If there is ONE THING that I REALLY DESPISE it’s ....... Going Shopping. Especially for clothes. I kind of enjoy shopping for a car or maybe tools but NOT for clothes. I’ll tell you something else I don’t like to shop for. FOOD. I hate to Grocery Shop. I LOVE to EAT what RACHEL BUYS and then COOKS, but I don’t want to go out and buy it. And it’s that LOVE for eating that forces me to go to Grocery Shopping every once in a while. That brings me to something kind of weird that happened to me last week.
JOKE: I was at the Wal-Mart here in town picking up a few things for Rachel. And I noticed this older lady kept staring at me. I went to the MEAT SECTION and she was there looking at me. I went back to the Baking Section and there she was looking at me. And as I was about to get up to the Check Out Line, she stepped in front of me. She had a whole basket full of groceries. I didn’t say anything and I was glad I didn’t. She turned around to me with a single tear running down her cheek and said, “I’m sorry for staring at you but you see, you look just like my son who died a couple of months ago.” I said, “Oh, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?” She said, “Well, not really, but it would be nice as I leave would you wave and tell me goodbye. I never got the chance to say goodbye to my boy.”
I said I would and as she left the store I said, “Good bye mother” and she said, “Good Bye son.” I went ahead and checked out and the bill came to $349. I said, “What?” $349 for 5 items? The cashier said, “Well, your mother said you were gonna pay for hers too.”
No, this morning I want to talk to you about going shopping. Solomon, with all of his wisdom tells us here that we need to BUY SOME THINGS. And that’s what I want to talk to you about this morning. Going Shopping. Let’s turn to Proverbs 23 and we’re only going to read one verse. Verse 23.
“Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.”
This morning we’re going to go on a Shopping Trip. Not to the Local Supermarket. Not to Target or Ross. Not even Sam’s. We’re going to the Word of God and we’re going to see what kind of BARGAINS we can get today.
Before we do let’s go to the Lord in Prayer.
Brother ______, would you lead us in Prayer?
Folks, I think before we go shopping we need to understand that’s it’s going to cost something to go shopping. There’s NO SHOP LIFTING allowed here. It’s gonna cost something. And it seems every time I go to the STORE it COSTS a little bit more. Man, back when all six of the kids were at home it COST something to keep us all fed.
But Solomon here tells us there are some things that we need to BUY. And folks, when you go and BUY THESE THINGS it’s gonna COST you something. It may COST YOU friendships. It may COST YOU FAME. It may COST YOU PLEASURE. It may even COST YOU MONEY to do the RIGHT THING. That’s why Jesus gave the PARABLE in Luke 14, about the man who is going to BUILD a TOWER. He tells us that YOU BETTER COUNT the COST before you start. But folks, the things that Solomon tells us to BUY are a BARGAIN at TWICE the PRICE!!!
I. The first thing you need to buy is TRUTH!!!
Do you know what the definition of TRUTH is?
The QUALITY or STATE of being TRUE.
Something that is in ACCORDANCE with FACT or REALITY.
In other words ... IT’S REAL!!!
You better buy you some TRUTH because the DEVIL, the ENEMY is trying to SELL you SOME LIES. John 8:44 tells us that the he is a LIAR and, in fact, is the FATHER of LIES. In other words, ALL LIES START WITH HIM.
Go BUY you some TRUTH.
THE TRUTH IS: Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
THE LIE IS: In the Beginning there was a BIG BANG and then we ALL EVOLVED for BILLIONS of years into what we are today.
THE TRUTH IS: Genesis 5:2, “Male and female created he them”
THE LIE IS: There are many different GENDERS and you can PICK which one you want to be.
THE TRUTH IS: John 14:6, Jesus is the ONLY WAY to HEAVEN.
THE LIE IS: There are many ways. A Big Pyramid.
Our children are the MOST SUSCEPTIBLE to LIES. There minds are OPEN to LEARNING and if we’re NOT CAREFUL, MAMA’S and DADDY’S, the DEVIL will sell them a LIE.
ILLUS: I remember well my 7th grade Science teacher. Mr. _____ was his name.
Now bear in mind this was back in the 70’s and right here in Skiatook, America. I had been raised in church ALL MY LIFE. I didn’t ask my mama and daddy if we were going to church on Sunday Morning, Sunday Night, or Wednesday Night. I KNEW we were going.
Kind of like Mark Lowry, the comedian. He’d say, “Mama, I don’t feel good. Do I have to go to church?” She’d say, “Have you thrown up?” He’d say, “No.” She’d say, “Well you’re not too sick to go to church then.” So then he’d throw up and she’d say, “Now, don’t you feel better, let’s go to church.”
