Grosey's Messages

Call to Worship   Ephesians 2:4-10  Law Grace reading  about trust.  Jeremiah 17:5-10

Bible reading  Proverbs 3 Wisdom  God's Ways on Dark Days  Doxology  Jude 24,25

Proverbs 3 

1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,

2 for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.

3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

10 then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.

11 My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his reproof,

12 for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,

14 for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.

15 She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.

17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.

19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;

20 by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.

21 My son, do not lose sight of these--- keep sound wisdom and discretion,

22 and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.

23 Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble.

24 If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes,

26 for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.

27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

28 Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it"---when you have it with you.

29 Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.

30 Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.

31 Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways,

32 for the devious person is an abomination to the LORD, but the upright are in his confidence.

33 The LORD's curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

34 Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.

35 The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace.

1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,

2 for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.

3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

If you're 40 years of age or younger, there have been some amazing things— scientific breakthroughs, the unlocking of knowledge—that have taken place in your lifetime. For example, in your lifetime, man has split the atom and created nuclear devices that are capable of destroying life as we know it on Planet Earth. In your lifetime, space travel has become a reality. Now, you think about it. If you told your great grandfather that, he would have said, "Not only is that improbable; that is absolutely impossible." But, now man has walked on the moon, and we've made probes to Venus and Mars and regions beyond. And then, think of how communications have developed in our lifetime. In our lifetime now television is commonplace and communication through satellites. These developments are amazing things that have happened in our lifetime.

When I began preaching as a pastor, the photocopier was something only libraries had, or very, very wealthy churches.  Our first printer was a very old Roneo machine. You poured ink and methylated spirits in and churned it off by hand.

And then when you handed out the church bulletin each week folks would sniff the methylated spirits and get a little mmm up there! It made them relaxed through the sermon!

You know, the Bible says, "In the last days, knowledge shall rush to and fro" (Daniel 12:4).  Look at how fast knowledge can get from one place to another via the internet.  What was science fiction on Star Trek when I was a kid is old hat now.

Video calls.  Zoom is old hat. Just do it on whatsapp! Or  do a video call on your watch like Dick Tracey. Oh dear… Dick Tracey was a comic book James Bond detective who had an iwatch back in the 1940's.  John remembers him!

We have cars now that can travel at 200 km/h and 40km/h speed zones! Airplanes that travel at 2,000 kilometres an hour, on which you can catch covid and be sick for a week! Spaceships that travel at 24,000 kilometres per hour. It's an amazing thing. A man went out here to the airport, I'm told, and asked, "How long does it take to fly from Sydney to Brisbane?" The sales clerk said, "Just a minute." He said, "Thank you."

We can get there faster, but we still don't know where we're going. About all we've really added is speed and noise, but not much light. But, you see, these amazing things have happened in just the past 40 years. But, in those same 40 years, divorce has gone from one in eight marriages to one in two marriages. In those same 40 years crime has increased 500 percent. And now the courts are trying to find ways not to sentence young teenagers.  You see, ladies and gentlemen, man is a clever creature, but he has lost his way in the darkness. We don't seem to be able to find God's way in this dark day. Knowledge has expanded so vastly, but common sense is no longer common.

We are going to study Wisdom in Family living over these next 8 weeks. We will see God's plan for our dark days, how we may have wisdom to negotiate some of the family difficulties we face today, through that ancient book, the book of Proverbs.

We will discover how to negotiate with homeland terrorists (sorry) sorry homeland teenagers! And still find peace! We will discover on weeks to come, how to handle anger.  Next Sunday week, the eighteenth we will talk about God's sovereignty over human government, and His sovereignty in our human agency.  I am excited about that one. I prepared it this week.

  My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,

2 for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.

Do you want peace in your life? 

Peace is found here in some of the practical guidance available in the book of Proverbs. What is success? It's not really money. I have met a lot of rich people who were pretty bitter with everyone around them.  I have met plenty of poor people who are happy and contented.  What is the difference?  It is Peace!!  How can you find peace?

You can Find Peace By

1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments

1. ADJUSTING YOUR LIFE TO THE WORD OF GOD    KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS

In the second line of verse 1, the word "keep" means more than "obey"; it means "guard, maintain vigilance." "Let your heart guard my commandments."

Reading God's Word each day brings you Peace.

McCheyne WHEN Israel knew not where to go. God made the fiery pillar glow;

By night, by day, above the camp   It led the way—their guiding lamp:

Such is thy holy word to me        In day of dark perplexity.

When devious paths before me spread,     And all invite my foot to tread,

I hear thy voice behind me say—      "Believing soul, this is the way;

Walk thou in it." O gentle Dove,     How much thy holy law I love!

