The House That Wisdom Built Series

INTRO. - ILL.- I love the cute story about some men in a pickup truck who drove into a lumberyard. One of the men walked in the office and said, 'We need some four-by-twos. 'The clerk said, 'You mean two-by-fours, don't you?'

The man said, 'I'll go check,' and went back to the truck. He returned in a minute and said, 'Yeah, I meant two-by-fours.'

'All right. How long do you need them?'

The customer paused for a minute and said, 'I'd better go check.' After awhile, the customer returned to the office and said, 'A long time. We're gonna build a house.'

There is a difference in houses. Our house in Jonesboro, AR, was not a bad house by any means. It was only 12 years old when we purchased it. After we moved into our “new/newer” house we immediately had the inside painted and new carpet installed. The men who installed the carpet said, “Did you know that your wall between the kitchen and living room is off 3 inches from one end to the other?” Wow! No, we didn’t know that. He said, “Most houses are built the same way. It doesn’t make any difference even if they are million dollar houses.”

Basically, he was saying that the builder was not doing good work or his best work. To the naked eye you would never see this difference but if you measured it you could easily see the error.

Why would any builder do that kind of poor work? I don’t know except that they may have been in a hurry to get it done or maybe they just didn’t care and were more interested in getting their money as quickly as possible.

I happen to believe, however, that there are good builders in this world or perhaps better builders. I’m not sure there is any perfectly built house or perfect builders.

This fall I retired and we moved to Cape Girardeau, MO, where we purchased a five-year old house. And we could immediately see a difference in the way this house was built versus our house in Jonesboro, AR. It appeared to be a better built house. The doors shut smoothly and quietly. Even the drawers in the kitchen and bathrooms shut softly. The attention to detail seems to be better in almost every way; outside and inside. We felt that the builder did a good job with our newer house.

There is another builder who never makes a mistake and always does his best in whatever he builds. His name is God. The house that wisdom built is the house that the wisdom of God built and is building. He is continuing to build His wisdom house. Please consider this text from Proverbs 9 God’s wisdom house.

PROP.- The wisdom of God is building a house. Here is that house.

1- The wisdom house invites people in

2- The wisdom house instructs in all ways

3- The wisdom house instills fear of the Lord

I. THE WISDOM HOUSE INVITES PEOPLE IN

1 Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. 2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. 3 She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city. 4 "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment. 5 "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.

Most of us are familiar with Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

ILL.- During the World Series in 1957 a writer asked the Milwaukee Braves’ Bob Buhl what he was going to do after it was over. “I’m going to Saginaw to help my father,” said Buhl. “And what does he do?” “Nothing,” replied Buhl. Apparently, Buhl felt like he needed some rest.

Who isn’t weary and burdened in this world? Life has a way of making us weary and burdened and even when life is good at its best. We love this invitation to come to Jesus to receive rest from Him. The words rest, peace, and comfort sound very good to us in this stress-filled world.

But in Proverbs we have a different invitation.

4 "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment. 5 "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.

Let all who are simple come in! Not many of us are willing to admit that we might be somewhat simple and yet we are!

I admit to being simple. I admit to being ignorant and often weak.

I often feel like the apostle Paul who said in I Timothy 1:15 “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” If a person doesn’t admit to being a sinner how can they ever be saved? In God’s world you have to go down before you can ever go up! You have to admit your sinfulness before you can ever be cleansed from your sin.