20260201 Proverbs 16.16-22 Sunday Sermon Mike Dickmann

Turn with me if you will then to Proverbs once

again this morning 16th chapter And we'll begin

reading in verse 16 How much better is it to

get wisdom than gold, and to get understanding

rather than silver? The highway of the upright

is to depart from evil. He that keepeth his way

preserveth his soul. Pride goeth before destruction,

and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better is

it to be of an humble spirit with the lowly.

than to divide the spoil with the proud. He that

handleeth the matter wisely shall find good,

and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.

The wise in heart shall be called prudent, and

the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning.

Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him

that hath it. But the instruction of fools is

followed We'll stop there So again we find in

the Proverbs a Hardy recommendation of the Christian

life Get wisdom get understanding get knowledge

Get on the highway I Just want to read this one

verse here Corinthians first chapter you don't

have to turn but it's a description of the work

of Christ and who he works in and how he doesn't

work in the wise and the mighty but but the base

and the insignificant people are the ones that

he calls and then in verse And he says in verse

29 that this is so that no flesh should glory

in his presence. But of God are ye in Christ

Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,

sanctification, and redemption. That, according

as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory

in the Lord. So you can see, and we've been saying

here, that Christ is obviously the prerequisite

in all these instructions that Proverbs give

us. He is all that we need. There used to be

a chorus like, Jesus Christ is all I need. All

I need. And that's definitely true. But what

we sometimes find is that We use that as an excuse.

We say, Jesus Christ is all I need, I've got

it. However we want to rationalize our walk with

the Lord, that's what we do. I hesitate to say,

but many times I've found it to be true, we make

excuses for ourselves. We know what we should

be doing, but we don't. I mean, it's true in

my life. So, you know, I am kind of assuming,

I suppose, that it's true in all of our lives.

But as I've said before, and other people as

well, we have to deal honestly with ourselves.

We have to be able to ask questions of ourselves.

Do I really believe this verse that I'm hearing

or reading? Am I really going to put this into

practice? What will I have to do in order to

put this into practice? Do we talk to ourselves?

Do we question ourselves? That's how you apply

the Word. That's how you get understanding. That's

how you get wisdom. Yeah, I know. It comes from

the Lord. These are not contradictory. The Lord

has given us minds to reason. He expects us to

use them. And He does meet us when we do use

them. It's not a simple self -effort. That would

be vain for us to think that we could, of ourselves,

accomplish a successful Christian life. That's

impossible. But when we have Christ, who is our

wisdom, who is our righteousness, and we apply

our minds to understand His Word, therein we

find Christ. There are we to be successful. And

really only there. You can slouch through the

Christian life. You can. And we do at times.

All of us do. And we miss the blessing. That's

all. I'm not proclaiming that you can lose your

salvation, but I am proclaiming that you are

missing out on the great value, the great privilege

of knowing and experiencing God. The more that

you slouch through, the more that you miss. You

miss the opportunity to grow in the grace and

knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is

exactly what we're commanded to do. in the scriptures.

You miss out on the opportunity of serving others,

of loving our neighbors, loving our brothers

and sisters. It's like Jake said, Jesus Christ

willingly sacrificed himself. And if you ever

get a hold of that completely, let me know. But

just in the very little bit of it. Christ is

our what? Our example. Can we follow that example

at all? Have we followed that example? Have I

willingly laid down my life in any area for the

good of somebody else? Or am I so focused on

myself that that's all I can see? It's a legitimate

question. It's one that we need to ask. probably

more frequently than we do. Many times, I mean,

you know, we get cross. We don't get our way.

We pout. We get mad. Giving up ourselves for

our husbands, for our wives, for our kids, for

our brothers and sisters. We willingly do that.

That therein is love. Well we've got these few

verses here this morning and it's just really

one admonition and after the other and it's just

beautiful the way the scriptures do these things.

In the New Covenant and the Proverbs may be one

of the closest to the New Covenant in the Old

Testament but It never comes with a hammer Never

comes with it with a sledgehammer or anything

to beat us or a whip It always comes with a carrot

It always comes with a reward It always comes

with this This is obvious folks. This is that's

what that's what the what's solemnness. This

is so obvious How can you miss this? Don't you

want this? Don't you want to be like this? Don't

you want to experience these things? Here's what

you do. And he starts off with the very basic

question for us in verse 16. How much better

is it to get wisdom than gold and to have understanding

rather than silver? Is this true for us? Do we

believe that? Do we believe that these are the

greatest things that we can possess in this life?

