Introduction

Welcome church! So thankful you decided to join us today. We are kicking off a brand-new series today, one that I really think will help us all gain a level of wisdom for our daily lives.

Albert Einstein said, “Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” And Charles Spurgeon said, “Wisdom is the right use of knowledge.”

Thankfully, the Bible also has a lot to say about wisdom. Time and time again, the biblical writers paint this beautiful image for us, that if we obtain wisdom, we will obtain growth. Growth for our lives, our businesses, our families, our friendships - growth in every area.

This, my friends, is what I believe will be produced from this four-week series. We are going to work our way through several teachings from the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament. If you have a Bible with you, I invite you to turn to chapter one with me.

We begin today by discussing a popular misconception people have about fear.

Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.

Main Teaching

It’s the beginning of wisdom

The Bible provides us with a starting point. If we want true wisdom in life, we must begin with the fear of the Lord. Now, as I said a moment ago, the real question we need to answer is: does God want us to be afraid of Him? This answer, in part, will be provided by allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture. This concept means that we cannot answer a question like this simply by reading one verse. Instead, we must look at what the Bible says as a whole to find insight.

If you grew up going to church, you may have heard many stories from the Old Testament. Maybe you remember the one about Joshua and his army circling the walls of Jericho several times before those walls came falling down. What an incredible thing God did! But, in order to find insight into this question about fear, we must revisit the beginning of this story.

This is a well-known and often quoted verse of Scripture. Do you see what God says in it? First, He tells Joshua that there is no reason for Him to be afraid of the task at hand, that which God has called Him to. But then, the Lord gives Joshua the reason as to why he shouldn’t be afraid. That is, because the Lord will go with Him wherever he goes.

Joshua is taught what it means to gain wisdom by beginning with a fear of the Lord ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium