[0:00] Well, good evening, a very warm welcome as we gather to worship the Lord.
[0:16] We're going to begin with two invitations, invitations to come to Him. The first one I'm going to give you, I'm quoting from a song, a song that was released a few years ago.
[0:32] You might have heard of it. It's one of the town in songs. It's called Vagabonds. I just want to read the words. Don't be offended, you're being called a vagabond.
[0:45] Come all you vagabonds. Come all you don't belongs. Winners and losers, come people like me. Come all you travellers tired from the journey. Come wait a while, stay a while. Welcomed you'll be.
[1:02] Come all you questioners looking for answers and searching for reasons and sensing it all. Come all you fallen. Come all you broken. Find strength for your body and food for your soul.
[1:16] Come to the feast. There is room at the table. Come let us meet in this place. With the King of all kindness who welcomes us in. With the wonder of love and the power of grace.
[1:29] With the wonder of love and the power of grace. Come all believers.
[2:03] And dreamers and schemers. And come all you restless. Just searching for home. Movers and shakers and givers and takers. The happy, the sad and lost and alone.
[2:16] Come to the feast. There is room at the table. Come let us meet in this place. With the King of all kindness who welcomes us in. With the wonder of love and the power of grace.
[2:27] Come self-sufficient. Come self-sufficient with wearied ambition. And come those who feel at the end of the road. Fiery debaters and religion haters.
[2:40] Accusers, abusers, the hurt and ignored. Come to the feast. There is room at the table. Come let us meet in this place. With the King of all kindness who welcomes us in.
[2:52] With the wonder of love and the power of grace. The wonder of love and the power of grace. Another invitation.
[3:04] I'm going to read to you from Isaiah 55. Come, all you who are thirsty. Come to the waters. And you who have no money.
[3:15] Come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread. And your labor on what does not satisfy. Listen.
[3:26] Listen to me. And eat what is good. And your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me. Hear me that your soul may live.
[3:37] I will make an everlasting covenant with you. My faithful love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples. A leader and commander of the peoples.
[3:49] Surely you will summon nations you know not. And nations that you do not know will hasten to you. Because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel. For he has endowed you with splendor.
[4:01] Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his own way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord and he will have mercy on him.
[4:14] And to our God, for he will freely pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than yours.
[4:29] And my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth. And making it bud and flourish.
[4:40] So that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater. So is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty. But will accomplish what I desire.
[4:52] And achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You go out in joy and be led forth in peace. And the mountains and hills will burst into song before you. And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
[5:06] Instead of the thornbrush will grow the pine tree. And instead of briars the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown. For an everlasting sign which will not be destroyed.
[5:19] As we come to the Lord. We've been invited to come worship him. To turn our eyes to him. To come and feed on him. To come and enjoy all that he has for us.
[5:31] Let's turn and sing together. Number 29. Praise my soul, the King of Heaven. Let's pray together.
[6:01] Our Father as we gather this evening. How we thank you. That there is an invitation. That we're not coming begging to get in.
[6:14] Coming in begging to get your attention. But that Lord you're a God who has called us to seek after you. That you promise to be here as we gather.
[6:26] That Lord as we seek your face we will find you. As we turn our attention to you. You will speak to us.
[6:39] We thank you Lord God for that first time. When you stirred in our hearts. And for the first time we reached out to you in faith.
[6:50] We thank you. That you fulfilled your promise. That you brought new life to us. That as we believed and turned from our sin. Trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[7:04] That you brought new life into our hearts. Thank you that you woke the dead as it were. You brought life to us. You brought sight to blind eyes.
[7:17] You made our weak legs strong. You gave us hope where there was none. And we thank you Lord God. That not only is that an experience that we could have on that first day.
[7:30] But today too we can seek after you. Today too you will be true to your promises and faithful. Today too we can know your presence and power at work in our lives.
[7:43] Today too you want to minister to us. You want us to turn our back on our sin. And turn to Christ once again.
[7:55] You want to empower us and help us to live godly lives. You want to purify us. And so Lord as we come this evening we pray that you would search us and know us.
[8:09] That you would help us to have hearts that are soft and ready to hear from you. And Lord we say that we haven't just come to hear your word but we want to do it too.
[8:23] We want to obey you. And so Lord if you're encouraging us in a particular direction we pray that you would help us to hear and to obey. Lord if you're reaching out to us tonight to stop us in some way we're heading which is wrong or some particular thing that we're doing that's sinful.
