4. The Disciplined Life (Proverbs 3)

Finding, Falling Off, Getting Back On, and Staying on God’s Track

July 25, 2021 • David Schrock • Proverbs 3

The prosperity gospel says that if you have enough faith, if you do what God says, if you follow his plans, he will bless you with earthly, material health and wealth. And when we read Proverbs 3:1–10, it sounds that such thinking is true. For instance, vv. 9–10 say, “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

That sure sounds like a biblical promise that if you honor the Lord, he will honor you and overflow your barns. And that’s how many will preach such verses. But such a reading allegorizes the barns and vats into bank accounts and lifestyle comforts. It also fails to consider the context of Proverbs, reading the verses on their own. And it misses the way Proverbs 3 must be applied to Christ before it can be applied to us.

With those thoughts in mind, we can begin to see why Proverbs 3 does not support the prosperity gospel. Instead, as we will see on Sunday, these opening verses lead us to consider if we have ever PERFECTLY honored the Lord with our lives. And if not, then how can we expect any good thing? Indeed, wisdom literature does not just give us tips to receiving the blessed life; it recalls to mind our need for the salvation and sanctification.

Thankfully, when we read Proverbs 3 in context and in a way that brings us to Christ, we can see how these verses present the path of life, what to do when we leave that path, and how to walk in humility and grace when God redeems us and puts back on the path of life. That’s what we will see Sunday. And to prepare your heart for Sunday, take time to read Proverbs 3. Pray that God would give us wisdom to read his Word, wisdom to apply his Word, and wisdom to walk on the path of life that is found in Christ.

As the Lord directs our steps, I look forward to seeing you and worshiping our Lord with you. May God be praised in our gathering.

For His Glory and your joy,
Pastor David
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Discussion & Response Questions for Proverbs 3

1. When you come to poetry like Proverbs 3, how do you begin to organize it? Why does understanding it depend on seeing its order?
2. What is the organization of Proverbs 3? How do you see it?
3. When you realize that you have not qualified to receive God’s blessings, how do you avoid despair?
4. What is offered in Proverbs 3:1–10 and how do we receive it?
5. In the Proverbs, what shape does wisdom take?
6. Why do we need so much correction? How you receive correction?
7. What can you do to grow in wisdom via correction?
8. What is the relationship between wisdom and Christ, who is full of wisdom and understanding?
9. What do you learn after you have been corrected?
10. Why is humility so important for the Christian life? Why is it so attractive? Christlike?
11. In all the truth presented in Proverbs 3, what do you need to apply most?

10. Selection Sunday (Proverbs 9)

September 5, 2021 • Dave Ross • Proverbs 9

Selection Sunday arrives every March, and sports fans eagerly fill out their college basketball brackets to try to pick the winners. In the history of what has become known as March Madness, no one has ever selected every winner of every NCAA tournament game. This Sunday, our destination is Proverbs 9, which provides our own Selection Sunday. We see selections to accept an invitation to competing feasts, and invitations are extended to both. Which bracket will you choose? One invitation is to folly. The other invitation is to wisdom. Easy selection? Which invitation does our deceitful heart wish to accept? Which does the world that surrounds us urge us to grasp? May the fear and admonition of the Lord, through His grace and mercy, empower our welcoming of the invitation to wisdom. That invitation leads us to Christ and his wisdom, and a banquet that is beautiful and eternal. In preparation for our service this Sunday morning, outdoors at 8:30 am, read Proverbs 9. Invite neighbors, friends and family to come to OBC with you so they may also hear the Word of the Lord and the invitation to wisdom and Christ’s banquet. And pray for your OBC family and our time together. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion & Response Questions for Proverbs 9 1. Look at how Proverbs 9 is organized with two contrasting feasts and hostesses. Wisdom offers invitations to her feast (vv. 1-6), and Folly offers hers (vv. 13-18). What is central to this text, and why is that significant (vv. 7-12)? 2. Compare and contrast Wisdom (vv. 1-6) and Folly (vv. 13-18). What is similar and dissimilar? a. What is laid out for the guests? How is this different between feasts? b. What does each feast ultimately provide? c. Notice how the same group (the simple) are receiving both invitations. What does this reveal? d. What is noteworthy between the two invitations (vv. 4-6, 16-18)? e. How is this invitation communicated? What strategies are employed? 3. How does the center of this chapter (vv. 7-12) instruct us? What is the end of the scoffer and the wise? 4. Do you reprove/correct/instruct others? If so, how do you see this played out? (vv. 7-9) 5. How can one who is simple or a scoffer come to the fear of the LORD and knowledge of the Holy? How should we understand this in light of the gospel? 6. Consider the world’s macabre feast, and the feast that Christ offers us as He invites us to eat and drink of Himself. How should we respond?

