Well, if you would please turn with me this morning to Proverbs 3. We're gonna be taking up this chapter in verse 13. We'll read through the end of the chapter, Proverbs 3, verses 13 through 35. Hear now the word of the Lord. Blessed is the one who finds wisdom and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Those who hold her fast are called blessed. The Lord, by wisdom, founded the earth. By understanding, He established the heavens. By His knowledge, the deeps broke open and the clouds dropped down the dew. My son, do not lose sight of these. Keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, go and come again tomorrow, I will give it when you have it with you. Do not plan evil against your neighbor who dwells trustingly beside you. Do not contend with a man for no reason when he has done you no harm. Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways, for the devious person is an abomination to the Lord, but the upright are in his confidence. The Lord's curse is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the dwelling of the righteous. Toward the scorners He is scornful, but to the humble He gives favor. The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace." Let's pray. Lord, thank you that you have not left us in this world to fend for ourselves, to figure out how life and death work on our own, but you have given us understandable instruction, guidance, knowledge, and even motivation so that we might understand and do that which leads to life. Lord, you are a wise God and you've infused that wisdom into every facet of creation. If we could but know your wisdom, things truly would go well for us. Thank you that you have made that wisdom accessible. And so now Lord, by the power of your Holy Spirit at work in our souls, open our eyes to see wonderful things in your word that we might be made wise unto salvation. Pray in the name of Jesus, your son, the one who embodies divine wisdom for all to see. And I ask that the wisdom of Christ, the very mind of Christ, might be ours today as we read and contemplate and seek to heed what you have said. Amen. Well, we come today to the fourth parental speech or lecture in the book of Proverbs. Remember, the first nine chapters are comprised of these lengthy speeches about various topics all related to wisdom. And then chapters 10 onward, for the most part, are comprised of those short little bursts of moral advice that we typically associate with Proverbs. So we're still in the lengthy speech portion of the book. And today's speech, Proverbs 13 through 35 of chapter three, sort of reverses the sequence of the previous three speeches. The parents have, typically been giving the conditions first, and then the blessings that come from meeting those conditions. But in this fourth speech, the parents describe the blessing first, and once they've painted a glorious picture of what wise living can bring, then they lay out the moral obligations that follow, the conditions that follow. It's as if they're saying, son, look at how wonderful wisdom is. Now go and be wise. And in reversing the typical sequence, the parents, I think, are emphasizing the value or the worth of wisdom. They're portraying the wise life as a great treasure to be sought after. They're saying, how could you not want wisdom in light of all that wisdom has to offer? And so we've seen in the first three parental speeches, the enticement of foolishness and the protection of wisdom and the promises of wisdom. Today, the emphasis is on the value or the worth of wisdom. And if wisdom is as valuable as the parents say it is, then we had better pursue it with all of our might. So what is the worth of wisdom? Well, we discover its worth in verses 13 through 18. Verse 13, blessed or happy is the one who finds wisdom and the one who gets understanding for the gain from her, the profit that wisdom brings, is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels and nothing you desire can compare with her. If you could have anything you wanted and all you had to do was ask for it, what would you ask for? In other words, what is that one thing that to you is of greatest value in the world? Now, we're sitting in church and thinking about wisdom from the book of Proverbs, so we're all thinking of the Christian answer, right? The wise biblical answer this morning. But if I were to spring this question on you on a, I don't know, a random Tuesday afternoon, what would you say then? Your brain might know the biblical answer, but what do you really desire? Many people's first thought would be to ask for material wealth. If I just had more money, life would be happy. Some would want perhaps relationships. Give me a life full of loyal friends who love me and then I'll be truly happy. Others maybe would want recognition or power, fame, control. I was thinking this past week about the rich and famous in light of what Proverbs 3 says, that the gain of wisdom is better than the gain of wealth. And I thought of Elon Musk, who is purportedly the wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of almost $350 billion. $350 billion. Elon Musk could easily afford any material thing he wants. If he lived to be 80 years old and did not make another dollar, he would have to spend $35,282,000 per day to spend all of his wealth. That's just mind-blowing wealth. But listen to this. Proverbs 3 says that wisdom makes you richer than Elon Musk. The profit gained from a wise life is better than, qualitatively superior to, having an extra $35,282,000 to spend every day. Now, why does Solomon compare wisdom to wealth? Well, because most of us treasure wealth more than we treasure wisdom. We think that money and the material stuff that money can buy will make us happy. We think that the comforts and leisure and pleasures that belong to those with exorbitant wealth would make us happy. Solomon, who, by the way, was the Elon Musk of his day, says that wealth will not make you as happy as wisdom. In fact, verse 15 says, nothing you desire can compare with wisdom. I love the way one Bible teacher put it. He said, money can put food on the table, but not the fellowship around the table. It can buy a house, but not a home. It can give a woman jewelry, but not the love that she really wants. Wisdom bestows both material and spiritual benefits. But there's more. Solomon goes on to describe wisdom as something that, verse 16, holds long life in her right hand. And this long life is characterized in verse 17 by pleasantness and peace. And so verses 16 and following explain why wisdom is so much better than mere wealth. Wisdom gives life, and long life, and pleasant life, and peaceful life. Now what exactly is life in this sense? Is wisdom simply promising a lengthy existence? Are we talking here about not dying young but living into old age? Is wisdom basically just promising a long existence in the world? Well, the word life has a range of meaning, and in its most literal sense, I suppose, we think of it as referring to temporal existence, the hyphen on the tombstone. So-and-so lived from 1945 hyphen to 2025, and everything in between those dates was his life. And sometimes the promises of wisdom are promises that pertain to life in this very narrow, literal sense of the word. But more times than not, when the book of Proverbs makes a promise about life, it is referring to the quality, not so much the quantity, of one's existence. It can refer to the way in which life goes smoother when those in authority over me, both human and divine authorities, are pleased with me. Proverbs 16, 15, for example, says, in the light of a king's face, there is life, and his favor is like a rain cloud in spring. Life, in Proverbs, is equated sometimes with a happy home. A harmonious home, Proverbs 15, 27, is a life-giving home. The concept of life sometimes encompasses the psychological state of a person. Proverbs 14, 30 says that a tranquil mind gives life to the flesh. And the opposite of that tranquil, life-giving mind is envy that makes the bones rot. A person can be alive in terms of mere existence, but so consumed with envy and hate and a disturbed mind that they're really not living at all. And then lastly, and most importantly, life as it's used in Proverbs often refers to the quality of having fellowship with God, the quality that you enjoy in relationship with God. Numerous times in the book of Proverbs, as well as in other parts of the Bible, life is equated with being in a right relationship with the Creator. I'll just mention one example. Proverbs 10, verse 16 says, the wage of the righteous leads to life, but the gain of the wicked leads to sin. So in this Hebrew parallelism, the opposite of life is not death, as we would perhaps expect. The opposite of life is sin. To be in sin is to be at odds with God, at enmity with God, opposed to God. To have life then, in the sense in which Proverbs 10.16 uses that term, is to be in right relationship with God, in fellowship with God. So when wisdom promises long life, pleasant life, peaceful life, it's promising so much more than just a lot of birthdays. It's promising being in right standing with those in authority over you. It's promising a harmonious home, a properly functioning family. It's promising psychological tranquility, peace in your mind. It's promising a happy relationship with God. Beloved, wisdom is promising paradise. In fact, look at how this section concludes, verse 18. She, wisdom, is a tree of life, a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. And that reference to the tree of life ought to conjure up in our minds that happy, blessed state of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before the fall. Wisdom restores that state. A life lived wisely is a life lived in accordance with how God intended things to work. And a life lived in accordance with how God intended things to work is a life free of the misery of sin. It's a life of impeccable happiness because it's a life lived under the smiling face of God. And it's better, so much better than silver or gold or fame or power. In fact, it is better than anything you can desire. This is the worth of wisdom. But why is wisdom so valuable? Couldn't God have made strength or intelligence or even wealth the great life-giving attribute? Solomon answers that question for us next. We see in verses 19 and 20 the reason for wisdom's worth. The reason wisdom is of such immense value is because God is wisdom. And he, as a creator of all that is, has infused his wisdom into the very fabric of everything that he created. By wisdom, verse 19 says, by wisdom, the Lord founded the earth. Solomon mentions the fact that the heavens are established according to God's wisdom, His understanding. When you look up at the night sky and see the dizzying array of stars and planets and atmosphere and just sheer space, you are looking at a display of the glory of God and His wisdom. It all works with absolute precision because God's wisdom made it and maintains it. It all shines with incredible glory and beauty because it was made with the very wisdom of God. Solomon mentions God's wisdom on display, not just in the heavens, but also here on earth. He points to subterranean miracles and atmospheric miracles. He credits God's wisdom as the cause of the water cycle. Verse 20, the clouds drop down the dew. Let's just stop and think about this process for a moment. Every morning, we sort of mindlessly walk past the dew on the ground or the puddles in the driveway. Maybe we even mumble to