Two ways to live – Proverbs 9 – Part 1 of 3

Christian Walk, Discernment, Doctrine / Theology, NEW CHRISTIAN ORIENTATION, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Warfare, Temptation Comments Off on Two ways to live – Proverbs 9 – Part 1 of 3

I decided to post the final lesson of pastor Kyle Johnston’s series on Proverbs because he makes some important points about the lifestyles of the wise person and the fool. Also, I’m going to follow this post with a narrative post from the commentary of Charles Bridges on the same.

Johnston’s and Bridge’s words will provide much insight to the Christians who are trying to live wisely and to quit falling prey to the siren voice of Lady Folly.

Highlight points from this study:

  • Wisdom is fundamental to life, not some nice add on
  • This study has shown us that there are two ways to live, by wisdom or by folly
  • The WAY of folly leads to death; the WAY of wisdom leads to life
  • Chapter 9 highlights these two ways of life again
  • Which way will you choose?
  • Pastor Kyle read from the text: Lady Wisdom has built her house and has prepared a banquet
  • Lady Wisdom then sent out an invitation: ‘Whoever is SIMPLE, let him turn in here’
  • That is, ‘leave your simple ways and live’ she gives us an invitation to life
  • Way of life = having a relationship with God; trusting and obeying Him; believing in His covenant promises of forgiveness and mercy
  • Verse 13 cites the invitation by Lady Folly
  • She is loud, seductive and knows nothing:
  • Knows nothing, in the sense that she has NO values, no reason for living, no ethical guidance or purpose
  • The only thing that Lady Folly appeals to is TEMPORARY pleasure and prosperity [like most of the TV evangelists these days]
  • Hence, she has to be seductive, appealing to the sensual and physical aspects of our existence
  • Her invitation is very similar to that of Lady Wisdom: Whoever is simple, let him turn in here
  • However, she speaks differently in verse 17: Proverbs 9:17  “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant”
  • She appeals to the temporary pleasures of sin – saying that there is something really pleasurable about ‘secret’ sin
  • However, in verse 18 we see that the house of Lady Folly is the house of the dead
  • Again, Lady Folly’s way is initially pleasant, but in the end, it comes back to hurt those who those who travel to her house
  • Initially, Lady Wisdom’s way is quite hard: one must learn, listen, give oneself to instruction, accept rebukes and correction; but in the end, there is life, abundance and joy
  • We’re concluding by looking at the middle of this chapter, verses 7-12
  • We are left with the question, Whose house will I enter?
  • Proverbs 9:7  Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. 8  Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. 9  Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. 10  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. 11  For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life. 12  If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
  • Regarding verses 7 and 8, we are reminded that the ONE PERSON who cannot benefit from the book of Proverbs is the scoffer; since he knows it all, he cannot tolerate correction, rebuke; he cannot receive information or learn
  • Therefore, the scoffer will definitely go to the house of folly
  • But the wise man is different, he will benefit from instruction…
  • The person who accepts correction, teaching… will go to the house of wisdom
  • The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight
  • The Holy One is transcendent, majestic, beyond all we could imagine
  • The wise person recognized that there is a fundamental difference between himself and God and deduces that he needs to learn from God, revere Him, seek His forgiveness, mercy and help
  • Verse 12: If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it
  • You will be the beneficiary if you visit the house of Lady Wisdom and eat of her banquet; if you succumb to the siren-call of Lady Folly, then you will be the victim of your own choice

 

 

Proverbs playlist link at The Word at Work:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZMc95tZPrsMQQEhNQTi0rNYKQpHdZqSG

Narrative and links that accompanied video at YouTube:

2,943 views  Sep 23, 2021  Proverbs | Part 1 | The Importance of Wisdom.

We come, at last, to the final section of the introduction. Again and again, we have been told about two very different ways to live: the way of wisdom, and the way of folly. We receive two seemingly identical (but actually very different!) invitations from Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly.

This section of Proverbs concludes by forcing the reader to make a decision: which way will we choose?

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