My lamp and light  In the dark night

Tim Keller "Everyone is living by faith in some ultimate authority. Proverbs calls us to make it God's Word, not our reason and intuition.

The Bible can guide you in all your ways, even when there is not a specific verse for every life situation. As you immerse yourself in the Bible's story of a personal God who made us and saved us for a relationship with him, it makes every part of life—how you spend your money, relate to people, allocate your time, and see yourself—look different than if you didn't believe the story. Then wisdom grows as you live daily life shaped by the biblical narrative and divine realities.

Are you seeking to understand the Bible's main themes and "big picture" story rather than merely seeking inspiration from individual Bible verses?"

You can Find Peace By

2. ADJUSTING YOUR LIFE TO THE WISDOM OF GOD  

3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

The key here is "steadfast love and faithfulness." Those words describe God himself (Exodus 34:6). What are we counting on about God? We are staking everything on God's being steadfastly loving and faithful to us forever through Christ, because he promised to be. – PTW Ray Ortlund.

Remembering God's steadfast love and faithfulness to you with keep you peaceful.

Write it to remember it.

Some ladies wear Crosses as jewelry to remember it.

As you remember His great covenant love to you, you will become more loving and sure in your life as well. There is a sense in which knowing that you are securely loved by God through His Son's sacrifice for us and  the Holy Spirit's permanent indwelling securing us, makes us feel assured enough in ourselves to become outwardly focused and loving towards others.

The Search for Significance.

You can Find Peace By

3. ENTRUSTING YOUR LIFE TO THE LORD GOD

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Your Decision to trust Him means that you

Trust Him Entirely   trust in the Lord with all your hearts

Ray Ortland  "Trust in the LORD with all your heart." This Hebrew verb translated "trust" is cognate with an Arabic verb that means to throw oneself down on one's face, to lie down spread-eagle in complete reliance. We stake everything on the gospel promises of God. If God fails us, we are damned. If God comes through, we are saved forever. Real trust is that blunt and daring and simple.

Trust Him Exclusively

and do not lean on your own understanding.

Isaiah 55:6 "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;

7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Robert Murray M'Cheyne

Put aside your way or any other way

You can believe in God yet still trust something else for your real significance and happiness—which is therefore your real God. We hide how we do this from ourselves, and it is only when something goes wrong with, say, your career or your family, that you realize it is much more important to you than the Lord himself. What does this have to do with wisdom? Everything. There are excessive emotions surrounding things you make the functional trust of your heart, whether it's your career, wealth, spouse, children, or some romantic relationship. You will be inordinately shaken, anxious, angry, or despondent if anything threatens them. They cloud your judgment, distort your vision of yourself and the world. Idolatries of the heart lead to foolishness in the life. The ultimate remedy for idolatry is the gospel."

Trust Him Exhaustively   in all your ways acknowledge Him

We must acknowledge Him in our ways. Here we place the emphasis on the word "in". We are to acknowledge Him just where He has placed us – in the home, in business, at school, at work. We are to acknowledge Him in good health and bad health, when we are well and strong and when we are tried and tested . There is no strain or stress in the life of anyone who is guided in this way by the Lord.      We must acknowledge Him in ALL our ways. Here the emphasis is on the word "all" (verses 5 and 6). We are to trust the Lord with all our heart and in all our ways we are to acknowledge Him; if and as we seek grace to do this we shall be guided by the Lord Himself.

You Can Only find Peace on a right relationship with God.

7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

Do you have  a willingness to take advice?  Fools are wise in [their] own eyes. Some take no advice at all. Other fools listen to only one kind of advice. For example, teenagers tend to be very averse to the advice of older people but rely primarily on the counsel of their peers.

The Father is warning us against a spirit of self-assurance. It is the opposite of trust in the Lord, and it brings no healing and refreshment. Maybe you remember Frank Sinatra's old song, "My Way": I have to say of all the 600 funerals I have performed, this is the song I hate most!  Listen to the words:

And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain

My friend, I'll say it clear, I'll state my case of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full, I traveled each and every highway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way

 Yes there were times, I'm sure you knew

When I bit off more than I could chew

But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out

I faced it all and I stood tall, and did it my way

For what is a man, what has he got?

If not himself, then he has naught

To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels

The record shows I took the blows, and did it my way.

"Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him" (Proverbs 26:12).

Many of us listen only to people of our own race or class or political persuasion and not to others.   Wisdom is to see things through as many other eyes as possible, through the Word of God and through the eyes of your friends, of people from other races, classes, and political viewpoints, and of your critics. Wise women and men create a company of counselors around them—mentors and advisers and friends and people from whom they can get a "second opinion." The gospel is the greatest resource for creating teachability. It shows us that we are sinners, yet its deep assurance of God's unconditional love for us in Christ makes it possible to face our flaws without denial.