Turn with me in your scriptures, please, to Proverbs chapter 1. Proverbs chapter 1. And I'll read the text for this afternoon's sermon. I'll back up a little bit to give us the flow of the text as we have been studying it together, and feeding upon it. If you'll stand together with me, we'll begin reading at chapter 1, verse 23. Hear this, the very word of Almighty God, holy, infallible, inerrant in all its parts. Chapter 1 of Proverbs at verse 23, at my rebuke. Surely I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel and would have none of my rebuke. I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock When your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you, then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge. and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would have none of my counsel, and despised my every rebuke. Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies. For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. but whoever listens to me will dwell safely and will be secure without fear of evil. Thus ends the reading of God's holy word. Pray with me. Most Holy Father, we ask that Your blessing should be upon this Word, that we should have much of Christ in it, and that feeding upon Him we should be equipped for every service of worship and labor of good works that You call us to walk in. We ask for Your blessing by the Spirit, in Christ's name, Amen. We have in studying this portion of Proverbs where wisdom is personified. And remember that this is that poetic device in which something abstract is represented in a human form or as a person. Here, an attribute of God is described as a person. Wisdom, this attribute of God, by which He created the world, by which He built into His creation that which should guide His image-bearers in honoring Him in all their pursuits. This wisdom is set before us as one crying out. It's God's design that this wisdom that he's built into his creation should be that which we seek to grasp, that we perceive in his order, and that we live according to this design for his glory. This wisdom is not absent from us, It is embedded in the creation. Wisdom is described here as crying out, vigorously calling to the simple, the scoffer, and the fool. We talked about how the way that wisdom describes this here, this is our natural condition. This is where all of us are and how we're all found apart from wisdom. We're born in foolish, a simple condition. Wisdom is the remedy. Wisdom cries out. And we're naturally simple. We're naturally the scoffer, as we discussed before, and the fool. We considered the redemptive tone that wisdom's call takes in this passage. Wisdom says, I'll pour out my spirit on you and make my words known to you. And so we should think of God's redemptive work. Not only is wisdom what man was designed to perceive and how man was designed to walk, but in our fallen condition, we're simple, we're ignorant, we are readily mockers of the truth and the good and the wise. We are natively foolish. We have though, in this call, a signal that We're not left there by our Redeemer. Our Redeemer certainly calls us. He is the one that we are told is not only the creator who designed the world, embedded his wisdom there, but he's also the Redeemer who is the perfect man in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So it's right that we should perceive here a redemptive tone to wisdom's call. We're lost. utterly and desperately lost to God's design. The only hope is that the Redeemer is the one who calls us to his wisdom and rescues us from ourselves. And yet, as wisdom speaks here, we learned that wisdom is rejected. Wisdom's call is refused with an utter rejection. Every attempt by wisdom, remember the extended hand, the gesturing so that if perhaps the call, the verbal call was unclear or not heard, that it shouldn't be missed. That's how wisdom is described. Flagging down any who will pay attention. This, we're told, is ignored. Wisdom's counsel is disdained. The idea is that it's unworthy of attention. Wisdom's rebukes are made lighter. They're belittled. And so there is a condemnation. Last week we saw that there are consequences to this rejection, and they're described. Calamity will come upon those who are rejecting wisdom in this way. Terror as a severe storm. Destruction as in a tempest or tornado. such that those who have rejected are reduced to utter and complete anguish and distress of body and soul." The idea of just trembling altogether, reduced to a puddle of anguish and distress. We mentioned, as God in his sovereignty and his providence reminded us of the kinds of storms that we have witnessed in this area. Such things touched Tennessee this past week. And listening to the people report that on the radio, what they described, man, it threw me right back into this text. They spoke of having heard about this before. It was like a freight train running over the top of me. the horror, the reducing to desperate anguish. We should understand what wisdom is saying results from this kind of willful, rebellious, high-handed disdain for wisdom and wisdom's call. The condemnation expressed by wisdom should increase our fear, because our native condition is to be like this, those who refuse wisdom, who find it not worth our time, who ignore the call. Wisdom not only describes the destruction that comes upon such, but the source of rescue. is no longer extending comfort. Wisdom's condemnation turns from the beckoning, the calling, to the laughing and the mocking. Those who were mockers when they rejected wisdom have this to look forward to. They will be the ones mocked when destruction falls upon them. No longer will wisdom offer any comfort. We'll stand and nod and say, this is just, this is right, you're a fool. This condemnation, this concern, this condemnation is universal in the language used. It's intended to grab our attention and to rob us, rightly, of any security in ourselves. We're not so well taken care of by