[8:42] We pray that we would hear your voice and we would do it. We pray Lord God that you would inhabit the praises of your people here tonight.
[8:54] And as we seek after you. As we take up this invitation to come close. We pray Lord that we would experience the presence of the living God.
[9:08] Please speak. Please speak clearly and loudly Lord sometimes we get so confused and distracted by all the other things that are going on in our minds. We pray that you'd help us to be still.
[9:21] To know that you're God and to listen to your voice. We do want to come Lord and acknowledge our own sin in thought and word and deed.
[9:31] Even this very day the things that we have done or thought or said that are wrong. The things that we haven't done that we should have done. We confess our sin.
[9:42] Thank you Lord that you're faithful and just and you will forgive us our sin. And cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We thank you that our hope this evening is not in any lump of wood as if we were bowing down to some idol.
[9:59] But our hope is in Christ. Who is alive. Who is risen. Who is exalted. Who is lifted at the right hand of the Father. And is even interceding for us tonight.
[10:12] And we say Lord we love you. We say Lord we want to live for you. We want to follow you. Please help us we pray. And Lord might we know the power of your spirit.
[10:26] Moving in our hearts. Empowering us and strengthening us. That we might live out the life that you've called us to. So please come Lord this is your time.
[10:37] We want to hear your voice. Might our voices be pleasant in your ears. As you see and hear the worship of our hearts. In Jesus name we pray.
[10:47] Amen. Proverbs chapter 9. Here we have some more invitations.
[11:19] Proverbs chapter 9. Verse 1. Wisdom has built a house.
[11:37] She has hewn it out. Hewn out its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine. She has also set a table. She has sent out her maids.
[11:48] And she calls from the highest point of the city. Let all who are simple come in here. She says to those who lack judgment. Come eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.
[12:00] Leave your simple ways and you will live. Walk in the way of understanding. Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult. Whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.
[12:13] Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you. Rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still.
[12:23] Teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For through me your days will be many.
[12:37] And years will be added to your life. If you are wise your wisdom will reward you. If you are a mocker you alone will suffer. The woman folly is loud.
[12:51] She is undisciplined and without knowledge. She sits at the door of her house. On a seat at the highest point of the city. Calling out to those who pass by.
[13:01] Who go straight on their way. Let all who are simple come in here. She says to those who lack judgment. Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is delicious.
[13:14] But little do they know that the dead are there. That her guests are in the depths of the grave. We pray that God will speak to us through his word.
[13:25] And before we come to consider it some more. We're going to sing together again. Again it's on the overhead. The projector. My Jesus. My Saviour. So today.
[13:56] It's the final showdown. It's the Britain's Got Talent final. You need to cast your vote.
[14:07] There's just two singers left. Lady Wisdom. And Madam Folly. Listen to their songs.
[14:19] And make up your mind. The question of course. Is not. Which has the catchiest tune. Or. Who has the most beautiful voice.
[14:30] Nor is it. Who do you find most attractive. Or even. Which song has the most moving words. The songs.
[14:43] That are both for us here in. Proverbs chapter 9. Are an invitation. To a feast. And the question is. Which invitation.
[14:54] Are you going to accept. Both women. Are inviting you. To follow them. You need to decide. Who you're going to follow.
[15:06] Who will you. Dine with. Tonight. Lady Wisdom. Or. Madam. Folly. Tonight.
[15:18] We've got two. Invitations. We need. To weigh them up. And. We need. To think about. How we're going to choose.
[15:29] Every day. To make. These. Wise decisions. Two invitations. We need. To weigh them up. And we need.
[15:39] To choose. Every day. You have. Two. Invitations. I don't know what. Your experience. Of.
[15:49] Maybe. Throwing a party. Or. For your children. Or. For a big birthday. Or something. But. Do you understand. What I mean. When I say. It gets a little bit awkward. When you get to the point.
[16:00] Where you're trying to decide. Who you're going to invite. And the classic one. Is the. The wedding. Invitations. And the debates. That go on. Between the two families. And. You know.
[16:11] It gets a bit awkward. Perhaps. You've. Been through that. Or perhaps. You've been through. The. The children's party syndrome. Where you're trying to work out. Who the child's going to invite. To a party. Or perhaps.
[16:21] You've been on the receiving end. Of that awkwardness. Wondering why you have. Or haven't been invited. To a particular party. But as we.
[16:32] Come tonight. To this passage. We can be confident. That we've. Both. All. All of us. Have received. Both. Invitations. Now. This is. Why.
