Introduction
Let me begin with a discipleship question: how will you follow Jesus in repentance and spiritual renewal this week?
Main Points
In this lesson shaped by Calvary Boise's teaching on WISDOM: Wisdom in Life, Christ invites us to receive truth with humility, practice repentance, and walk in faithful obedience.
Family Discipleship
they've asked me to share a titled message called wisdom for life and there's a whole bunch of things that I think we can. dive into I mean God's Word is wisdom for life there is one thing that I think we are going to land upon it. just makes sense if we are going through the Proverbs and we're going through a wisdom series that we start with proverbs and it. just says it in Chapter one - but I prefer proverbs 9 verse 10 which says the fear of God is the beginning of. wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding I mean that's what we're gonna start I mean I just want to throw something. out before we get into our study first for the young people in the room if there's one thing that I could extract wisdom. from the Scriptures for you it is be teachable be humble because there are things that I'm sure you have in your mind of. what you want to do where you want to go what you want to learn what you don't want to learn keep in mind. it's possible that God's plan for your life could be very different than what you have in mind how are you going to receive. that when you begin to learn that when you're corrected when you're when you're sent in another direction for the thing that you're doing. when you're told not to do it or maybe you're not doing and you're told to do it how do you receive that are. you teachable are you here's the word humble enough to be redirected okay the Bible is very clear I don't know why the verse. that keeps coming to my mind is it's room arm so I proverbs 12:1 it says he who Cates correction is stupid and I. don't believe that it's saying that in a derogatory fashion like it's putting the person down I think what it's saying is that person. has denied wisdom they hate correction so they remain ignorant they remain in the realm of doing that which is foolish even when they've. been corrected to show them what the right thing is they desired to remain there they reject it they push it away to the. elder generation I plead with you make disciples some of you are empty-nesters you've raised your children that is your first responsibility God has. called you to parent your children disciple your.
Sin and Salvation
kids show them the way of Christ teach them what the word says Malachi was very specific when he said God brought a man. and a woman together for the purpose of raising up godly offspring so he doesn't pull punches and he's not vague about what our. purpose is as parents but then your kids grow up you raise them out you've launched them arrows from the quiver and they've launched. out into life and now you've got this empty nest and you don't know what to do with yourself after you're done fixing all. your marriage problems start investing into some of the young people around you maybe even together um here at our church we have a. thing that we call our premarital discipleship I think empty nesters are the best people to grab for our primeiro discipleship ministry because you. have been through so much in life by time your kids has have left your home that you have so much wisdom to pour. into some of the young people who are newly married or maybe are engaged you want to move into marriage okay so Titus chapter. 2 is yours to hold on to if you are of the older generation it specifically mandates that we teach the younger both the. men and the women to teach the younger men and the younger women now for our study please open your Bibles to Daniel chapter. 4 I'm gonna use Daniel as a picture that verse proverbs is our springboard wisdom for life the fear of the Lord is wisdom. for life the fear of the Lord is what changes us it's what helps us abide by the rules that God puts down and. we live in a culture that doesn't like rules we live in a culture that wants to kind of define itself and kind of. be have this his own its own autonomous definition apart from everybody else ultimately it's putting individuals in the place of God because then. we get to define the rules we get to choose our own identity what we want to do and be based on our definition. not upon what God has called us to be or what God has called us to do in Daniel chapter four verse 37 this. is the end of the journey for Nebuchadnezzar and I want to start at the end of his journey because I want to see. I want you to see what he has learned in this.
Family Discipleship
process he says now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol in honor the king of heaven for all his works are right and his ways. are just and those who walk in pride he is able to humble we're gonna we're gonna kind of peruse through the biblical display. of Nebuchadnezzar's life here in just a minute but we have to understand that there are rules that got is set down for us. to abide by if we fear God we will abide by them and I don't think we understand this word fear in proverbs the. fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom it's kind of like it's kind of when you're a kid in an in a. sense you fear your parents you fear what they're capable of doing if they're like my parents they were capable of making you go. get a switch and bring it back to them so that they could whip your tail I got a bazillion stories I'm not gonna. tell all of them um but there are actually two times I remember one time in particular I don't even remember what I did. I remember standing at the step at the top of the steps my dad is at the bottom of the steps and he is. upset and he's yelling at me and the words that come out of his mouth were if you do that again I will whip. the black off of your behind and I remember just like you just laughed I remember kind of snickering that is the first time. I heard that I thought that's funny like I thought in my mind like black falling off my rear end from my dad's bakery. so I kind of chuckled and then he said oh you think it's funny fear came over me and I ran I literally ran. to my room and locked the door and my dad was banging on the door open his door if I have the opening doors. gonna be worse so you know when you're a kid you don't want it to be worse so you've reluctantly opened up the door. and of course I got a whoopin I should just let them lock there was another time and here's where the rules come in. my dad used to take us fishing and we did a Father's Day video a little bit ago I only got to tell part. of that story the rest of the story my.
