OK, well, just a little bit of a reminder of what we've done the last few weeks. So we've introduced Proverbs, and this should be the kind of the last week of the introduction. And then, Lord willing, next week we'll actually get into verse 1, verses 1 to 7. And so we've been talking about Proverbs and the different types of Proverbs and the purpose of Proverbs as being theological, practical, and ethical, and we focused on the theological a little bit more, that Proverbs is teaching us to fear the Lord. And so we talked about what that means, what it means to fear the Lord, and how Ecclesiastes and Job fit in with Proverbs and living a life in fear of the Lord. And this week we're going to look at the New Testament. So how do we understand Proverbs as Christians, as Proverbs in light of what we know in the New Testament. So I'm going to start with a catechism question, okay? I don't know if you guys memorize any of the catechism, but this is from Baptist Catechism number 26. What offices does Christ execute as our Redeemer? Does anybody know the answer? If you want a hint, there are three. prophet, priest, and king. Good. So when we usually talk about the kind of roles that Christ plays in salvation as our Redeemer, we think of prophet, priest, and king. And we can maybe add one, or it's really a sub-point. We could say that Christ is also a sage. Christ is a sage. He is the wise man. And so Christ as the wise man teaches us what it is to be wise. And so you can really put that under profit. Because Christ, in his role as prophet, he comes to teach us the true will of God. He teaches us the law of God. And you need to know the law of God to be saved. And so part of that, we could say, is that he is a sage. But that's not something we often really think about Christ as a sage, as someone who his office is to teach us wisdom. But that's what we're gonna talk about today. We have to understand Proverbs in light of Christ and what Christ teaches. Maybe you've heard the saying that a Christian sermon should not be acceptable in a synagogue or a mosque. So you can preach a sermon, you can talk about how to be a good person, how to love other people, And if there's no Christ in that sermon, then that sermon could be a Jew could sit there and nod and agree with everything, or so could a Muslim. And so we have to think about, so how do we talk about these kinds of things as Christians? How do we talk about wisdom as Christians? So a proverb like Proverbs 14 verse 7, it says, leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge. Okay, so we could talk a long time about leaving the presence of a fool. And could a Jew or a Muslim sit through that lesson and nod and say, yes, I totally agree with everything. I agree that a wise person leaves the presence of a fool. So we have to think about this. What does it mean to read Proverbs as Christians? Maybe you know this verse in Luke 24, 44 when Jesus rose from the dead and he appeared to the men in Emmaus and he said, everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. And so he's saying there that there parts of the Old Testament in the law, prophets and Psalms that are about him and he has come to fulfill. And when he says the Psalms there, he's referring to the whole section known as the writings of the Old Testament. The Psalms was the beginning one and it was the big one at the beginning. So he can refer to that whole section and that includes Proverbs. So we can say everything written about Christ in Proverbs had to be fulfilled. Well, what was Proverbs saying about Christ? So, we're gonna start first by looking at some Proverbs that are quoted in the New Testament. and then we'll look more at Christ himself. So let's look at some Proverbs in the New Testament. So you'll keep one finger in the book of Proverbs and then flip to the New Testament. So let's go first to Proverbs chapter 26, verse 11. 26, 11. Proverbs 26, 11. Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. That's a good proverb. Now let's turn to 2 Peter chapter two. 2 Peter chapter two. Don't lose Proverbs 26. 2 Peter 2, verse 22, so that's the last verse in the chapter. Peter says, what the true proverb says has happened to them. The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire. First, we'll look at the Proverbs proverb. So what is he trying to say in Proverbs? First of all, a dog is not a good thing. So the fool is like a dog. That's the first thing he's saying. Then he's saying that the folly of the fool is like the vomit, right? And then he's saying another thing about the fool is that the fool repeats his folly. He goes back over and over again to his vomit. Okay, so the dog returns to his vomit. He's like the fool who keeps going back to his folly. Now here in 2 Peter, somebody tell me, what does Peter removed from the proverb, the original proverb, and what does he add? So what does he not say that was said in Proverbs? And what does he add? Okay. The sow. Right. So, he just says, Peter just says, the dog returns to its own vomit. He doesn't talk about the fool repeating his folly. And then he adds in the sow going to the mud. So that second part about the pig is probably not, well, it's not the biblical proverb. He's probably quoting some other well-known proverb in his day in the culture to kind of make the same point. But he's quoting proverbs here when he says the dog returns to his vomit. We can figure out what Peter is trying to say when we look at the context in verses 20 and 21. He's talking about these false teachers. In verse 20 he says, if, after they escape the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, so if they do that, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 4, verse 21, for it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. Okay, so he is applying this to the gospel, to the Christian life. The dog returns to its vomit, is like the false teacher who has escaped the world, he appears to have come out of the world, And