Sermon: "Adventure in Wisdom" Scripture: Proverbs 1:1-7; Luke 2:49-52 Introduction At Fort Slocum New York, Private Solomon of Brooklyn was being questioned by his sergeant. His commanding officer asked, "Private Solomon, what's your first name?" "Solomon," he replied. "Oh, a wise guy," barked the sergeant. "What is your middle name?" "Solomon." the private again replied. "Say, listen wise guy ..." the officer was exploding by this time, but the rookie was dead serious about it all. His full name was Solomon Solomon Solomon. Well, a name alone makes no one wise, but for about three thousand years, the name Solomon has been closely associated with wisdom. While he did not always act with wisdom, he was indeed a wise man. Early in his reign over God's people, God appeared to Solomon and said, "Ask what I shall give you." Wisely he responded, "Give me now wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and come in before the people; for who can rule this great people of thine?" The Lord granted his request. Solomon knew well that he needed wisdom to be a godly leader. Most likely, none of us will reign as a king over God's people, but some do and will have some positions of leadership. Even those who follow will benefit by wisdom. On this graduation Sunday we are going to look at a few Proverbs written by Solomon as he was inspired by the Lord and we will see some of these illustrated from the life of Jesus Christ whose life was indeed an adventure in wisdom. Before we do let's think for a moment about what a proverb actually is. We might define a proverb as a short pithy saying that expresses some truth. The Hebrew word for proverb, mashal, literally means "to be like." It was essentially a similitude, a condensed parable or fable, capable of being expanded, sometimes presented with the lesson clearly taught, sometimes involved in greater or lesser obscurity. To be wise: I. Realize God as the Source In Proverbs 2:6 we read, "For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding." We see this in the second chapter of Luke as the twelve year old Jesus was in the temple about His Father's business. V. 52. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man." If we are really going to be wise we must realize God as the source of wisdom. Whether we are more or less intelligent, we need God. Sometimes those who are quite intelligent, think that they can get along without God, but God is the source of wisdom. II. Recruit Friends Prayerfully and Carefully Proverbs 13:20 reads, "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." Jesus demonstrated this as he carefully and prayerfully recruited his close friends and followers. What about you? Do you carefully and prayerfully choose your friends? This may be a very serious concern of parents for their children at various stages of their lives, including as they complete high school and become more independent as they go off to work or continue their education. III. Recognize the Importance of Following Jesus In Proverbs 14:15 we read, "A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps." Jesus clearly told people how important it was to really follow Him. (Luke 14:25) He spoke of thinking about the cost as one should do before beginning a building project. We too, would be wise to plan ahead. We need to realize the importance of this decision to follow Jesus. While the salvation Jesus offers us is a free gift, if we really follow Jesus our lives must change. That is the cost a would be follower should consider. IV. Receive Godly Instruction Proverbs 19:20 "Listen to advise and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise." John 3. Nicodemus, a religious leader came to learn from Jesus, even though his peers would not have approved. He received instruction and heeded it as he inquired about being born again. V. Revere God Trust Him completely. Proverbs 3:5,6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Jesus submitted to the will of the Father and voluntarily gave His life to pay the penalty for your sins and mine. He trusted His Father completely, walking the path to the cross, and He miraculously rose from the dead. Jesus is alive! He demonstrates that He is worthy of our reverence and trust. We too, can revere God, trust Him completely, and live as followers of Jesus Christ To be wise: I. Realize God as the Source II. Recruit Friends Prayerfully and Carefully III. Recognize the Importance of Following Jesus IV. Receive Godly Instruction V. Revere God - Trust Him completely. ----------------------- Headers -------------------------------- Return-Path: Received: from rly-mg04.mx.aol.com (rly-mg04.mail.aol.com [172.20.83.110]) by air-mg08.mail.aol.com (v115.11) with ESMTP id MAILINMG084-a0a465216691ad; Mon, 21 May 2007 18:00:53 -0400 Received: from hotmail.com (bay118-dav11.bay118.hotmail.com [207.46.8.149]) by rly-mg04.mx.aol.com (v115.11) with ESMTP id MAILRELAYINMG044-a0a465216691ad; Mon, 21 May 2007 18:00:09 -0400 Received: from mail pickup service by hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Mon, 21 May 2007 15:00:08 -0700 Message-ID: Received: from 71.214.239.232 by BAY118-DAV11.phx.gbl with DAV; Mon, 21 May 2007 22:00:07 +0000 X-Originating-IP: [71.214.239.232] X-Originating-Email: [bwitternumc@msn.com] X-Sender: bwitternumc@msn.com From: "bruce wittern" To: "SlipperGuy Whitlow" Subject: Message May 20 Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 17:00:05 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_000B_01C79BC9.7B12A620" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: MSN 9 Seal-Send-Time: Mon, 21 May 2007 17:00:05 -0500 X-MimeOLE: Produced By MSN MimeOLE V9.50.0039.1900 X-OriginalArrivalTime: 21 May 2007 22:00:08.0837 (UTC) FILETIME=[65AA5B50:01C79BF3] X-AOL-IP: 207.46.8.149 X-AOL-SCOLL-SCORE: 0:2:309051167:6710886 X-AOL-SCOLL-URL_COUNT: 0