That's what he's telling us. It's better than

anything that you can buy with gold and silver.

And you can buy anything you want if you've got

enough gold and silver. It's just incomprehensible.

That we would spend more time trying to acquire

gold and silver Rather than what then wisdom?

Understanding There's no reason for it it's um,

it's in you can't You can't explain it to me.

You can't explain it to yourself And on top of

it all, you all know that this is what God has

promised that you would attain when you seek

it. When you seek after God, you will be granted

wisdom and understanding. He will beat that need.

He's told us to pray for it. He's told us to

find it in His Word. It's not like you've got

to wonder, am I going to spend all this time

and just waste it? No, you already know it's

a sure thing When you seek after God you find

him he doesn't hide He's always right there He's

always waiting to hear from you. He's always

waiting for you to draw near to him What's the

proud draw near to you? You lack wisdom ask You

know, in the Bible, the advantages of money are

not denied. There's great advantages to having

money. So, how much greater is wisdom and understanding?

How much greater is a full -orbed relationship

with God through Jesus Christ than gold and silver

or money? in verse 18 or 17 sorry the highway

of the upright is to depart from evil he that

keepeth his way preserveeth his soul what's more

important to us than our soul what's more important

what do we want to preserve says god tells us

not to fear those kill the body only. They can't

hurt us. You got to fear the one who killed the

soul. You got to fear God. Every one of us needs

to apply ourselves through the preserving of

our soul. You say God's going to preserve you.

Again, it's not a contradiction. How does God

preserve? preserves by when we persevere. That's

how he preserves. Now, the highway of the upright.

We are on a highway, right? We all know that.

We're on the highway. I love that description

of a road. The highway. In St. Louis, there's

the King's Highway. It's the name of the street.

I'd like to live on the King's Highway. That'd

be great, wouldn't it? So that's what it is,

right? That's where we're at. That's what we're

walking through. That's what we're going on.

And when we're on that highway, we depart from

evil. Do you know what evil is? Oh, I know what

evil is. That's when somebody comes up from behind

you and stabs you in the back. or shoots you

or does some despicable thing to you robs you

breaks into your evil evil evil there's evil

all over the world yeah there definitely is there's

no doubt about it is that what we should be thinking

about and considering we that's not that's not

it is it we may have an encounter with something

like that maybe But how are we encountering evil

day by day? What do you think of evil? If you

come across evil, what are you supposed to do?

You're supposed to get away from it, right? You're

not supposed to be anywhere around where evil

exists. Well, what is evil? Well, sorry to say,

but evil is anything that is in opposition to

God. That's a simple basic definition. That's

evil. Somebody that is set up in his departure

from God, his refusal to hear God, his refusal

to honestly deal with God, that's evil. So again,

you've got to ask yourselves, you've got to ask

questions. Is there something, is there evil

in my life? Am I still associating with evil?

I'm on the king's highway. How can I associate

with evil? Do I have a real relationship with

an evil person? How's that? That might be a good

thing if you're constantly sharing the gospel

and telling them about Jesus Christ. That might

be a wonderful thing. But it's not a wonderful

thing just to sit there like he's just a he's

one with you And you never say a thing about

the Lord with Jesus Christ You'd never been never

trying to point out his sin or her sin You're

just having a good old time Well, that's that's

what you're supposed to depart from So that's

that's it's a personal We can't depart from Iran

or Trump. We shouldn't be any way influenced

by those people. But we can depart in a very

real way from our personal relationships with

evil. That's what the Bible is calling us to

do. And that's how we're going to preserve our

soul. Bad company corrupts good manners. That's

true, isn't it? You believe that. Eventually

it's going to get to you. Eventually it's going

to knock off some of that sharp edge that you

used to have for the gospel. I mean, we see that

all the time, don't we? We see it in this whole...

homosexual thing people this this was a dividing

point for ever now all of a sudden it's it's

all trying to mesh together they're trying to

tell us it's all okay what happened well they

just associated with evil they let it affect

the way they thought 18 and 19 pride goeth before

destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall

Better is it to be of a humble spirit with the

lowly then to divide the spoil with the proud

So there we have it What's the mark of a Christian

what's one of the basic marks of a Christian

that we always talk about humility, right? There's

no such thing as a proud Christian. There's no

such thing as somebody that's all conceited and

self -centered and prideful. That's not Christianity.