But back to Mr. _____, I liked him and I remember him teaching us in Science Class that God created THIS WORLD, and YOU and I, through EVOLUTION. THEISTIC EVOLUTION!!! Do you know what it is? It’s a LIE. Straight from Satan. But I remember, the way he taught it, it made sense.
Watch out OLD PEOPLE. Watch out MIDDLE AGED PEOPLE. Watch out YOUNG PEOPLE. Satan is SELLING a LIE but JESUS is selling the TRUTH.
He tells us in John 8:32
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Buy the TRUTH, don’t buy a LIE.
II. The second thing Solomon tells us to buy is WISDOM.
First of all I want to tell you what WISDOM is NOT.
It’s NOT KNOWLEDGE. You can be the most educated person in the world. You can have your Doctorate Degree in 10 different fields and NOT have WISDOM. I really knew a fellow one time who was both a Medical Doctor and a Lawyer. Imagine that. He could SUE HIMSELF for MALPRACTICE.
Wisdom is NOT intelligence. You can be a GENIUS. You can solve the most difficult of EQUATIONS. You can solve the hardest of RIDDLES and not be WISE.
So what is WISDOM? One definition that I read was UNDERSTANDING. Proverbs 9:10 tells us the BEGINNING of WISDOM is the FEAR of the LORD.
That’s where it ALL STARTS. Understanding WHO GOD IS. Why He created us. How SIN caused a SEPARATION between us. What God did to RECTIFY that SEPARATION. He sent His only begotten Son to die on that Cross of Calvary to pay the PRICE for our SINS. That’s WISDOM.
But the DEVIL is trying to SELL us something else. FOOLISHNESS.
Psalms 14:1 “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”
That’s what the Devil is trying to sell today. “There is NO GOD.” “There is NO HEAVEN” “There is NO HELL”
So just LIVE YOUR LIFE however you want to. Morals don’t matter. Other people’s FEELINGS don’t matter. JUST MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY.
And PEOPLE, in their own foolishness, live a life of SELFISHNESS and GREED which does JUST THE OPPOSITE. They have MISERABLE LIVES. WHY? Because they BOUGHT FOOLISHNESS instead of WISDOM.
Folks, buy you some WISDOM today. Take my word for it. It’s worth EVERY CENT.
III. And then Old Solomon tells us to BUY some INSTRUCTION.
I may be sorry but I’m gonna tell you something about myself.
You know I don’t CARE ANYTHING about FISHING.
I don’t like to HUNT. Nothing against it. I just don’t enjoy it at all.
Are you ready for this? I really don’t like sports. If I have to watch sports, I like to watch a GOOD FIGHT. People beating the SNOT out of each other up.
So here’s what I really enjoy. I like MECHANICS. Tinkering on things. And I LOVE AVIATION. Spent a lot of years working on airplanes. And someday, I want to build myself an ULTRALIGHT AIRPLANE. Here’s where I’m going with this. IF you keep an ULTRALIGHT AIRPLANE below 254 pounds empty weight, and it carries NO MORE than 5 gallons of gasoline. Flies no faster than 63 MPH, ANYBODY can fly it. NO LESSONS!!!!!! NO INSTRUCTION REQUIRED!!!!
But here’s what I want you to get. ONLY a FOOL would fly an ULTRALIGHT without some INSTRUCTION. It would be SUICIDE!!!!
Solomon tells us here to BUY some INSTRUCTION.
Psalms 119:105 says,
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
BUY SOME INSTRUCTION. Spend TIME in God’s Word.
2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to STUDY the Word of God.
That’s the INSTRUCTION we need to BUY. God’s Word.
It’s our GUIDE BOOK to LIFE.
Need to know how to RAISE KIDS? READ GOD’S WORD.
Need to know how to make a MARRIAGE work? READ GOD’S WORD.
Need to know how to DEAL WITH PEOPLE? READ GOD’S WORD.
But the DEVIL is trying to SELL you something else. IGNORANCE. IGNORANCE means UNLEARNED. In other words. NO INSTRUCTION.
The DEVIL hates for people to LEARN about God.
He hates for people to LEARN HOW to DRAW CLOSE TO HIM.
He hates for people to see and learn the GOOD NEWS found in the GOSPEL. He BLINDS PEOPLE. 2 Corinthians 4:3 and 4.
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Thomas Jefferson said, “IGNORANCE of the LAW is NO EXCUSE?”
Do you know why IGNORANCE is NO EXCUSE? Because you had the OPPORTUNITY to LEARN the LAW. And IGNORANCE of God’s Word is NO EXCUSE because you have the OPPORTUNITY today to READ IT.
“Take a New look, from the Old Book, take a New Look from the Bible.
Take a New look, from the Old Book, take a New look from God’s Word.