yet, he then gets entangled in the world again, and he goes back to the world. And so verse 20 says, the last state is worse than the first. It would have been better for them never to have known the truth of the gospel than to go back, to come to know the truth and then still choose to go back into the world. So you can see the the effect that the proverb is trying to to have on us that You know, it's one thing to have a dog that vomits Okay, it's one thing to be a to be a Christian and sin but it's another thing to continually return to your vomit and That's what the dog is doing. That's really disgusting. The dog continuing over and over again to eat its own vomit. Well, that's what it's like for someone who claims Christ and then goes back to the world. And so the second state is worse than the first state. So in some ways we can see that this life of wisdom, we can apply this to the gospel, to following Christ, to be a fool. is to be someone who returns to the world, who returns to sin. So that's just one example. The next one we can look at is back in Proverbs chapter 25. Chapter 25, verses 21 and 22. Proverbs 25, 21. If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat. And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For you will heap burning coals on his head and the Lord will reward you. Okay, now let's go to Romans chapter 12. Verse 19. He's gonna quote the proverb in verse 20. We'll start reading in verse 19. Romans 12, 19. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For by so doing, you will heap burning coals. on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Okay, this one might be a little harder, but what does Paul here leave out when he's quoting the proverb? The water, okay. What else? Yeah? Bread, good. There's one more. Yes, so the proverb ended by saying, if you do this, the Lord will reward you. Paul does not quote that part of the verse. Now it could be that he probably just doesn't do it because of verse 19. He's already quoted a different verse in verse 19. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. So he's already brought up the fact God is going to repay the good person who the evil has been done against. So I think that's probably why he doesn't quote that end of the verse. But here we are, basically he's quoting this proverb. If your enemy's hungry, give him bread. If he's thirsty, give him something to drink. By so doing, you heap coals on his head. So the coals, people interpret that a little bit differently. There may be two possible interpretations. One is... You heap coals on someone's head, and so they're like, oh, my head's on fire. There's something wrong. So when you are nice to someone, I wouldn't say nice, when you do good to someone who has done evil against you, they say, oh, look what I've done. I can't believe that I would be so mean, I would be so evil to this person who is so loving. So that's one way to think about it. Another way to think about it is that this is a judgment on that person. So when you love your enemies and they still continue to do evil and you still continue to love them back, it keeps more and more judgments on their head. It furthers their judgment as they continue to do evil, knowing that someone is loving them back. I think the second one makes more sense to me, but either one. So here you see how Paul, again, is taking a proverb and applying it to the New Testament Christian life. And this is essentially Jesus' teaching, right? To love your enemies. Well, Jesus didn't come up with that necessarily on his own. Jesus is also getting that idea even from the Old Testament itself. from a proverb like this, and so that's what Paul is trying to show, that even this comes from the Old Testament. Okay, let's look at one more, Proverbs chapter three. Proverbs chapter three, starting in verse 11. Proverbs 3.11, my son, do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof. For the Lord reproves him whom he loves as a father, the son in whom he delights. Okay, so don't despise the Lord's discipline. Now let's turn to Hebrews chapter 12. We'll read verses five and six, Hebrews 12, five and six. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, this is the quote, my son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. I won't ask you this time to point out any differences because they don't, he doesn't really take away or add any, just a little bit different wordings, but he's quoting this proverb and notice he says, have you forgotten? He's expecting us to know it. He's expecting us to know the Old Testament and to know the Proverbs Don't you read Proverbs? You're a Christian. So, Christian, have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? So, this exhortation in Proverbs is addressed to the sons of God, he says. It's to us. Now, in the context of Hebrews, we understand better what that means, because back in chapter two, we won't get into it, It was the Son of God who became like us, who became a brother so that we could be treated as sons of God. And not in the divine sense of being the Son of God, but we now become sons of God through the Son who became like us. And so now through Christ, this proverb means even more. You are now a son of God. And so, through Christ, you are to not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord. It's the Lord who disciplines you. The Lord disciplines the one he loves. And so, in Proverbs chapter three, we have the father teaching his son, you can say Solomon is teaching his son, son, don't regard lightly the discipline of the Lord. Now, what does he mean by that? Well, he probably means my discipline as a father is the discipline of the Lord. And that's the role of parents, especially fathers and their discipline is to teach them that the Lord is the one who disciplines his children. I have this image from the Shepherding a Child's Heart book. This is the image I always remember, the circle of blessing, that we are to teach our kids