Introduction

Good morning, everyone! Today we will study Proverbs Chapter 2. In the past few years, I discovered a strange thing that caused a lot of Christians to become foolish. Before they were Christians, they were very smart, but after becoming Christians, they seemed foolish. A lot of common things are no longer common for them anymore. Can you imagine how foolish they are? Then I tried to figure out what happened to them. I wanted to find a way so they could become smart. And I believed that I could find the theory for this. This became true today. Proverbs gives us the answer on how to become smart and wise.

And if you look for it as silver and search for it as for hidden treasure. (Proverbs 1:4, NIV)

This is exactly what I thought of in my mind. I want to thank God. Seek and you will find. Don’t we find new things every day? In the last few years, the scope and depth of my preaching have increased a lot every time. Every sermon is like a published paper for me. When I preach it, I find it so wonderful, as if I had found a treasure.If you search for wisdom, you will find the knowledge of God. This is wonderful.

Abandon self-righteousness, then search for understanding

Today’s topic is “Apply your heart to understanding and find the knowledge of God". Why do I want to find wisdom? Because I found I was not smart enough, I was foolish. As a human, you can live as a smart person or a foolish person. Which one is better? Of course, it is better to be a smart person.

Turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight, and cry loud for understanding, and if you look it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:2-5)

I want to tell you that scammers can not scam me. Among us, some people were cheated for 300k or 400k, or even million dollars. Then I sighed why there were so many foolish people. I met a man recently. He said he was an expert on the stock exchange. He often told me that he would make a lot of money if he bought this stock. I was wondering why he cares so much about strangers making money. And an even stranger thing is he said he would not ask me for one penny if I make money. Because I am studying how to become smart, I want to see what he will say and what he will do. But in my mind, I have seen him as a cheater.

One day, he called me and asked me to buy stock as soon as possible. He asked me how much I will buy. I told him I want to buy 200k. All my money is not over 20k. Then I watched what he said. He said the price for that stock will increase from 13 to 5, or 18. The result was that the price of that stock dropped to 8. If he knew how to make money from that, wouldn’t he just borrow money from the bank and buy the stock? What was the purpose of his plan? Some people lost money because of this. Why was I not scammed? Because I was interested in searching for wisdom, not for money. He didn’t know that I used this chance to practice my wisdom.

You should remember that no one cares about whether or not you can make money. If there is a person like this, he is a fool or a cheater. What I want to do is to make you have wisdom. If you use the same way to search for wisdom as the way you search for silver, you will find it.

Somebody asked me how to love God. I told him how he should love God as much as he loves money. This is what I learned from Proverbs. “Fear the Lord, then you will find the knowledge of God.” You need to know how to fear the Lord. A man will start to search for wisdom only when he thinks he was foolish and he can’t rely on himself.

Some people might not say this. But in their minds, they think that they are smart. They will always say: Other people will also be uncomfortable if he faces the situations I faced. What does that mean? It means that he thinks he was very smart. They think that even Abraham would feel like this if he was in the same situation. This is very typical self-righteousness. He thinks that he is the smartest person in the world.

You may hear such words all the time. I suggest that you don’t say these things anymore. Only if a man searches for wisdom, looking for it as for silver or hidden treasure, then he will find it. If you have the same attitude, I can guarantee you will become a smart person. Seek and you will find. God is sitting on his throne and watching out for those who search for wisdom. Then when he realizes that we are looking for wisdom, he will show wisdom to us.

I believe a lot of people will be delivered from foolishness. That would be wonderful. If you want to be delivered, your mindset and attitude are very important. It is the devil in you if you are self-righteous. If we evict those evil spirits, people will become smart. It will be very wonderful.

To make a person smart, the first and most important thing is the attitude inside him. He should seek wisdom.

The fear of God is the true wisdom

At the beginning of Proverbs, it says man is foolish. Whether how smart or how foolish they are. In God’s eye, they are all fools. Only the person who knows God is a wise man. If we have the will to seek, we can find. Then you will know the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. If we don’t know how to fear the Lord and we don’t seek the answer, we will become foolish.

Esau was an example in the Bible. He was the grandson of Abraham, the son of Isaac. Abraham was still alive when he was born. He and his brother Jacob must listen to many stories about God from Abraham and Isaac. But Esau didn’t see the value and forgot all about them. He only liked hunting and fishing. He had no motivation to seek or understand. That is why he was cursed.

If you are a Christian but you are like Esau, then you are in trouble. In the Bible, it says Esau was cursed and he was an enemy against God for generations. How did you become like Esau? Because you have your ideas in your mind, you don’t want to seek or understand the fear of God.

