Pursuing Wisdom: Proverbs 1;and selected others

Hinckley Evangelical Free Church

March 31, 2019

Sermon Series: Studies in the Proverbs

Pursuing Wisdom

Proverbs 1; and selected others

 

a proverb is a s__________ or s__________ that is “instead of many words”

God defines wisdom this way: “The f______ of the Lord – that is wisdom; and to shun e_____ is understanding.” Job 28:28

 

Lawrence Tooms wrote, “Wisdom is to be found with God and nowhere else.  And unless the quest for wisdom brings a man to his knees in awe and reverence, knowing his own helplessness to make himself wise, wisdom remains for him a closed book.”

 

Proverbs is written with the intent of “a________ wisdom and discipline…”

different expressions that are used to reference to wisdom;

1. a) “discipline” or “training” …–Within this idea of discipline is the concept of “c__________”….
2. b) “understanding” or “insight”…. This is the ability to d_________ between good and evil, right and wrong….
3. c) “prudence” the power of making shrewd and wise p_______.
4. d) “Learning” tends to emphasize their ability to a______________ the truth

the costs of wisdom…

–a) We must a_______ our hearts… that is our total beings – to the understanding (or the ability to “discern between”)

–b) We must “c____ after knowledge and understanding

–c) We are to s_________ for wisdom as intently as if it were “a hidden treasure”

 four progressing levels of wisdom:

 prudence means, “the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of r_________.”

 Knowledge is the ability to d_______ between fact and opinion, truth and fiction, and cause and effect.

Discretion is the ability to make a__________ application of the knowledge one possesses.

 “the wise” man is someone who has become prudent, knowledgeable, and discretionary on a c____________ basis.

 

The pinnacle  of wisdom is “u__________” life’s deepest mysteries.

 In Proverbs 1:7 Solomon himself provides the final thought in his introduction to wisdom:

 

“ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Proverbs 1:7 (ESV)