the circle of blessing, that within the circle of the authority of the parent, there is blessing. When you step out of the circle of obedience and disobey your parents. That is not going to bring blessing that's going to bring discipline. And so the father needs to discipline his son to teach him. That blessing comes in the circle obedience. Outside the circle disobedience. So the human father says that because the human father represents the authority of God. Honor your father and mother. Is a command from God. Because you need to recognize God's authority in your life and so. The child who will not recognize. The authority of parents who will keep stepping out of the circle. He's going to. Treat the authority of God the same way. and he's going to find discipline from God. So the human father-son discipline relationship represents the divine way that God treats his sons. God disciplines those he loves. Now here in chapter 12, It's talking about the suffering that these Hebrews are experiencing. They're going through difficulties in life and so the lesson here from quoting the proverb is this difficulty is here to train you and to strengthen you and to teach you how to live a wise life. So don't Don't get mad back at God when you experience his discipline. It's good for you. So you see how he's applying this now to new covenant Christians. So those are three examples. Some scholars have said that there are 60 quotations or allusions in the New Testament of the book of Proverbs. So clearly, We as Christians are supposed to know the Proverbs. We're supposed to apply them to our lives as Christians, to our relationship to God and to one another. And we're supposed to live this out as Christians. And so some people treat the Old Testament as like the outdated version and like, why do you need the Old Testament if you just got the good stuff in the New Testament? Well, the New Testament expects you to know the Old Testament. including Proverbs, and know how to live that out in the Christian life. Okay, so those are just some quotations of Proverbs. Now we're gonna see Christ as the wisdom of God. You cannot be wise without Christ. Um, you, uh, you don't have to look this one up, but first Jesus says about himself in Matthew 12, 42, the queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it. For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold something greater than Solomon is here. So that's Jesus talking about himself. Something greater than Solomon and the wisdom of Solomon is in Christ. I'll look at Proverbs chapter 30 starting verse 2. And this is from this person named Agur. Proverbs 30 verses 2 to 4. Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. Maybe that sounds funny to us, but he's just saying, I'm so unwise, I'm so stupid, I can't even call myself a wise man. I have no wisdom. Why doesn't he have wisdom? He says in verse four, who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name and what is his son's name? Surely you know. So he's saying wisdom comes from above. Wisdom comes from God. God's the one who gathers the wind. God's the one who created the earth. I don't have wisdom because, verse three, I don't have knowledge of the Holy One. And in verse four, how can I get this wisdom if I can't go up to heaven? That's how you get wisdom. You have to go up to heaven, ask God for wisdom, and then come back down. And how am I supposed to do that? That's what he's saying. So, when Jesus says, I'm the one greater than Solomon, I am the one whose wisdom surpasses him, why is that? Well, it's because Jesus is God himself in heaven. Jesus is the one who is up in heaven who has come down to bring wisdom. So if you want to be a wise person, how are you going to learn that? Well, you can't go up to heaven yourself, but God can come down. God has come down and he has walked among us and he teaches us his wisdom. So Jesus is superior to Solomon obviously because he's God, but also we see as in his human nature, Jesus increased in wisdom. You know this verse probably, Luke chapter two verse 52. Jesus as a young man says he increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. Jesus and his human nature increased in wisdom and he was the wisest man to ever walk on the earth. Now I can't, I don't think I can really prove this, but I was thinking about this as we were talking last week about proverbs being given to the son who is 12 years old, about to become a man, and they considered 13 to be when you became a man. And so, here in Proverbs, you have this 12-year-old seeking to become wise. And then we see Jesus, why is it that the only story that Luke tells us, and any of the Gospels tell us, about Jesus' childhood is when he was 12? And what's Jesus doing when he's 12 in this story that we have? He is at the temple learning, listening, asking questions to understand, to grow in wisdom, to learn from his elders in the temple. So Proverbs 18 verse two says, a fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. It's a mark of foolishness that you always think you're right, and you always want to tell everybody how right you are, and not take pleasure in learning and understanding. And so I find it very interesting that there is Jesus at 12 years old learning. And that's how he grows in wisdom, by listening to those who are older. 