October 25, 2020; Sunday Evening Worship

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 96
• Prayer of Invocation
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — Proverbs 1:20–33
• Sermon
• Benediction

---

Sermon Title: The Cry, Consequences, and Comfort of Wisdom

Scripture: Proverbs 1:20–33

I. The Cry of Wisdom (vv. 20–23)

A. Wisdom cries out in the streets, marketplaces, and city gates — not to an elite few, but to all people in every facet of life

1. Contrasts with the domestic wisdom of Proverbs 1:8–19 — wisdom now extends to commerce, courts, and civic affairs
2. Wisdom is available to all: from the home to the marketplace to the city bench

B. The three groups addressed in v. 22: the simple (gullible, no moral compass), the scoffers (those who delight in mocking God's wisdom), and the fools (who hate knowledge)

C. The gracious invitation of v. 23: "If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you" — a judicial call to account met with a promise of instruction

1. "Behold" — emphatic: look at what God will do for those who turn
2. Parallelism: "pour out my spirit" is equivalent to "make my words known to you" — God will lead the repentant in his wisdom and word

D. God is not silent — he cries out in every facet of creation

1. Psalm 19:1–7: the heavens declare God's glory; creation pours out speech day and night
2. David seamlessly connects the book of nature (vv. 1–6) to the book of special revelation (v. 7): "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul… making wise the simple"
3. Herman Bavinck: "The world… leads them not away from God but to God. It is a creation of God, a mirror of his perfections."
4. It is ironic that modern science — the very study of God's wisdom in creation — has become a refuge for atheism

II. The Consequences of Rejecting Wisdom (vv. 24–32)

A. The great reversals of hebraic wisdom

1. God laughed at the fool's calamity (v. 26) — the mockers of v. 22 are now mocked; cf. Proverbs 1:18 — you become what you worship
2. Matthew 7:1–2: "With the judgment you pronounce you will be judged" — what you hand out in life is handed back to you
3. Those who sought God in v. 28 will not find him — because God sought them and they refused; now the roles are reversed

B. The long-suffering mercy of God contrasted with the swiftness of judgment

1. "How long… how long" (v. 22) — God continually and patiently pleads with the wicked
2. Judgment, when it comes, is sudden — like a storm, like a whirlwind (v. 27)
3. Thomas Watson: "God's strange work is his judgment; God's familiar work is his mercy" — wrath is the consequence of a perpetually deaf ear to God's merciful pleas

C. Those judged have chosen their own judgment (vv. 31–32)

1. "They shall eat the fruit of their own devices" — like a parent telling a disobedient child, "You have chosen this consequence"
2. The simple are killed by their turning away; the complacency of fools destroys them

III. The Comfort of Receiving Wisdom (v. 33)

A. "Whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease without dread of disaster"

1. Objective security in Yahweh gives rise to a subjective state of peace and freedom from dread
2. Illustration: two groups on two boats in a storm — emotions differ not because of personality, but because of the vessel; heed wisdom and you are in the ship of Yahweh

B. The personification of wisdom finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ

1. 1 Corinthians 1:24: Jesus is called "the power of God and the wisdom of God"
2. John 1 (the Prologue): Jesus is the Logos — the hidden wisdom behind creation is not a force or principle but a person
3. The cry of wisdom is the cry of Christ; the consequences of rejection are the consequences of rejecting Christ; the comfort of receiving wisdom is the comfort of being in Christ
4. Christ continues to cry out: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28)
5. The assurance of salvation — certainty of being in Christ by faith — means there is nothing to dread; the ship of Yahweh is the ship of Christ