ourselves as we think. Our natural condition is as this, as described here. And we have held out to us a future of mockery and rejection. But the only thing that could save us, we noted, not only is this a sure and certain end of all apart from grace, but also the one in whom all wisdom and knowledge is hidden, is a rescue from such fearful condemnation. We held out to that example that parallels the situation in Matthew 8. Remember that the disciples got in the boat with Christ, and as they got into a storm, Christ is asleep. And they are in fear for their lives, and they wake Christ. Don't you care that we're about to perish? And he calms the storm, and he rebukes them for having little faith. This is the one in whom all wisdom and knowledge is found, and he's the one who is rescued from the kind of calamity described, the tempest, the tornado, as it were, that destroys and that reduces to utter despair and distress and anguish. But wisdom is not done here in this passage. Wisdom accuses and gives more consequences. And we need to hear those accusations. First, there are those additional consequences described. In the midst of terror, anguish, and distress, these who have rejected wisdom, now they'll call. When the destruction comes, now they'll beckon. Now they'll call out to wisdom. Wisdom says, that when this calamity arrives, then they will call on me. Then they will seek me diligently. Wisdom was before calling to them. They ignored it. It wasn't worth my time. Now they call those who would not heed before. Now they call on wisdom in desperation. And what does wisdom say? They will call me, but I will not answer. What a fearful thing. In that moment of desperate calamity, then the call goes out, and now a deaf ear is turned to the one who turned a deaf ear. They will seek wisdom at that time diligently. The word means, as it's frequently used, sometimes translated in the older translations, but times, and it means early. There is the idea of such earnest and diligent pursuit that one beats the sun to the rising, so to pursue it. There's a diligence, there's an earnestness. Now, there is a vigorous pursuing. Wisdom had vigorously pursued the simple, the scoffer, the fool before. But now that calamity has come, their refusal comes down upon their heads. Their diligence will now be fruitless. They will not find wisdom now that they're ready to be diligent in seeking it. Now there are a couple of very important things to notice here. First, see how equitable, how just, These terms are, and how horrifying. Those who refused wisdom, with all the warnings, with all of the vigor that wisdom exerted, these who had no time for that, will experience the fruit of that. How equitable, and yet how horrifying. When in desperation, you want the rescue, you feel it all the more. then it is not available. What a horrifying judgment, but yet a just one. Second, notice the turn in the poetic language. Did you see it? Did you hear it? Previously, wisdom used the second person, you, when speaking directly to the ones that were of concern. Your terror comes like a storm, wisdom is saying. Your destruction comes like a whirlwind. But now that the calamity has come, and it's too late, the back has been turned. The language reflects that in the poetry here. Wisdom no longer speaks directly to them. Wisdom now switches to the third person, they. There's a distance described in the language of the poetry. Do we feel it? Did we see it? Do we notice it? Wisdom no longer speaks directly to them. Switching to the third person, wisdom says, they will call, they will seek. Wisdom has started talking about these rebels, talking about them, no longer to them. The distance has grown and cannot be undone. The language of wisdom is what Charles Bridges calls solemn denunciation. There's no longer an invitation. There's no longer the hope of comfort. There's nothing left but wisdom's back turned and a solemn denunciation. Wisdom will have nothing to do now with those who would have nothing to do with wisdom. And this brings us to the accusations detailed, wisdom's accusations. And let these sink in. They're described with accusations that brought about those consequences. They hated knowledge. That is, they considered that that material by which wisdom brings about the growth in understanding and actual fruit of wisdom in the person being called, they considered that an enemy. They hated it. They found it to be utterly odious. Wisdom says they did not choose the fear of the Lord. And again, the idea there is one of showing preference or giving priority. Remember, the fear of the Lord is the chief thing if we are to have wisdom. So it should have been given preference and priority. What's being said here is it wasn't even on their list. They had every other priority. They chose anything else because knowledge and the fear of the Lord were to be disdained. These were to be treated as enemies. They refused counsel and despised rebuke. Here we hear the echoes back to the earlier part of this section. where counsel is extended, where rebukes are given and the call is to turn at the beginning of what we read this afternoon. Far from heeding that and turning, they despised it as worthless and utterly to be rejected. And having laid out these accusations, against these upon whom just consequences are falling, further descriptions of these consequences are given. Therefore, they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled to the full with their own fancies. Remember, this harks back to the description of consequences that were brought upon oneself. Remember, piercing oneself through, as the highwayman was described, the one who was the robber, Wisdom is saying, be warned. What you're doing is you're destroying yourself. How foolish is that? Surely you can see that you're setting yourself up for destruction. They don't see, and exactly what was said happens. They now have the fruit. The idea is they have labored for it. They have exerted effort to get