That's not what the Spirit works within us. Now

we might fall into those sins temporarily, but

when we do, God is not going to leave us in those

sins. And that will lead to a fall. All of that

pride. Again, giving an example of pride. You

know what pride is, surely, right? You know what

pride is. Well, let me ask the question then.

If you go through a day without praying, you

do not pray. Is that prideful? Do you think that

that's pride? Yes, that's pride. That's exactly

what that is. You told God that whole day you

didn't need Him at all. You were self -sufficient.

That's pride. Is that how you think of pride?

Do you get mad when people insult you? Why do

you do that? When they say something bad about

you? Does that start to rile you up a little

bit? You resentful? That's pride. The way we

should think about that is if they really knew

me, they'd say a lot worse than that. i'm trying

to make it personal i guess that's obvious right

it doesn't do any good if we don't take it personal

the scripture has got to be personally understood

it's got to be received by us where we are that's

how we get understanding that's how we get wisdom

what would your wife or your husband say if he

went through all day and you didn't pay a bit

of attention to them you didn't listen to what

they were saying you didn't talk to them you

didn't what would that would that be something

oh well no that wouldn't be a well that'd be

a big deal right it should be but that's the

same that's the same thing we're talking about

only it's worse because it's an offense to god

and it sure Pride will surely destroy us. It's

left to itself. That's what it says. Remember

Pilgrim, the Christian, the Pilgrim's Progress?

Christian? He had a terrible time in the Valley

of Humiliation. And he went down into the valley.

He didn't like it. But Christian loved her. I

mean, Faithful loved him. Because he was already

down. He already had the right opinion of himself

He wasn't getting chopped down. He wasn't getting

worked over like Christian Because he was already

at the right place and he could peacefully walk

through the valley of humiliation And he just

enjoyed all the sights That's what we're shooting

for folks. That's what it says here Better is

it to be of a humble spirit with the lowly. Again,

watch who you associate yourself with. Somebody

that's... I had a friend, well we all knew him,

I mean he could keep you humble. He knew how

to keep you humble, he'd get right on you. And

you could do the same with him. That's a good

sword. A lot of people just got aggravated at

him or whatever, but he really was performing

a useful service if you could receive it. All

right then, verse 20. He that handleeth a matter

wisely shall find good. And whoso trustseth in

the Lord, happy is he. Those who listen to the

Lord's instruction prosper. Those who trust in

the Lord are blessed. Another alternate. Those

who listen to the instructions of the Lord prosper.

Because we trust in the Lord, we are happy. Those

are all true. Those are all wonderful sayings.

You can't go wrong, can you? You can't go wrong

with this frame of mind, with this way of thinking.

You want to prosper? You want to find good? Listen

to the Lord and do it His way. That's wisdom.

That's handling it wisely. And then when you're

going, you're trusting. As you're putting into

practice living the way that the Lord has instructed

us to live, you're trusting the Lord to make

it all good, to grow me up, to prosper me, to

make me more like Christ than I was the day before,

however it applies, whatever it is. We're trusting

the Lord and He's going to be, you're going to

be happy because He's going to bless you. Listen

and luxuriate, that's what I wrote. Listen and

luxuriate. Luxuriate. That's what we're talking

about. This abundant life, this great wonderful

relationship with Jesus Christ. It's a luxury.

It's luxury personified when you listen to the

Lord. It's not a fool's errand. It's a luxury.

Your life is going to be happy. Believe and be

blessed. Listen and luxuriate. Believe and be

blessed. That's what the Proverbs is saying.

Do things the way the Lord decides to do it.

Do it His way. Seek Him first. Don't wait till

you get in trouble and then say, I need help

to get out of this mess that I made for myself.

He'll get you out of it alright, but you went

through a lot of stuff for nothing. Seek him

first In verse 21 then the wise in heart shall

be called prudent and the sweetness of the lips

Increases learning this is so important. This

is so much for everybody everybody That in any

way tries to teach somebody else And we all do

at some point. Some people do it a lot more than

others. But, everybody does it. The wise heart

shall be called prudent or discerning. You can

discern things. If you're wise, you have discernment.

