Wisdom Shouts in the Streets [Proverbs 1:20-33]
Proverbs 1:20-21 Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square. She calls to the crowds along the main street, to those gathered in front of the city gate.
The thing is there will always be evil people trying to get us to go their way. Look at what is going on in our world now. We have a choice on which voice we are going to listen to as wisdom is always calling out to us. God is trying to get His wisdom to us because God’s wisdom will show us what is right and what is wrong.
***NOTE: there is more on the podcast than here, as this is only an outline.
Proverbs 1:22 How long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge?
One of the powerful things about wisdom isn’t hiding from us, nor is it elusive or hard to find. Wisdom is seeking us, it’s available to us, and all we need to do is take it. The sad thing is, not everyone wants this wisdom from the Lord. Rather people choose to receive “wisdom” from the world. They would rather do what is popular than what the Word of God says.
Proverbs 1:23 Come and listen to my counsel. I’ll share my heart with you and make you wise.
What is so awesome is that when this was written, God promised that if people would listen to Him, He would make them wise. So, it is today, as God has not changed His mind, nor has He stopped pursuing us. All we have to do is ask God for wisdom and He will respond. As this scripture says: He will share His heart with us and make us wise 😊 This is so powerful!!
Proverbs 1:24-25 I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered.
You see this happening even today, God is still alive and well and shouting for us to take wisdom, but people are flat-out ignoring Him or minimizing the power of His Word. They are rejecting Him in many blatant and public ways.
What happened starting at this verse to the end of this chapter is sad, because people hardened their hearts, they refused the Lord’s wisdom guidance, and instruction; therefore, the Lord would not answer their prayers or deliver them when their destruction came.
Proverbs 1:26-28 So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone, and anguish and distress overwhelm you. When they cry for help, I will not answer. Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.
Under the old covenant people were left to their own when they outright rejected God. God didn’t do this to them, they chose this, and God simply gave them what they wanted.
Look at what is going on now in our world. People have systematically rejected God and we have increasingly become a secular society. From taking prayer out of schools, abolishing our Christian heritage, removing Bibles from all public and government places; adhering to and accepting the transgender and gay policies, abortion, guns, etc. etc., etc.
We are now facing total destruction and mayhem in our society. What is interesting is people are wondering how we got here and blaming God – when this was their choice. This is what people wanted and God stopped back to let them have what they wanted. They wanted everything that was evil and didn’t want God to interfere. [fluffy churches]
Proverbs 1:29-30 For they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the Lord. They rejected my advice and paid no attention when I corrected them.
Notice what these scriptures say. These people not only neglected what God said and rejected it; they hated it. They intentionally REJECTED GOD. This doesn’t happen by accident it’s a choice and this is a total rejection of God which could lead to God at some point giving them over to themselves.
Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. [Romans 1:28]
There is no guarantee that the Lord will extend His mercy forever to people who constantly reject Him.
If we endure hardship, we will reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. [2 Timothy 2:12]
Proverbs 1:31-32 Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes. For simpletons turn away from me to death. Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.
People might not have known the full extent of what they were choosing, but they knowingly rejected God despite all His pleading with them to follow His ways. God has never damned or judged anyone unjustly. Those who fall under His wrath chose this. God simply enforces our choices. [ouch]
There is an internal instinct that the Lord has put within every single person, that keeps drawing us to Him. People are constantly seeking, but they are choosing to look away from the ONLY God that will satisfy their deep longings and desires. People will be without excuse, because they literally have to ignore the thousands of times that the Spirit of the Lord tried to convict them of their need for Him.
***Notice also that prosperity destroys people. It doesn’t have to be this way, but it often is. Sometimes when people amass great wealth in an ungodly way they don’t see a need for God.
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. [Romans 1:18-20]
Proverbs 1:33 But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.
One thing to remember is that there are always consequences for not listening to the Lord or accepting His wisdom; however, the Lord will never forsake us or turn His back on us because we live under a New and better Covenant than those who were under the Old Covenant when this was written.
The Lord today, because of the price that Jesus paid, will always be here to help us when we are sincere in our hearts about change. Today under the new promises we are blessed because God will always have compassion for our flaws and mistakes.
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. [Lamentations 3:22-23]
[2 Thessalonians 2:1-17] Events prior to the Lord’s Second Coming
Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him.
2 Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us.
3 Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed the one who brings destruction.
4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.
5 Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you?
6 And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes.
7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way.
8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.
9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.
10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them.
11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies.
12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.
Believers Should Stand Firm
13 As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth.
14 He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you both in person and by letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope
17 comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.