Today, I want to tell you that exploring is an attitude. Well, then how do to explore? Through scientific research, we will make an assumption first, then carefully create an experiment to prove it. This is the right way for every advance of science.

When you are exploring and searching for wisdom, then you should explore the theory of wisdom. We assume God’s words are right, then we carefully prove it. If we follow God’s words and find it is so effective, then we will begin to fear the Lord whom we realize is so great and powerful.

There was a famous scientist named Newton. He discovered 3 laws that were named after him. Later he began to study theology. A lot of people don’t understand why he would do that. It sounds like a superstition. They don’t know that he studied it a lot, and after he knew more about God, he wanted to know even more. People should think more about this and begin to doubt if they are making things right. If you are going to prove something, you can’t deny it first. Otherwise, you will never find it. You should prove what God says. This is very important.

Uprightness and faithfullness are the characters of a wise man

Let’s observe these two things carefully, what the result of uprightness is, and what the result of wickedness is. If you observe carefully, then you will make this conclusion: God has victory in store for the upright.

For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is a right and just and fair-every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways. (Proverbs 2:6-15, NIV)

Have you heard about the Ponzi scheme? They use things such as the media and the internet. But in fact, these methods are all the same. For example, a multi-level marketing company will always say that if you build up a group that is big enough, then you can make money without working anymore. You can reach the goal of being financially free. Is that true? No, it is just a scam.

I am talking about wisdom. If you study it carefully, then you will find that only the upright will have true wisdom. The wicked, and unfaithful will be cut off from the land. And you will also notice this rule: if a man is not smart, he will easily be tricked. Then he will follow the bad guys who do bad things. He will end up becoming a wicked, unfaithful man.

It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. None how go to her return or attain the paths of life. Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and eep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it. (Proverbs 2:16-22, NIV)

You will conclude if you explore this carefully. If you have the chance, you should go to jail, or go to a hospital to explore. There you will hear many real stories. If you are going to explore among God’s people, then you should observe those who are upright and faithful. If you can find the wisdom in them, then you can also find the wisdom of God. Daniel was a very good example. Although he was a ruler of a country where all the people were worshiping idols, he still chose to be an upright man.

who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. None how go to her return or attain the paths of life. (Proverbs 2:17-19, NIV)

Women should be careful. Why would I say this? We can find the answer in the New Testament. Apostle Paul said it was the woman, Eve, who was cheated by Satan first. If Satan tried to cheat Adam first, the possibility of him giving in would be really low. So if you are a sister in the Lord, you should remind yourself all the time that you will be very crazy if you don't know the right way.

The brothers in Lord don't look as lovely as the sisters. But at least they're not crazy when they don’t know the right way. In Proverbs, it says wisdom can also save a man from an adulteress. It would really be a headache if a man marries such a woman.

You can hear a lot of such tragedies in newspapers or on the internet. Some couples begin to fight against each other or even kill each other. Why does this happen? Adultery is the result of unfaithfulness.

Then what am I going to say? You should look for it as silver and search for it as a hidden treasure. Then you will understand the fear of God and find the knowledge of God. Because God gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

In our church, we aren't against dating or marriage. If you want to date, then do that seriously. If you want to marry, then manage your relationship well. Don’t make a mess. I will suggest that you observe carefully and understand fully. We don’t get involved in quarrels between husband and wife. What we do is teach them and let them be smart. The most important thing is to let them know the destiny of their lives.

Today, we should work hard to seek and find the wisdom of God. God is great and fearful, He is glorious. All the knowledge and understanding come from his mouth and are in his glory. He likes to show us wisdom and knowledge. If we want to know the knowledge of God, first we should know that we are foolish and that we don’t know too much about him. Then we have the motivation to find him. We should also know our lives are short. Many years pass within a blink, generations come, and generations go. Then what is the purpose of life?

Summary

Seeking God is like seeking eternal life. We need to know that life is meaningless before we start to seek God. Once we know life is meaningless, then we will not take earthly stuff so seriously. We will try our hardest to find the knowledge of understanding. What will happen? We will get wisdom. We will be joyful every day.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV)

Most of us heard Chapter 3, verses 5-6 of Proverbs. Dear brothers and sisters, don’t forget the Lord. We need to understand and accept the words of the Teacher. Turn our ears to wisdom and apply our hearts to understanding. Call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding. Look for it as silver and search for it as a hidden treasure. Then we know why we need to fear the Lord. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and understanding.

I spent one hour on this. I am afraid that I didn’t say this very clearly. But never mind. You can take from my sermon whatever you want.

May God bless you all!