[16:43] I think. That we can. Be sure. That we're invited. By both. Of these women. These personifications. Of wisdom. And foolishness. Have a look.
[16:55] To see. Who. Lady. Wisdom. Invited. Look at verse four. Let all. Who are simple. Come in here. She says.
[17:07] To those. Who lack. Judgment. Who is it. That. Was invited. By. Madam. Fool. Look. Verses. Sixteen.
[17:19] Let all. Who are simple. Come in here. She says. To those. Who lack. Judgment. So it's exactly the same. Target group. Let all.
[17:29] Who are simple. Come in here. She says. Both of them. To those. Who lack. Judgment. And to some extent. More or less.
[17:41] We all. Find ourselves. In that position. We're all. To some extent. Simple. And to all. To some extent. Lack. Judgment.
[17:52] Or the ESV says. Lack. Sense. You know. The invitation. Of Christianity. Is firstly. A confrontation.
[18:06] The confrontation. Is. That we. Are simple. We are. Sinners. We're not. Following. What God. Would have us do. We're not. Wise.
[18:17] In God's ways. We are. Simple. And we lack. Judgment. We lack. Sense. We fall. Short. Of the glory.
[18:27] Of God. And so. As we come. To consider. These invitations. The first thing. Is to realize. That both. Wisdom. And foolish. These. These.
[18:38] Personifications. Speak to us. As those. Who are simple. And need. To. Without judgment. If you were to.
[18:51] Look back. At these. First. Nine chapters. Of proverbs. You would see. Repeatedly. Examples. Of. The foolishness. Of mankind. And.
[19:03] Being held up. Wisdom. And you will find. No doubt. As you look through it. Many. Many times. And many. Verses. That touch. Bits of your life.
[19:13] That you know. Show. That you are still simple. And show. That you are not as wise. As perhaps you hoped you were. Being a sinner.
[19:25] Is no bar. On being invited. To dine. With lady wisdom. Lady wisdom. Being a saint. Is no bar. On being invited.
[19:37] To dine. With madam folly. Lady wisdom. And madam folly. Are inviting. The same people. And that's us. All of us.
[19:49] We've all got the invitations. In our hands. No one needs to feel left out. Whether you're the worst sinner. Whether you've come tonight.
[19:59] Feeling absolutely terrible. Absolutely miserable. Can't believe that you're even here. And that God's. Allowing you. Even to breathe in his presence. Or whether you come.
[20:12] Feeling like you've really got everything sorted. And you've come to. Polish. The brass. Everyone.
[20:24] Has to make a decision. Between these two. Invitations. If you're too bad. You feel too bad. You're still invited. If you feel too good. Then you also. Are invited.
[20:35] To make a choice. But as we. Get into the meat. Of these invitations. We need to realize. That we need to weigh them up. Very carefully. I want to.
[20:48] Think about. These invitations. Thinking particularly. About the character. Of the host. I want to think about. The. The nature.
[20:59] Of the invitation. And what we're going to find. Is that wisdom. Is offering something. That is real. Sharing. And we'll find. That Madam Folly.
[21:09] Is offering. Something that's stolen. That is not even real. And I want you to notice. The destination. If you accept. This invitation.
[21:20] Where it will lead. Let's look first of all. At Lady Wisdom. This voice. Speaking. In. This idea.
[21:30] Of personification. The attributes. Of wisdom. Being represented. As a. As a person. As a woman. In this case. What's the character. Of this lady.
[21:42] Well. We find. In verse one. That she. Has built. Her house. She is. Hewn out. It's. Seven. Pillars.
[21:52] She is a. Hard working. Woman. And what's the. Nature. Of her invitation. Well. She wants to share. With you. Of her great possessions.
[22:05] She has. Her own house. That she wants you. To be invited. Into. She has. Her own wine. That she wants you. To enjoy. She has. Her own food. That she wants you. To share.
[22:16] Verse six. She has an. Insight. For you. She wants you. To have. Understanding. Verse seven. She wants to. Correct you.
[22:27] Where you are wrong. Where your. Thinking is wrong. Where your. Thinking. Perhaps. Is caught up. With the. The world's thinking. It needs to be. Readjusted. Well. Lady wisdom. Wants to. Make that.
[22:38] Adjust. Adjustment. And correct you. Verse eight. There is a rebuke. Or a reproof. For those who come.
[22:49] To. Lady wisdom. She will. Tell you. Where you're going. The wrong way. And. And. And. And. Set you right. She offers instruction. In verse nine.