An Inward Look, an Outward, an Upward look from the Old Old Book
Take a New look from the Old Book, take a New Look from God’s Word.”
If the Old Devil can keep people from LEARNING. From getting INSTRUCTION. He has won the Battle.
ILLUS: Francesca Battistelli is a Contemporary Christian Performer and she came out with a song a while back and the title is: “He Knows my Name.” It seems like a pretty good song speaking about the Love that our Father has for us and it really dosen’t matter whether we’re famous or not because He Knows my Name. Think about that for a moment. Over 7 Billion people and God knows my name.
But folks, I think the Devil knows your name too. And if he can keep you IGNORANT, without INSTRUCTION, HE WILL DESTROY YOU.
IV. And the last thing Solomon tells us to BUY is UNDERSTANDING.
To understand is the ability to COMPREHEND. To GRASP SOMETHING.
To get it RIGHT HERE!!! IN YOUR HEART. It’s more than just a HEAD KNOWLEdGE. It’s a HEART KNOWLEDGE. It’s BELIEVING. Putting your FAITH and TRUST in the Lord Jesus Christ and HOLDING on to that.
Romans 10:9
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
I know I say this a LOT!!! But ...
It’s NOT ENOUGH to believe in God.
It’s NOT ENOUGH to go to CHURCH.
It’s NOT ENOUGH to PRAY.
It’s NOT ENOUGH to do GOOD WORKS.
It’s only by UNDERSTANDING, it’s COMPREHENDING that it’s ONLY through Jesus that we can be saved. Get you some GOOD OLD FASHIONED UNDERSTANDING and BUY IT.
Because SATAN wants to SELL you something also. CONFUSION!!
1 Corinthians 14:33 tells us that God is NOT the AUTHOR of CONFUSION. So if God is NOT the author then who is? SATAN.
Folks, you’ve got people PEDDLING all kinds of CONFUSION when it comes to SALVATION.
A. Some churches will tell you that BAPTISM is what brings salvation. “It WASHES away your sins.”
But 1 John 1:7 tells me it is the BLOOD of Jesus that WASHES away my sins.
B. Other churches here in town will tell you that you have to be one of the LUCKY ONES who were PREDESTINED to go to Heaven. Some are CHOSEN others aren’t. John 3:16 tells me,
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
I’m glad that we serve a God who wants EVERYONE to come to Him. Not just a few chosen ones. It’s a WHOSOEVER SALVATION.
C. Other churches have all kinds of HOOPS you have to jump through to be SAVED or PART of their church. You have to PRAY to Mother Mary or Confess your sins to an earthly PRIEST.
These things are CRAZY and all they do is bring CONFUSION and the DEVIL just LOVES that.
God wants you to BUY some UNDERSTANDING. To really GRASP, HIS WILL, for your life.
Old Solomon here tells us to go out and do some SHOPPING. Buy you some TRUTH. Throw some WISDOM and INSTRUCTION in your SHOPPING BASKET. And then put some UNDERSTANDING in their too.
And lastly, he says NOT to SELL it. It’s not a SHORT TERM INVESTMENT. It’s a LONG TERM INVESTMENT. In fact, it’s an ETERNAL INVESTMENT. The DECISIONS you make today, the THINGS that you put into your life, will effect you and those in your life from here on out.
If we could just GRASP THIS. This life is SO SHORT. James 4:14 and 15.
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”
Everybody starts with an EMPTY SHOPPING CART. And here’s the sad thing. Folks are walking through the SUPERMARKET of LIFE and they are FILLING their CART with JUNK FOOD. Things that will SATISFY for just a SHORT TIME but give NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE.
VACATIONS.
PLEASURES of this WORLD.
NEW CARS and HOUSES.
There’s NOTHING WRONG with some of these things. But you better leave room for the FOUR THINGS that matter. TRUTH, WISDOM, INSTRUCTION and UNDERSTANDING. So many people don’t. Their CART is full of JUNK.
Some folks wander down the SIN aisle. You know which ONE I’m talking about!!! We all know the JUNK that is on the SHELVES on this AISLE. PORN, ADULTERY, DRUGS, BOOZE. Folks pick up a few things there, and it causes a lot of damage that will affect them the rest of their lives.
Listen, BUY TRUTH and NOT a LIE. Because the DEVIL would LOVE to SELL you some.
BUY WISDOM and NOT FOOLISHNESS. The DEVIL has every make and model of FOOLISHNESS and he’d love for you to BUY.
BUY you some INSTRUCTION because the DEVIL LOVES IT when Christian people STAY IGNORANT.
And BUY some UNDERSTANDING. This world can be so CONFUSING but Jesus has the ANSWER. Won’t you come to Him now?
Let’s Pray