ourselves when the forecast includes rain or snow or ice. But think about how water without which we will die, gets from a river far away, goes up to the sky thousands of feet above our head, gets blown over the earth to a place that needs moisture, and then turns into something heavy enough to fall back to the ground in such a manner that it washes the air and nourishes plants and quenches our thirst. That process alone is incredibly mind-blowing in its creativity and efficiency and benefits. Well, listen, there are millions of processes like this one that keep life and creation going. What sort of wisdom must have established these cosmic miracles, both immense ones and microscopic ones, miracles that sustain life with such elegance and effectiveness and even beauty? Only God's wisdom could do this. the Lord by wisdom founded the earth. Creation works the way it does because God infused every square inch of it with his wisdom. Reality works the way it does because God's wisdom is over it all and in it all. For from him and through him and to him are all things and all things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things hold together. If God's wisdom can create and maintain everything, seen and unseen, what an immeasurable treasure this wisdom is. Why is wisdom of greater worth than Elon Musk's wealth? Because wisdom created Elon Musk and created everything that his wealth could possibly buy and even created the very intelligence that enabled him to make his wealth. This wisdom, God's wisdom is of such worth that if I align my life, my decisions, my actions, my thought processes and emotions, my relationships, my values and beliefs, all of it, if I align my life with God's wisdom, I am conforming my life to the way God created my life to work. If God's wisdom can keep Jupiter in its proper orbit, it can keep my mind where it ought to be. If God's wisdom can manage the tides of all the oceans of the world, it can handle the unpredictable pressures of life on my time and my finances and my energy. If God's wisdom can keep the sun contained where it belongs, it can be trusted to lead my children in the way that they should go. Wisdom is of such great worth because it comes from a God who is so great, and because that great God has infused the entire universe with His wisdom. Well, this brings us then to the last section of our text today, in which we see some of the implications of wisdom's worth. If wisdom is of such immense value, because it is the way God orchestrated His world to work, then we should want to avail ourselves of its worth, shouldn't we? We should want the benefits that it is offering to us. And so we come to verse 21, and we hear the Father's voice once again. My son, do not lose sight of these. Keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul, in the fullest sense of that word life. What child would not want this great treasure? What parent would not want his child to possess this great treasure? In fact, maybe it would be good for us parents to just stop for a moment and ask ourselves, have I been telling my children about the importance of wisdom? We've spoken about the importance of children listening to their parents, heeding the voice of those wise counselors that the Lord has given them, but are we equally concerned with being the kind of parents who point their children to the vast worth of wisdom? Or are we more concerned that our sons and daughters make something of themselves by temporal standards? that they acquire prestigious credentials, land a good job, marry a pretty wife, a nice husband, stay healthy, buy a home in the right neighborhood and raise successful kids. You know, if you want to be the kind of parent who says, my son, my daughter, don't lose sight of wisdom. It will be life for your soul. You've got to be the kind of parent who also loves wisdom yourself. Do you see its worth? Do you conform your life to God's wisdom? Because your children are being discipled, for better or for worse, by your example. If you don't love wisdom, it is highly unlikely that your children will ever love wisdom. Well, what does Solomon say the implications of wisdom and its worth are? If wisdom is as valuable as Proverbs 3 indicates, then first, I ought to pursue it. I ought to pursue it. As a parent, as a child, I ought to be ever striving to conform my life to what God says is wise, to what is morally good and true and beautiful in God's estimation of those things. I have a moral obligation to live a wise life. Part of faithfulness to God, part of obedience to God's will involves the pursuit of wisdom. Secondly, if wisdom is this valuable, it will bring certain benefits. And we've already seen a number of those benefits, but there are more. Verse 22, it will bring life to your soul. Verse 23, it will bring security. Do you ever just feel vulnerable in this crazy mixed up world? Do you wanna feel safe? Do you wanna actually be safe? Wisdom brings real security. And with that security comes another blessing. Verse 24, you will not be afraid in the middle of the night. How many times last week did you wake up with fear in your heart? Maybe it was fear over some circumstance that's beyond your control. Maybe it was fear over something you've done or failed to do. The fear of guilt. Maybe it was just fear and you had no idea where it was coming from. Wisdom is so valuable, it eradicates fear. What a blessing. Verse 33 indicates that God blesses the house, the home, the family of the wise person, the righteous person. God favors those who listen to wisdom, verse 34. God honors those who honor Him by heeding the voice of wisdom. Do you want God to favor you? Of course you do. We're all wired to want the favor of our superiors. Dad, Mom, watch me. Teacher, pick me. Coach, put me in the game. We're wired like that. Well, wisdom brings with it the blessing of divine favor, of God's attention, God's approval, God's pleasure. Lastly, if wisdom is as valuable as Proverbs 3 indicates, it will demand certain moral obligations of us. Being the beneficiaries of God's wisdom obligates us to a certain moral conduct. It may appear that verses 27 through 31 have nothing to do with the topic at hand, but they very much do relate to that topic. You see, if God has favored us with the blessings of wisdom, even though we do not deserve those blessings, we ought to reflect that same favor and grace to others. Hence, verse 27 says, do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it. Just as God has graciously made his wisdom and his benefits accessible to us, we are to extend that same grace to others. We reflect to others the blessings of God's wisdom that we have received. Verse 28, God doesn't delay in giving wisdom to those who sincerely seek it, and so neither should we delay in giving good things to others when we have the ability and the opportunity to bless them. Verse 29, God is not malicious to those who are looking to Him, counting on Him, trusting in Him. Likewise, we who have benefited from God's kindness and trustworthiness should not treat others maliciously. Verse 30, God doesn't contend with us without cause. In fact, quite the opposite. He overcomes the contention between sinners and their creator. He absorbs that contention. He redeems. He atones. We ought to do the same. Verse 31, God is not swayed by evil. He's perfectly content in his own character because his character is good and right. In the same way, we should not be swayed by the apparent success of evil people. If we have been made the recipients, the beneficiaries of God's wisdom, we should never envy those who reject that wisdom. So we see in this fourth speech that wisdom is of immense worth, and it is of immense worth because it is how God created the universe. And since it is of such immense worth, we as recipients of the blessings of God's wisdom have an obligation to pursue wisdom and to share the blessings of that wisdom with others. You know, one of my fears as we make our way through the book of Proverbs is that we read through these Proverbs and we miss Christ and we miss the gospel. This book is very action oriented, isn't it? Its focus is often on behavior, doing the right thing, not the wrong thing, thinking the right thought, not the wrong thought, having right affections and not the wrong affections. And this book, because of its sequence and redemptive history, is also missing explicit references to Christ. Now, there are certainly several implicit references to Christ, especially in chapter eight. And I'll try to always point those implicit references out as we come to them. But if we're not careful, we could walk through the entire book of Proverbs and come away thinking we've got to conform our lives to all of the incredible admonitions given in this book in our own strength, by our own effort. Brothers and sisters, it is so important that we remind ourselves frequently that the book of Proverbs does not exist in isolation from the rest of the Bible. It has a context. It has a reference point. And that context is actually the main theme that runs through all of Scripture, which is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Taking the Proverbs to heart without taking Christ to heart is ludicrous, and it is legalism, and we want to avoid that. And we've seen that wisdom is of greater value than anything else. We've seen that wisdom is at the center of all of God's creation, that it is the glue that holds everything together and makes the universe work the way it does. So let me ask you, What is the undisputed greatest treasure in life and in death, in body and in soul, both now and forever? There is only one answer to that question. The greatest treasure in life and death, in body and soul, both now and forever, is Jesus Christ. We've seen that wisdom is the thing that holds all this together. It's at the center of the universe. It is the how and the why behind everything that exists. The logos, if you will. So again, let me ask you, what is the first cause and the highest explanation of everything that is? The first cause and highest explanation of everything that is In other words, the way this world came into existence and the reason for which it exists, again, is Jesus Christ. Christ is the wisdom we've been talking about. There is no wisdom apart from Him. He is the starting point of wisdom. He is the sustainer of that wisdom. He is the end goal of all wisdom. That's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1, 23 and 24, we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, that's you and me, to those who were called Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Solomon knew an awful lot about wisdom. But church, we know wisdom's name. It is Jesus Christ. If you want this treasure, it's there for the taking. Jesus said, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. If you desire the benefits of this treasure, God offers them all to you in Christ. For all the promises of God, Paul says, find their yes in Christ. On judgment day, would you rather have $350 billion in your pocket or a mediator who washes away your guilt and gives you his righteousness and protection and happiness and wisdom? And if Christ will be that kind of treasure on the last day, he is that kind of treasure every day. Blessed is the one who finds him. Let's pray. Lord God of wisdom, God of might, we need wisdom, which is to say we need Christ and all that he brings. So we ask you today that you would make us wise unto salvation. In Jesus' name, amen.