Lessons From Proverbs
Proverbs 1:7 (1/3/24)
January 3, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Proverbs 1:7–8
* Proverbs teaches us that fearing God is the BEGINNING of knowledge and wisdom. * vs 7 - “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…” * Fear is the starting block. * I’ve raised four kids, and one of the first things I taught them is what “not” to do. * You don’t put the fork in the electrical outlet. * You don’t put your face in the dog’s bowl when he’s trying to eat. * You don’t put your finger in the drain of a sink if you’re sitting on the counter. * Then I attached punishment if they did these things. * Why? Because they have to attach disobedience to pain. * This taps into the “pain / pleasure” aspect of their nature. * At our core, we move away from pain and toward pleasure. * To get the good you first have to know what’s bad. * Once you learn that disobedience brings pain, all knowledge is built on top of that. * This is where fearing God comes in. * Disobeying Him brings pain. * That’s why He created boundaries (like the garden). * In the Garden - “Don’t eat from that tree.” * God’s blessings are found inside God’s boundaries. * Remove the boundaries and blessings are replaced with burdens. * When we honor God thru obedience, He not only gives us His blessings but we also get His knowledge! * Proverbs 1:23 - “Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.” * Tony Evans - “To have true knowledge is to perceive the right nature of a thing, and it is not possible to be truly wise without fearing the Lord. This doesn’t mean walking around feeling terrified of God. It means holding him in reverence, taking him seriously. Proverbs teaches that all true wisdom and knowledge is rooted in God and his Word, and it urges us to cultivate a fear of God through a relationship with him.” * Fearing God is being motivated to live a Holy lifestyle. * John Bevere says fearing God is all about a fear of doing life without Him. * NOTE - vs 7 is all about fearing God and the very next verse (vs 8) is about honoring your parents. * vs 8 - “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.” * Fearing God and honoring parents go hand-in-hand. * In the 10 Commandments, the first four deal with fearing God, the 5th is about honoring parents, and the next five are about honoring others. * It goes in that order, which keeps you aligned with the property authority structure.
Proverbs 1:7 (8/9/17)
August 10, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* Wisdom is the marriage of knowledge (that which is true) with understanding. * The way the two hook up is through experience (your own or someone else’s). * It’s like a bow tie - experience is the knot that binds the two loops into one. * But for it to be true wisdom, it has to be exercised. * I knew how tall the Empire State building was, but I understood it when I visited there. * I now had wisdom, so long as I didn’t climb the fence to get to the other side! * KEY (vs 7) - To get wisdom, it begins with the fear of God. (Prov 9:10) * Why? * Because becoming wise always begins with a person. * When my kids were young they didn’t know why they shouldn’t do something - they just knew me and had to learn to trust me. * In time they are coming to realize the wisdom of my instruction. * But it began with a proper fear of me as dad. * Notice these two verses: vs 23 & 33 - the focus is on God - He will teach you wisdom. * the verses in between these two are all about a person who refuses to listen to God. * Proverbs 2:1-5 - it’s in the search that you understand the fear of the Lord. * When we fear God we grow in knowledge and understanding - this makes us wise! * Just like the men of Issachar who understood the times and knew what Israel should do. * True Wisdom - having the mind of Christ.
Proverbs 1:22 (8/9/18)
August 9, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* There are three classes of sinner: * 1) Simple - naive people who believe anything but examine nothing. They stare blankly at you when you present truth. * 2) Scorners - they think they know everything and laugh at things that are important. They sneer at you when you present truth. * 3) Fools - they have no spiritual desire and only care about themselves. They snarl at you when you present truth.
Proverbs 1:23 (8/11/16)
August 11, 2016 • Benham Brothers
• If my 14 year old son could have my spirit he would see as I see, think as I think, act as I act, feel as I feel, etc. • This would answer all of his questions. • God tells us that if we simply respond favorably to His rebuke by repenting of our sin then He will give us His Spirit. • God wants to pour out His Spirit on us, but it requires something from us. • We have to repent and release control of our lives to Him.
Proverbs 1:33 (8/9/17)
August 10, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* Wisdom is always speaking. * Do you know what he’s saying? * “Just listen to me!” * Whitewater trip - you gotta listen to the guide. * For young kids - how do they know if they’re hearing words of wisdom? * They don’t! They simply need to trust the person who’s speaking. * That’s the beauty - wisdom is a person (God), and all we have to do is listen. * If we focus on God we’ll hear His wisdom, and if we obey we’ll become wise.
Proverbs 2:1-5 (8/6/15)
August 6, 2015 • Benham Brothers
PURSUIT is the path to purity. Read the first four verses of this Proverb - it's all about what you're pursuing. The reward is found in verse 5. The result is found in the following verses - you will be free from the adulteress. Every man needs to focus on what he's pursuing.
Proverbs 3:5-10 (8/9/18)
August 9, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* There things we are to do with God: * 1) TRUST Him (vs 5-6) - we are to find our security in Him, which means to give Him our allegiance. * 2) FEAR Him (vs 7-8) - we should know God’s love includes mercy and justice. Which one we receive is up to us. * 3) HONOR Him (vs 9-10) - doing what He wants us to do with a heart to please Him. * One of the best ways to honor Him is with our money.