[23:01] In verse ten. She reminds us. That it's the fear of the Lord. That it's the beginning. Of. Wisdom. Just as an aside.
[23:14] I got myself into a. An interesting. In situation. In a. In a school once. Because it was just setting up. It was one of these academies. And. A document was being written. That explained what the school was all about.
[23:26] So. It wasn't quite a mission statement. It was about a page of A4. But it said. What the school was intending to do. And. References to its curriculum. And stuff. And I was really concerned. I was. I was. Not working for the school.
[23:38] I guess I'd have found it awkward if I was. I was. Working for the church. But visiting the school regularly. And. What stood out to me. Like a sore thumb. Was what the school intended to do. Was everything.
[23:48] But. Anything to do with any spiritual. Or moral. Content. And so I wrote. Because they were asking our opinion. So I. I wrote. And said. I. I. I really think.
[23:59] That one of the things. That you should include in this. Is some desire. To include moral. And spiritual. Development. To. It's great. All the things you've put down. But without.
[24:09] Without these. I suspect. That it's. Not going to be. All that it should be. And I. I ended. In fact. I quoted the version of this verse. The fear of the Lord. Is the beginning of wisdom.
[24:20] Of course. In chapter one. It says. The fear of the Lord. Is the beginning of knowledge. And I put that at the bottom. And the head teacher. Wasn't very impressed. He came to me. And said. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I should be in the business of fear.
[24:33] I'm not sure I should be in the business of fear. Well. The wisdom of God says. The fear of the Lord. Is the beginning. Of knowledge. And wisdom.
[24:45] Here we have. Lady wisdom. Offering us. Great. An invitation. To know. And to fear God. And to live for him. And verse 10. Speaks.
[24:56] Second part of verse 10. Speaks about knowing. The Holy One. Having greater understanding. This is the invitation. Of wisdom. This is the invitation.
[25:07] That God wants to give. To set us on the right track. This lady. Who has. These possessions. She wants to give us these things. She wants to teach us. She wants to instruct us.
[25:18] She wants to show us the right way. She wants to teach us. To fear God. And to know him. And to grow in his wisdom. And knowledge. And where does it lead? Verse 6.
[25:29] Leave your simple ways. And you will live. Verse 11. For through me. Your days will be many. And years will be added to your life.
[25:43] It ends in life. Let's then. Think briefly about. Madam Folly. What's her character.
[25:55] It tells us in verse 13. That the woman folly is loud. She is undisciplined. And without knowledge.
[26:08] The ESV includes the word seductive. She knows nothing. She knows nothing. This is the person.
[26:21] That's inviting us. To follow her. This is one of the invitations. That we hold in our hands. An invitation. By this lady. Who is loud. And seductive.
[26:32] And knows nothing. And what's the invitation to? Well not very much really. Except that she says in verse 17. Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is delicious.
[26:46] I don't know about you. But that seems pretty. A bit of a. A bit of a warning. About going to this party. That the things that we're going to have. Are going to be secret. They're going to be. Stolen.
[26:59] She doesn't have anything to offer. What she is offering is borrowed. Stolen. But she does say.
[27:10] That it will be delicious. And here. Comes a challenge. Because. The call to us from the world. And the call to us from the world's ways.
[27:22] Can be very attractive. To our eyes. And very attractive. To our mouths. It can be attractive. To our. Desires. But where does it end?
[27:33] Verse 18. But little do they know. That the dead are there. That her guests. Are in the depth. Of the graves.
[27:45] Of the grave. Now when we put it starkly like this. And I've put it in my notes here. As a table. It becomes. Blatantly obvious. What we should do. Clearly.
[27:55] We should listen to Lady Wisdom. And accept the invitation from her. And reject the invitation. From Madam Folly. But let's not forget. And let's not pretend. That this voice.
[28:05] Of Madam Folly. Is very loud. It is very seductive. It's very attractive. It offers. She offers. What feels good. And what seems sweet.
[28:16] And pleasant. And there's a warning here. About not listening. To the loudest voices. There's a warning here. About not listening. To what seems to be. The most attractive option.
[28:28] There's a warning here. About not just following. Our feelings. In our lives. And perhaps some of you. Are going through. Difficult times at the moment. You're trying to.
[28:39] Weigh up some options. And thinking about things. Be careful. About those things. That seem very attractive. To us. Be careful. About that voice. That's really loud.
[28:51] Be careful. About those things. That make you feel. That that must be. The right way to go. Conversely. Choosing.
[29:02] Correction. Choosing. Reproof. Choosing. Instruction. And rebuke. Choosing. The fear of God. Might not seem.
[29:13] Very attractive. At all. But we're being told. That it leads. To life. And in fact. Of course. As we understand. From the Lord Jesus teaching.
[29:23] It leads to abundant life. The fullest. Life. That we can enjoy. The loudest. Call. Leads to death. Just want to.
[29:37] Turn briefly. To consider. The fact that we need. To make this choice. Every day. And begin to. Put this. Where the rubber. Hits the road. You know.
[29:48] One of the. Pro. The challenges. Of preaching. From proverbs. Is. That we need to. Make sure. That it's the gospel. And Jesus.
[29:58] That shines through. It would be easy. To read proverbs. And become like. A legalist. And all. Just be worrying. About following. Wise rules.
[30:08] And. And. Worrying about. Falling short. Of what God's. Asked us to do. So let's just be clear. From this passage. What it says.
[30:18] About the gospel. It says. That we come. Just as we are. Verse four. Let all. Who are simple. Come in here.
[30:30] She says. To those. Who lack judgment. God is not asking us. To. Reach a certain. Standard of holiness.
[30:40] Before we are. Accepted by him. Before he. Wants to. Teach us. And show us. And help us. In fact. It's the going to him. That helps us.
[30:52] To have. Correction. Rebuke. And. Offers instruction. Verse six. Teaches us. That we. Need to repent.
[31:02] It says. Leave. Your simple ways. And you. Will live. That we need. To turn. To God's wisdom.
[31:13] Turn. To his son. The Lord Jesus. And we need. To leave. Our simple ways. We need to be. Willing to let go. Of simple ways. And perhaps. There's people here tonight.
[31:23] That know. Already. They know in their hearts. That something they're clinging on to. Is a simple way. And it's something that needs to be. Let go of. And we need to. Turn.
[31:34] To him. We desperately need. To respond to this invitation. In verse 10. That the wisdom. Of God. This. This.
[31:44] This character. Says. The fear of the Lord. Is the beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge of the Holy One. Is. Understanding. And of course. As we.
[31:55] Flick ahead. Into the New Testament. We find in 1 Corinthians. Chapter 1. And verses 23. And 24. These words. But we preach.
[32:08] Christ crucified. A stumbling block to Jews. And foolishness to Gentiles. But to those. Whom God has called. Both Jews and Greeks. Christ.
[32:19] The power of God. And. The wisdom. Of God. And so. We find. As we consider. This personification. Of wisdom.
[32:30] And here it gets a bit cloudy. But we're beginning to see. That although. Here in. In Proverbs. It's a lady being portrayed. In this personification. We can find. In true wisdom.
[32:41] The Lord Jesus Christ. Himself. He is. Wisdom. He is the one. Who is inviting us. To himself. He is the one.
[32:51] That's calling us. He is the one. That's laid an invitation. In your hand tonight. To make a decision. To call. To follow him. And quite simply.
[33:04] The decision is between. Following Christ. Or following. Ourselves. Or following Satan. And that choice. Is everywhere.
[33:17] In our lives. You see. What's being. Promised here. As we come to. Wisdom. As we come.
[33:27] To receive this wisdom. As we come. To be instructed. As we come. To be corrected. And straightened out. As we come. To truly fear God. We're being. We're being told.
[33:38] That he is going to deal. With our sin. He's going to deal. With those things. That are wrong. He's going to deal. With that simple. He's going to deal. With that lack. That lack of judgment. That we have. He's going to.
[33:48] Turn us away. From that. And set us on a new path. But we do need. To make that choice. Every day. And I just want to. Encourage you tonight.
[33:58] If you're a Christian. If you're not. Sorry. If you're not a Christian. The challenge is. Is. Is. Is. Is. Is. Is. As clear as this. You've got to decide. Who are you going to listen to. There's an invitation.
[34:09] From the Lord Jesus Christ. For true wisdom. Are you going to follow him. Or. Are you going to follow the invitation. That's coming from Madam Folly. Which seems very loud.
[34:21] It might be the loudest one. It might be like. In a big envelope. And all shiny bits on it. And you think. Oh. That looks like a good party. And she's inviting you. To things that feel good. And it seems exciting. And it looks like.
[34:31] It's great. It's got great promise. But the Bible is saying. The world's ways. Are going to lead. To death. It's a big hologram.
[34:43] It seems solid. It seems real. But when you try and grab it. It's going to be. Gone. It's a big thing. But what's real and true. Is what's offered by. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one.
