sinner, we wouldn't need judges. And if man's a sinner and his basic problem is that he's in rebellion against God, it's not going to do any good to turn over the institution to those who are there. I mean, you don't go to an insane asylum and ask the patients how they're supposed to run the place, and this world's turned into an insane asylum. And then we say, okay, you all make up some rules and we'll govern by it. Forget it. God says, by me. Kings rule by me. Princes decree justice. And it's interesting to me that the universal international perspective of Proverbs comes out right here. Notice verse 16 nobles, even all the judges of the earth. You see, if the author of Proverbs thought in the mentality of so many modern theologians, he wouldn't have said that. He wouldn't have said all the judges of the earth. He would have said, all Jewish judges rule by me. All those who are in what's called the theocracy of Israel rule by me. But everybody else is on their own. Everyone else is going to have to make it on their own, thinking according to their own wisdom. No, all the judges of the earth must turn to the wisdom of God's word for guidance. You know, the church state polemic against this idea is just misguided. For you see, the church need not dictate to the state, for the state, nevertheless to need wisdom from God in its affairs. And so we see the political rat relevance of God's word restricting God's law to Israel, or saying that in our day and age we can't honor God's word, because we have so many other religious conflicting authorities to think about is just wrong. The second Psalm says, be wise, ye judges and kings of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, rejoice with trembling, kiss the Son of God, lest you perish in the way. And then finally notice the relevance of wisdom for finances. In verses 17 to 21 we read that those who love wisdom will be loved back by wisdom. And riches and honors will come with wisdom, durable wealth and righteousness. Now I like this. Verses 19 and 20 puts it in context. Of course, that's not the most important thing. Proverbs tells us that you're going to do well in this world is not the most important thing because wisdom is far more valuable than rubies and gold. I mean the very fact that you've gained a right understanding of God and that you have a proper direction in life that's worth living for in itself. But wisdom also says you want to get along well in God's world. Follow God's word. You want to fit into the kind of place God created, then be a creature of God who honors him. Listen to God's direction. If you want to get ahead in life, if you want to be successful and prosperous and honored, then know the wisdom that God gives because it does bring that reward. You say, oh, what a really low and crass and Old Testament perspective. Oh no it's not. Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and then what will happen? All these things you're concerned about will be given to you. All these things, how you dress and how you eat and how you'll take care of your daily needs. I'll take care of. No, wisdom is right here as it speaks. Honor God, obey God and God will take care of you. And so what do we Learn from Proverbs 8 this morning? We learned something about the nature of God's word. We learned something about the nature of true religion and about the Christian faith itself. We learned that Christianity is not, just as Time magazine would have it, a slice of life. Christianity is not just one among many of the interesting things people do in this world. Christianity is an all encompassing world and life view. So whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, we should do it to the glory of God. Proverbs would teach us. Of course, Paul said it in 1st Corinthians 10:31. We learned that every good gift comes comes down from above, from the Father of lights, in whom there is no changing. So Proverbs would teach, even as James 1:17 did. We would learn to seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, even as Jesus taught in Matthew the sixth chapter, we would learn to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth. Even as Jesus taught us to pray in the New Testament. We would learn to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, even as Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 10:5, we would learn to be holy in all manner of living, even as Peter said in 1st Peter 1:15. Very simply, we would learn to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, because our religion is meant to dominate all of life, so that in all things Christ will come to have the preeminence. So Paul spoke in Colossians 1:18. You see, the word of God and the Christian faith, which the word of God informs and molds, cannot be restricted to any private, inner irrelevant section of life. It is by its very nature bursting with pertinence for all the activities of men in all the areas of life, in all ages. The wisdom of God's word has a broad relevance. I like the way Abraham Kuyper put it. He said, you see, there's not a thumb's breadth of creation about which Christ does not say mine. Let's pray. Lord, help us to see things in the proper way and to categorize things aright. Do not let us be misled by the secularism of our age. Don't let our thoughts be molded by the table of contents that we see in Time magazine. Help us to see the Christian faith, our religion, for what it truly is, bursting with pertinence for every area of life. Help us to see the broad relevance of the wisdom you communicate to us in your word. Help us not to be satisfied, to simply be religious because we pray and read our Bibles and come to church. Help us rather to have a goal of being religious by applying everything you have brought to us to our attention, every truth of the word of God to bring it to bear on everything we do. That our families might change, that our businesses might change, that our finances might change, that the political arena might change. Indeed, we pray that you would help us to see that the Christian faith and the kingdom of God that it expresses is meant to be a leaven in this world that will leaven the entire lump. Help us not to be agents that work against that by our mentality or by our disobedience. Help us to see the broad relevance of your word. And then get to work. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.