9. The House that Wisdom Built (Proverbs 8)

August 29, 2021 • David Schrock • Proverbs 8

8. A Simpleton, A Seductress, and a Ship of Fools (Proverbs 6:20-7:27)

August 22, 2021 • Rod Fillinger • Proverbs 6:20–35, Proverbs 7

1967 – The Summer of Love. The Beatles sang “All You Need is Love,” while the Mamas and the Papas sang their international hit “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair).” The Summer of Love was a time when “free sex,” drugs, and lots of rock ’n’ roll — the more mind-bending and psychedelic the better — fueled an idealistic Utopian vision for world peace, love, and anti-materialism. It was a time when Harvard University professor-turned-LSD-guru Timothy Leary urged disaffected young people to question authority, reject straight society and “turn on, tune in and drop out.” It has blossomed in the first quarter of the 21st century into the cult of the modern self. Your identity is what you determine it to be. Gender is fluid. Sex is no longer confined to an intimate marriage relationship between a (biological) man and a (biological) woman. Authority is rejected as authoritarianism. Restraint and self-control are repression and oppression. As we have emphasized throughout our summer series from Proverbs 1–9, wisdom from God in his Word is not just a theory. Our Bible text this week, Proverbs 6:20–7:27, continues the theme of embracing the Word of God as the way of wisdom and life, while rejection of his authority is sin and folly and leads to death and destruction. This week we will look at another warning given to avoid sexual sin. This warning is illustrated through a parable that dramatically illustrates for us the folly of sexual immorality. We need this wisdom; we need the one who is wisdom to not be deceived by peer pressure or the culture around us. By the mercy of Christ, we can avoid being simpletons seduced by the culture or those around us to yield to the seductress. In Christ we can live a brighter, more loving, more fruitful life to the glory of God. In Christ alone, Pastor Rod ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discussion & Response Questions for Proverbs 6:20-7:27 1. List, compare, and contrast the qualities or characteristics of the two women in chapters 6 and 7, Wisdom and the Seductress. 2. How does the teaching of Proverbs about sexual purity and marriage compare with the teachings of Paul (1 Cor. 7) and Jesus (Matt. 5:27–30)? 3. What is the role of the family in sex education? How should parents go about teaching their children about sex (see 5:1; 6:20; 7:1)? 4. How can Wisdom protect you from sexual immorality? 5. Why is Wisdom more important than a husband or wife? 6. Contrast the way in which the Bible speaks about human sexuality with the way in which sexual matters are portrayed in worldly media. 7. How does knowing you have a place in the final marriage supper of the lamb (Revelation 19:6–10) empower you to say no to sexual temptation today? Questions for Self-Examination: 8. Is what you are doing with respect to sexual thoughts and actions simply wrong? Do you sexualize or lust after people you know are forbidden? 9. Are you captivated by sex? Are you driven by it, obsessing about it? Do you find yourself acting impulsively or compulsively with respect to sex? 10. Do you hide what you are doing? Have you created a secret garden of sexual sin? Do you use sex as a refuge from boredom, stress, loneliness, or pain? 11. If you are tempted or ensnared, how will you bring these things to light? What brother in Christ (if you are a man) or sister in Christ (if you are a woman) can you confess your sin and seek their prayer and counsel?