[34:55] That can deal with our sin. He's the only one. That can give us true life. He's the only one. That can give us. Eternal life. So if you're not a Christian. That's the choice.
[35:05] That you've got to make. Are you going to. Accept the invitation. To go with Jesus. Or are you going to. Accept the invitation. Just to follow your feelings. And follow the world. Life. Or death.
[35:17] If you're a Christian. Tonight. Your sins are all dealt with. You've made your decision. You've trusted in him. But every day. Every day.
[35:30] You get two more invitations. Every day. You need to wake up. And choose. To follow wisdom. To follow Christ. And not to follow your own ways. Every day.
[35:41] You need to put yourself. On the cross. And follow Christ. Every day. You need to deny yourself. And follow. The Lord Jesus. You can't.
[35:53] Have. Both. If you just picture with me. And I don't think it will. Take very long in your mind. Just a picture with me. Perhaps you're on the. Up at the lakes. One of the lakes. On one of the piers.
[36:05] And there's a boat there. And you've hired it for the day. And you go. Across to the edge of the pier. And you put one foot. You've seen. You know what's coming. Yeah. You put one foot on the boat. And the other foot's.
[36:17] On the pier. Or the jetty. And you just don't quite commit. And you sort of. You hesitate. And the boat just starts to move away. And you know what happens. You end up with one foot. On the boat.
[36:27] And one foot on the jetty. And you don't know which way to go. Because you push on one. You push the boat away. You push on the boat. You're further away. And you end up. Splash. In the water. You can't.
[36:40] Do both. You need to accept. One of the invitations. Or the other. So.
[36:52] The feasts have been prepared. Two invitations have just fallen through your front door. Just like they did yesterday. Just like they did the day before.
[37:04] Just like they will tomorrow. I wonder where you're going to eat. I wonder which way you're going to go. I want to encourage you.
[37:17] As you're sitting there. I don't know. Perhaps you're back in the. The finals of the voice. Or whatever it is. And you're just deciding.
[37:27] Which way to vote. I want you to. Put that picture in your mind. Whether it's that one. Or the invitations. Whichever. Sits in your mind the best. And I want you to think about it. Every morning.
[37:38] When you wake up this week. And I want to. Ask you to make. A deliberate decision. Every morning. When you wake up. Is I'm going to choose. This envelope. I'm going to choose. This invitation.
[37:49] I'm going to. Hit that vote. I'm going to vote for wisdom. And it doesn't matter. What people say. And it doesn't matter. How attractive it seems. To go the other way. I'm going to listen to God. And follow him.
[38:00] Today. The invitation. Is to the sumptuous. Feast. Of lady wisdom. Which leads us.
[38:11] To fear God. And leads. To life. To death. To death. To death. To death. The only alternative. Is to accept. The dodgy meal.
[38:22] That's been offered. By Madam Folly. Whose loud. And seductive. Promises. Are empty. And her shady meal. Will not satisfy. And it leads.
[38:33] To death. Let's pray. Let's pray. Father God. We. Just thank you. Lord. The Lord. The Lord. Jesus himself. Often spoke.
[38:44] In such plain terms. Of choice. That we need to make. And Lord. We ask. Again. That you grant us. The faith. Grant us. The wisdom. To choose. To do the wise thing.
[38:55] And to trust. In the Lord Jesus. Day by day. Lord. We acknowledge. That we are. Constantly bombarded. By seductive words. That would lead us.
[39:06] Towards Madam Folly. And we pray. You'd help us. To turn away from them. And to keep listening. To you. Give us that fear. Of God. That it speaks of. In this passage.
[39:17] And help us. To see. That true wisdom. Is found. In its fullness. In the great person. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's him.
[39:27] That we love. And it's him. That we want to follow. And help us. We pray. This week. Each day. To make that decision. To follow him. And not ourselves. We ask it. In Jesus name.
[39:38] Amen. Throw away. The God of your forefathers. The God your forefathers.
[39:48] Worship beyond the river. And in Egypt. And serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord. Seems undesirable to you. Then choose for yourselves. This day. Whom you will serve. Whether the gods.
[39:59] Your forefathers. Serve beyond the river. Or the gods of the Amorites. In whose land you are living. But as for me. And my household. We will serve. The Lord. Oh Lord.
[40:11] Our prayer. Tonight. Is that. We will be wholehearted. In our devotion. And following. Of the Lord Jesus. Help us. We pray. Daily.
[40:22] To make that choice. To follow the only true and wise way. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.