You're prudent. A wise heart is a discerning

heart. In other words... Truth from error, right

from wrong. You can discern these things. And

you have an interest then, or perhaps you have

a responsibility, in instructing others in these

same matters. What does it say about that? Well,

it says that the sweetness of the lips increase

of learning I don't know what you have you might

have what pleasant words you might have that

in your bottles pleasant words promote instruction

sweetness kindness how we say something matters

that's what it amounts to how you use The wisdom

that you have to instruct others matters. And

the Bible's telling us here that the kindest,

most loving way of expression is the best way.

And that sometimes takes a lot of grace and a

lot of thought and a lot of restraining our flesh

to accomplish that goal. If you're trying to

teach your kids, this is important. You're going

to have to do it with pleasant words. You're

going to have to make it so they can understand

it. You're going to have to make it so that they

know that this is in their best interest. You're

not going to do it with threats. You're not going

to do it with losing your temper. You're going

to do it with kindness and loving, consistent

Discipline. Discipline is a great word. It's

what we all need. It's what we all want, or we

should anyway. We want the Lord to discipline

us. We want that instruction in our life. But

how we give it out matters. Surely you've all

had experiences with a good teacher and a bad

teacher. Preachers are... This is so important

to somebody that's going to teach the word. If

it's in a Sunday school class or up here or however

it is, wherever it is. The way we say something

is critically important to getting the point

across. I'm not saying that you don't tell the

truth, you always tell the truth. But there's

always a myriad of ways of expressing it. And

the kinder, most loving way is more likely to

be successful in what you're trying to accomplish.

That's what the Bible says. I just read it to

you. So, let's be mindful of this. Husbands,

when you try to instruct your wives. Parents

and their children. When you have to go to some

adult and try to help them and give them some

good advice. It's constant. This is applicable

throughout our lives. That we speak the truth

in love. We're going to do this 23 of it, 22.

Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him

that hath it, but the instruction of fools is

followed. The Bible always makes a big deal out

of an abundance of water, probably because it

was in desert lands, dry lands. So if you had

a well of water, you had a good thing there.

real possibility of flourishing in your life.

And so he's making this comparison of understanding

is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it.

So get understanding. Let the well spring forth.

Let it enrich your life. You can know the importance

of it just by the opposite of it. If you don't

have any water, you got big trouble. If you don't

have a well spring of water, you got problems.

If you do, you don't. It's the same with understanding.

If you can't understand a thing, you got problems.

As soon as you understand something, the problem

is over. Then you go around, you go about correcting

it, changing it, fixing it. Whatever it is, understanding

is a life -enriching thing. And it doesn't come

without application to it. It doesn't come without

work. It doesn't come without study, reading,

putting into practice that which you know, gaining

understanding. It's a wellspring of life. Conversely,

the instruction of fools is folly. So remember

that as well. I don't think we've got any fools

here. But I'm sure we all come across it in our

daily lives. People that don't know the Lord.

People that have no interest in the Lord. People

that claim to be wise but are fools. Don't be

deceived. Don't be easily tricked. It's folly.

It's empty. Their advice is worthless. Their

teaching is worthless. Anytime they contradict

the word, forget it. Don't care who he is, who

she is. Doesn't matter. Anybody that tells you

corporal punishment is unnecessary, that's not

good advice. That's in direct conflict with the

word. So you decide. So as you can see these

proverbs that we've looked at today they're extremely

practical and like they're all They all require

effort on our part. There's no doubt of that

But they all carry a wonderful reward. They all

carry a great promise They are all carrying the

blessings of God unto us This is how you have

a relationship with me the Lord says And I will

repay you abundantly. You're going to be blessed.

You're going to be happy. You're going to prosper.

Why? Because your life is going to glorify God.

And on the road to glorifying God, you're going

to be enjoying God in your life. Or you can just

go on and slip -shot through life. Every now

and then you have a little bit of an encounter

with God and you think you're satisfied with

that That's not luxury that's not luxuriated

So wallow in the luxury of the Lord like he would

have us to do be happy in him seek him Seek him

in his word seek him in prayer Seek them in your

relationships and in your evangelistic efforts.

It's a happy life. It's a blessed life. It's

a life God has for all who will. Amen.