12-year-old Jesus isn't saying his parents are so stupid. He's not telling the elders that they're just so behind the times and they don't understand the real world. And he's not sitting there daydreaming about how when he turns 18 and he gets out of the house, he's gonna learn how to do everything different than what his parents have told him because he knows better how to live his life. You don't see 12 year old Jesus doing that. He is learning and listening. So Jesus is acting like this son in Proverbs is supposed to be acting, listening to his elders. And then of course, Jesus is there in the temple. So he's learning how to worship the Lord. And so he's learning the fear of the Lord. So there you have Jesus growing in wisdom and in stature, in favor with God and man. So when Jesus grows up and he starts to preach, Mark chapter six, verse two says, on the Sabbath, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were astonished, saying, where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? So they notice Jesus' wisdom as he teaches. And we see Jesus' wisdom in the Sermon on the Mount, so let's read one passage in Matthew chapter seven, verse 24. This is his conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew five to seven. It seems like it's like Jesus's version of Proverbs. He is also explaining the law of God, but it's also how to live a wise life. What is the wise life? And so here's how he ends in Matthew 7, 24. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Notice the word wise. You want to be a wise man, build your house on the rock. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew and beat on that house but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it. And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes. So. Can can anybody remember from last week, Chapter Proverbs, Chapter nine? Who are the two people in Proverbs nine and what were they doing? Folly and? Wisdom and are they male, female? Huh? Yes, so we had Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly. And what did they do in that chapter? Right. So the wise woman built her house, the foolish woman tears it down. Lady Wisdom builds her house on the seven pillars, and then she invites from the top of the heights, everyone come to me. Lady Wisdom, oh, Lady Folly, she's lazy. She sits there and says, hey, anybody who wants to come by, anybody who's simple, come, come. We have the same kind of picture here that Jesus is using. A wise man builds a house on the rock, on the seven pillars. Foolish Lady Folly, she doesn't do much. She builds a flimsy house. And so Jesus says, the foolish man builds a house on sand. We could take Proverbs 9, lady wisdom, lady folly, and we can then here apply it to Jesus. Jesus applies it to himself. What is the wise man who builds a house? It's the man who hears the words of mine and does it. So not just proverbs and not just how to live a wise life, how to, you know, know how to speak and know how to work and all these things. But now you need to know the words of Jesus to live a wise life. And what are the words of Jesus? They're words that are eternal. They're words about the gospel. And so we can expand Proverbs, being a wise person is to also know the words of Jesus, to know the words of the apostles who are given the, Jesus is giving his messages through the apostles. And so that's the ultimate wise life. That's how you build your house on the rock and be a wise man. Hear the words of Christ and do it. Well then we have Paul teaching about Christ. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 which is his main portion where he speaks about Christ and wisdom. I'll just quote to you Colossians where he says, in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. So all the treasures, if you want wisdom, you need to know Christ. But let's focus on 1 Corinthians 1. The whole section is really about wisdom, starting in verse 18 especially. Let me read verse 18, 1 Corinthians 1. The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? No, we could read the whole thing, but we don't have enough time. So, notice here what wisdom is. God destroys the wisdom of the world because true wisdom is the word of the cross. But the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. So people hear the gospel, they hear about the cross especially, and they think it's foolishness and they think they are wise. But through the cross, God destroys the wisdom of the wise who are actually foolish and think the cross is foolish, do you see? So what he's saying is true wisdom is through the cross of Christ. It's upending everything that the world calls wisdom. So, Even though he's talking about worldly wisdom, wisdom in Greece, the philosophers in Greece, I think we can also still apply it to Proverbs. There's a way that you can read Proverbs and not be a Christian. You can say, okay, I wanna be a good person. I want to be a diligent worker. I want to use my money wisely. I want to refrain from speaking. And you can do all that and not be a Christian. But he's saying here, and Paul is saying, true wisdom comes through the cross. It comes through the cross because the cross is what humbles us. We are the low, foolish, despised things in the world, and so Trying to just live a good, moral, wise life according to Proverbs, that could puff you up and make you proud and make you think you're a good person. But then you come to the cross and you realize all of your sin. And that's why without Christ, without the Spirit, we look at the cross and we see that it's, we think it's folly. So we always have to keep that warning in mind. Yes, we want to live a practical, wise life, but none of it really matters without the cross, knowing the gospel, building your house on a rock that will stand for eternity so that you will live now a wise life and live forever. That's what matters. and that only happens through the cross. So, true wisdom as we read Proverbs is found in Christ. Well, let's close, let's pray together. Our Lord, we thank you for the wisdom of your word. We pray for each one of us that you would give us grace to build our lives upon Christ the cross and his words. Help us to live wisely according to what we see in Proverbs and as we see Proverbs lived out in the gospel and as Christians. We need your help. We need your grace. Help us also to lead others. Fathers might lead their sons and daughters. Parents would teach their children these things. Lord, we pray that we would all find the cross to be our wisdom and our righteousness and not see it as folly. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.