fruit from their behavior and the fruit. is destruction. Now they will be filled, but not with what wisdom gives. They'll be filled to the full, overabundant with their own fancies. What were their fancies? Well, according to wisdom, the things that lead to destruction. That's not what they looked like. Do we understand the precarious situation of the foolish? As he's pursuing what looks good to him, These are his fancies, the things he delights in. He'll be filled up with them, but what are they actually? They're the destruction of his soul, and now without rescue. So wisdom makes an assessment and gives us guidance. How have we ended up here in wisdom's description? Well, The turning away of the simple will slay them. That turning away is a backsliding, is a wandering. It's what the simple in his ignorance will do. Wander off. Won't pay attention. And the complacency of fools will destroy them. Now that word complacency, the idea is there of having enough. I need nothing. I'm completely satisfied. What is the fool satisfied with? Himself. He's full of himself. And he's completely complacent in it. I have plit. I have need of nothing. This is exactly what destroys him. We need to examine our souls. As wisdom gives an assessment here, are we those who are in ignorance wandering off? Or are we fixed in our attention upon the source of wisdom, hearing and heeding? We are prone to wander off. We have lots of noise all around us to call us off the path. Do we follow those noises? Or do we have the attention fixed upon the source of wisdom and rescue, even Christ? Are we like the fool, self-satisfied, in need of nothing that wisdom extends to us? This is exactly what will destroy. But wisdom, praise the Lord, does not leave us with just the message of destruction. Wisdom gives us words of assurance. But if those words of assurance are to do what we would hope for, we need to have been brought by wisdom's guidance. to the fearful place of recognizing how precarious we are in ourselves, how desperately we need what wisdom offers, and how prone we are to be just like what was described. That's why the poetry that Solomon uses by the inspiration of the Spirit has wisdom saying, nobody listens. Everyone runs on his own way. Nobody has any time. to heed, to hear, to be guided. Why? Because they're wandering off like a simpleton. Because they're full of themselves. If we are rightly fearful of the calamity that comes, then wisdom's assurance can do exactly what we would hope for. And here in those closing verses, but whoever listens to me will dwell safely. and will be secure without fear of evil." Everything that was held out that should have warned us, that should cause us to be in fear of calamity, to be dismayed with what should become our fate. All of that is remedied if we will but listen to wisdom. Are we ready then? Do we fear the calamity such that we will fear the Lord? Then these words are indeed a comfort to us. Will we listen, then we'll dwell, not with calamity and the tempest destroying us and crushing us into utter anguish and distress. No, rather, wisdom says, if you listen, you will have safety. If you listen, instead of being laid bare and destroyed by the tempest and the storm, the whirlwind, you will be secure and that fear will be removed. What's implied is that in choosing the fear of the Lord, the fear of destruction is removed. One fear replaces the other. So let us examine ourselves. Let us remember all the places where wisdom said we should be paying attention. And one word is given to us here, listen. Are we listening? Have we heeded all the counselors of wisdom? We've mentioned them before. If we fear the destruction, here's the solution. We've been given wise counsel. In those who minister the word, we've been given wise counsel. In our superiors, Parents are given to children. The text is framed with the parent guiding the child. Have we heeded? Remember, as we discussed, even as adults, we may hark back to the wisdom that was given to us, and we have a duty to do so in the fifth commandment. Are we heeding? Are we listening? Perhaps we are not of those who have been given over entirely to the course of the fool, to the simpleton, to the scoffer. Praise the Lord. But we remember that there are still rebukes that warn us. Do we want the experience of these consequences? We still may experience some of them if we neglect the duty to listen. Let us seek the source of safety. Let us seek the source of security. Let us seek the source of calm without fear of evil. Where may we find that? We may find that in Christ. We may find that in the source of all true wisdom. And here, wisdom is held out. This character of God, this quality of God's person, held out to us, beckoning to us, warning us, with threatening us, as we have already seen that Christ is our source. Let us be sure to follow this last guidance. Listen, that you may have safety, security, and in the fear of the Lord, no fear of evil. Let's beg of God such mercies. Let's pray. Most Holy Father, apart from your grace, we will not listen. We'll be exactly as these described, the simple and the fool, who have to the full and abundant exactly what we deserve. Father, we ask that we should not fall into such condemnation, destruction, and calamity. We pray for the rescue that comes from the one who is altogether wise, in whom are hidden all wisdom and knowledge. We ask that we should be given grace to heed, to listen, to listen to the word, to listen to the counsel given, the sources of wisdom that you extend to us. Make us then wise, cause us to be the opposite of what was described here, to long for knowledge, to heed wisdom, to listen to what you extend through Christ by your word. So transform us, grow us in your grace, and make us wise, not only unto salvation, but the course of salvation, to walk in all the ways that show that we are yours by our obedience, by our wise living. We ask these things for the glory and honor of Christ our Savior. Amen.