Faith and Obedience
dad used to take us fishing when we were kids we lived in Michigan ki Soviet Air Force Base I think that's probably about. six or seven years old at the time and there's one particular time I remember my dad bought me this lure and it looked. like a fish and it had all these hooks on it and I thought man I'm gonna catch all kinds of fish with that. so put it in the box got on the road got in the boat out on the lake my dad specifically said when we. got there do not use this lure you will lose it because there was a whole bunch of brush under the water where we. were going he said you will lose it and I thought okay cool whatever dad we got the boat start fishing kind of got. a little ways out there and then I decided man we're out far enough I'm gonna put the lure on my on my line. and here's the thing I don't want my dad to know you know why I didn't want my dad to know because my dad. said not to and if I did well my dad said not to do that meant there were going to be consequences so I. snuck the lure out of his tackle box I was slick man and I put it on my line and thought this is gonna. be so cool not thinking if I did catch a fish he's gonna help me pull it off is gonna see the lure but. I got it on the line tied it tied it tied and I reach back and I was ready to cast that thing in. the water and some it's caught on something it's not moving I look back the lures pot in the back of my dad's hat. I don't know if you ever got a whoopin in a boat before I was just proud of myself that I didn't fall in. the water there are rules to the game that were called to abide by land we don't abide by the rules there are consequences. that follow and that's actually what our parents home is designed to teach us about life that's why we can't sit in there make. up our own rules was trying to make up my own rule based on what my dad had already told me I should not. do I thought better than he did and thought it will.
Sin and Salvation
be okay dad I don't know why you're so uptight about me using this lure I'm just gonna catch bigger fish than you I. caught my dad actually the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding before we. dive in and never connect story I think we understand what fear means in this verse oftentimes you hear people ask how you define. that what is fear what's it mean to fear the Lord and we come up with this idea of we ought to live in. reverence of God and I'm not denying that I do believe we ought to live in reverence of God but I think it's more. than just living in reverence to God I think I think the kind of fear that we're supposed to have for God helps us. be reverent we approach it reverently because the kind of fear that we're called to have is the kind of fear that Isaiah had. when God entered into the temple he said woe is me okay that sense of woe it was kind of lost even the understanding. of what wome means he was in extreme distress his wickedness and his sin was fully exposed he was guilty and he knew the. judgment for guilt was death woe is me I'm a dead man because I'm a man of unclean lips and I live amongst the. people who are unclean of unclean lips I am going to die because I'm standing and I behold God with my eyes you know. why he thought that because Moses told God if anyone looks upon me they will die so there's this understanding of the fear of. God especially in Isaiah's heart in mind in that moment if I could paint the example it's kind of like this think of the. worst scary movie you've ever watched I remember being a kid watching this movie called Carrie now I know who've seen it and I. was man I was a little kid when I watched this movie I do not know why my parents let me watch this movie. and the movie was freaky enough but I remember at the end of the movie you think this wicked serial killing demonic thing whatever. she was is dead they finally they killed her and then at the end of the movie and I didn't expect it I'm thinking. huh oh my goodness thank goodness she's dead poof this hand.
Identity in Christ
shoots out of the grave and I remember as a kid thinking no because the kid's imagination is way too big to be watching. movies like that I remember crying in the middle of the night for my mom to come in my room because I was afraid. Carrie was coming to get me I was terrified and guys we are be terrified it's like that moment in the scary movie where. you've run and you found some sort of shelter from this creature that wants to eat you with these big teeth that are the. size of your head and you found some sort of shelter and you think you're safe number one can you tell me why in. scary movies why do people come out afterwards I mean give it a day or two before you come out and then finally you. think it's safe and you come out and it's quiet and you don't hear anything you think okay good and you turn around it's. in your face now in the movie that person lets out a blood-curdling scream okay you the classic you just lost everything scream because. you know you're gonna die your life is in the balance in that moment and you are terrified of what's in front of you. that aren't be the fear that we have of the Lord if we understood the fear that we ought to have for God if. we understood what its gonna be like for us on Judgment Day where we stand before God see as someone who has received this. work of Christ into their life because that's God's orchestrated work and that's the anomaly guys I call it the anomalous miracle of God. is this great and terrible being he is he is a God of love but he's also a just God who is going to. judge evil and I have done evil so I ought to be terrified of God it's the Romans 13 picture matter of fact let's. turn there real quick because I want you to understand that God is the one that puts this system together because he is a. judging God he is going to bring consequence for the evil that has been done here on the planet if he's just he has. to in Romans 13:1 it says let every soul be subject to the governing authorities but there is no authority except from God and. the authorities that exist are appointed by God for therefore whoever.
Grace and Justification
resists the authority resists the ordinance of God and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves for rulers are not a terror to. good works but to evil do you want to be unafraid of the authority till what's good and you will have praise from the. same for he is God's minister God's servants to you for good but if you do evil be afraid fear for he does not. bear the sword in vain it is a tool of judgment for he is God's servant an Avenger to execute wrath on him who. practices evil see our system our authoritative system exists because of the picture it's a microcosm of what God has established in heaven he. is the judge and we will all stand before God one day it will be judged based upon the works that we've done here. on the earth and here's the thing our righteous works are like filthy rags to God so there's only one thing to count our. unrighteous works before God that is what's going to be judged to see here's the anomalous miracle of God this fierce God this judge. that is going to literally obliterate evil and smash it forever Oh gives us a way out graciously not that we even deserve it. but he's offered us his son Jesus it says in 2nd Corinthians oh and God made him who knew no sin to become sin. he becomes our wickedness that gets judged by God so that we might become the righteousness of God does that sound fair absolutely not. but it's what he chose to do so listen to me love is a choice it's not an emotion it's not it's not a. compulsion it's a choice because there's going to be times where you're called to do things believers that God wants you to do that. it is not going to be easy for you to do nor are you going to want to for example turn the other cheek. who wants to do that who wants to let somebody get away with the injustice that was just done to me but you knew. it God says don't retaliate they curse you here to bless them like the teachings that Jesus gives to us are the exact opposite. of what we are in our nature but see here's the thing once again it comes back down to the fear of God jesus. also said if anyone hears these sayings of mine and.
Conclusion
We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.
Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.
Conclusion
We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.