Proverbs 3:27 (8/11/16)
August 11, 2016 • Benham Brothers
• I always ask aspiring entrepreneurs: • Why should God bless you with money, or influence? What are you going to do with it? • What will you do with the newfound time you have on your hands? (how will you manage your margin?) • Can God trust you with His money and your time? • The wealthy person is the one who’s in position to change someone’s life situation in a positive way. • Wealthy is not just financial - it’s anyone who has the solution for life. • The question to ask - “What are you doing with the power that you have?”
Proverbs 3:32-35 / 4:20-27 (8/13/15)
August 13, 2015 • Benham Brothers
Prov 3 gives us what we need to BE: 1) The UPRIGHT receive His counsel (vs 32). 2) The RIGHTEOUS receive His blessing (vs 33). 3) The HUMBLE receive His favor (vs 34). 4) The WISE receive honor (vs 35). Prov 4 gives us what we need to DO: 1) Be careful to listen to God (vs 20-23). 2) Be careful what you talk about (vs 24). 3) Be careful what you look at (vs 25). 4) Be careful where you are (vs 26). 5) Be careful to stay on the right path (vs 27).
Proverbs 4:1-14 (8/15/19)
August 15, 2019 • Benham Brothers
* We most often think Solomon got wisdom because he asked God for it. * But notice the type of young man he was before God showed up in the dream. * He diligently listened to his dad, longing to learn from him. * As Solomon grew in wisdom he saw the benefits of it. * In time, I can imagine his dad telling him that one day he’d be king. * Solomon may have asked, “Why me?” * David would say, “Because you have searched for wisdom and have grown wise.” * David chose Solomon to be king over any of his other sons, including the oldest. * After Solomon was raised like this God shows up in a dream and says, “Ask for one thing and you’ll have it.” * For Solomon, it was a no-brainer.
Proverbs 4:7 (1/10/24)
January 10, 2024 • Benham Brothers • Proverbs 4:7
* Last week we talked about the beginning of wisdom - fearing God. * Knowing that disobedience brings pain is the starting block. * In this verse, we see another aspect of how to get wisdom: * vs 7 - “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom…” * You have to want it to get it! * The process of acquiring wisdom starts with wanting to be wise. * If you “really” want it, then you’ll GO GET IT!” * You’ll go after it like you would a priceless treasure. * You will have what you pursue. * Getting wisdom is just like a husband getting a wife. * He must desire her and earnestly pursue her. * Practically, how do we get it? * EX: Prize in cereal box - you have to eat your way through it to get it. * Devour the Word, get the prize. * EX: - For me, it looks like reading a Proverb every single day since I was 18. * I’ve read Proverbs the book of wisdom, 360 times! * Practically, it works like this - if you want anything in your life, you need three things: * 1) Discipline - doing what you don’t want to accomplish what you do want. * 2) Diligence - the consistent application of discipline even when you don’t see results. * 3) Determination - a burning desire for the thing. * Make the acquisition of wisdom your main goal and watch what happens.
Proverbs 4:26 (8/13/15)
August 13, 2015 • Benham Brothers
Last week we talked about the path to purity is found in pursuit. It's also found in pondering - considering the path you're on. Prov 5:6 - The way of the adultress is that she does not ponder the path of her feet. She doesn't think about what she's doing and the effect of her actions on herself and others. Her conscience is bypassed and there's nothing there to keep her mind, will, and emotions in check. Prov 5:8 - the man who's pondering his path won't go near her door. Why? Because he knows how it will effect him and others. To ponder, we consider: 1) Am I on the right path? 2) How do my actions affect others? 3) How do my actions affect me? Get up early and PONDER!
Proverbs 5:1-7 (8/11/16)
August 11, 2016 • Benham Brothers
• Proverbs 5-7 mostly talks about sex and the importance of keeping it inside its boundary. • It’s like a fire in a fireplace. • Sex is the physical manifestation of a spiritual truth - intimacy between God and humans, Christ and His Church. • Here’s a way to think about sex: • The PURPOSE of sex is intimacy (becoming one with another person). • The PRODUCT of sex is life (physical, relational, emotional). • This is why God makes sex PLEASURABLE. • Problem - when the pleasure of sex overtakes the purpose we forfeit the product. • This is why the devil attacks sex, because it represents LIFE. • The devil wants to mess up what God sets up, so he attacks sex. • So, Solomon gives us three solid chapters on how and why we stay pure physically.
Proverbs 5:6 (8/9/17)
August 10, 2017 • Benham Brothers
* An adulteress doesn’t ponder the path of her feet. * This means she doesn’t think about what she’s doing - she just does it. * She doesn’t consider the impact of her actions on her own life and the lives of others. * She just does what she wants with no check from her conscience. * The result is that not only is her life ruined but also those she’s around. * We need to learn to ponder the path of our feet. * Proverbs 4:26 tells us to consider the path of our feet. * This means to think about how our decisions affect us and those around us. * Start your day like Jesus did - let God comb through your life and reveal you to yourself.