Proverbial Wisdom – 2:10-22

When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:

To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.  But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

Proverbs 2:10-22 (KJV)

Last week, I said that God would liberally give us wisdom, knowledge, and understanding if we would earnestly seek Him and were willing to pay the price. Sometimes, the price is high. However, no matter how high it is, friends, it is worth it. So let’s jump right into the fire and begin crying, “More, Lord. Give us more—take us deeper.”

The man (or woman), who invites wisdom into his (or her) heart and delights in knowledge will be able to stand strong against evil. Refer back to our August 12, 2011 lesson, Proverbial Wisdom – Part 2, in which I introduced that Jesus Christ is wisdom. If you truly have been reborn by His Spirit, then you have His Spirit inside of you. Moreover, since Jesus is wisdom and He abides within you, then in order to be wise you just need to walk by His Spirit and follow His guide. (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Now skip down to Verse 20 of Proverbs chapter 2. This tells us that if we have accepted wisdom into our hearts and joyfully applied knowledge in our lives (verse 10), then we will walk and remain in the good path of righteousness. Verse 21 stresses how important it is to remain in the path of the righteous, “...the upright shall dwell in the land and the perfect shall remain in it.”

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

Many people will follow the wide, broad pathway to destruction. In their foolishness, they will succumb to the perverse man, who speaks great lies and entices them into his world of darkness.  Once entangled in the darkness, their hearts, minds, and souls change, until eventually, they begin to take pleasure in their crooked paths.

“…they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without UNDERSTANDING, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, BUT HAVE PLEASURE in them that do them” (Romans 1:28-32, emphasis added).

Please, heed this warning! When a person knowingly rejects God’s commands and follows the perverse man, his soul becomes wrapped in darkness. Once in darkness, it is difficult to pull the rebellious man out into the light. Therefore, be wise, stay on the path of righteousness, and avoid the perverse man.

Verses 12 – 15 give us a brief description of the perverse man. Know this description so that you can avoid him. The perverse man speaks great falsehoods, he forsakes the way of righteousness, and his actions are destructive. He takes pleasure in harming others, he derives his fun from evil words or actions, and he views things in a crooked or distorted manner. Ultimately, his evil ways will lead him to death, because he will reap what he has sown. He chose to sow lies, hate, and destruction, and thus, he chose to reap death.

 

On to our next section, verse 16—this warns about the strange woman. The strange woman flatters with her words, appealing to both pride and lust. Sweetly she beckons, forsaking her covenant with God. She is on a mission, and that mission is to get us to share in her destruction. She is on the pathway of the dead and she is determined to take people with her.

Some commentaries liken the strange woman to a strange religion. These false religions appeal to people’s sinful pride and lustful thoughts. They offer people a false ideology that allows them to say that they are a Christian while, at the same time, their deceived soul remains in habitual sin. These false ideologies give out a license for continual sin because they know not, and teach not, the true Word of the Lord.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

You, my dear friend, can avoid falling victim to both the perverse man and the strange woman. To do this, you must fill your heart, mind, and soul with wisdom, knowledge and understanding of God’s Word. His Word will protect you from these wicked forces if you will take it, know it, and live it.

Throughout our journey in Proverbs, we will consistently read that wrong actions result in dire consequences.  In order for you to avoid wrong actions, you need a Savior. Jesus is that Savior if you will invite Him into your heart and make Him Lord of your life.

Today, you are walking through the valley of decision, which way will you go? Will you choose life and follow Jesus, or will you choose death and follow Satan? What is your choice?

Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

Joel 3:14 (Amplified)

Three Key Concepts:

1.   Wisdom, knowledge, discretion and understanding protects you from evil.

2.   Willful rejection of God will lead to death.

3.   Everyone must make a decision about Jesus.

Spiritual Wisdom

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

 Galatians 5:16-18

While camping this week in Virginia’s beautiful Hungry Mother State Park, I read the book of Proverbs a couple of times. I love that book because it is packed full with wisdom! It contains words of instruction, rebuke, and encouragement. It tells us about sin, as well as, the consequences of sin. It tells us what God hates and destroys. While it also tells us what God loves and rewards.  

Since there is so much wisdom found in the book of Proverbs, beginning next week, I will start a series on that book. On our journey through Proverbs, we will feast on many dainty morsels of wisdom, but we will also chew on some tough pieces of meat. But in the end, we will be wiser.

Unfortunately, it is impossible for most of us to memorize all of the wisdom found in the book of Proverbs, much less implement it in our life. That is because our sinful flesh always attempts to lead us astray. We are weak when we rely upon our own power.

In the book of Romans, Paul writes this about his sinful flesh. “I don't understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate…. But I can't help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things” (Romans 7:15-17, NLT).

Is Paul telling us that sin in our life is acceptable because our flesh is weak? Does this mean, “God created us and He knew that we are sinful, therefore, we can continue living in sin because God understands”? 

Absolutely not!

God recognized that we are sinful so He provided a way that we can escape from sin. That way is through the crucified Christ. Christ’s sacrifice freed us from bondage to sin.

Listen to Paul, “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord….” (Romans 7:25, NLT).

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:1-3, emphasis mine).

Sin’s power is broken as long as you, “…walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). If you refuse to walk after the Spirit and continue to walk after your sinful flesh, you have not fully surrendered yourself Christ Jesus. Consequently, you remain bound to sin.

In fact, if you do not have Christ’s Spirit in you, then you do not truly belong to Him. “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Romans 8:9).

I know those are strong words, but I am sharpening your teeth before we begin our journey into Proverbs next week.

Many churches have watered down God’s Word until it no longer even resembles God’s Word. These churches forget to mention, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Matthew 3:8). And since they don’t want to rattle any chains, they may not say, “For he himself has said, ‘You must be holy because I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:16, NLT).

This week, I have thrown out some tough meat for you to gnaw on, but please meditate on this week’s Scriptures. These Scriptures will help you on your future journey through Proverbs.

While you are meditating on this week’s Scriptures, ask yourself a couple of questions. Do you have Christ’s Spirit within you? This means that you hear His voice and follow His commands (John 10:1-5, John 15:10, 1 John 5:1-4).  Are you walking by His Spirit and not by your flesh?

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

1 John 1:5-7 (emphasis mine)

Three Key Concepts:

1.  When you walk in the Spirit, you can overcome your flesh.

2.  If you are God’s child, then you have His Spirit within you.

3.  When you walk in the light (truth), the blood of Jesus cleanses you from sin.