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yeah book by book here we are once again

at the Quinta Christian sets in

Shropshire England for the book of

Proverbs and our study at number two

poor black amis joining me here but our

special guest is George Vova who has

come from well really from around the

world in fact to be with us on this

occasion it's great to see you again

George great actually the London fact

I've been in Britain now fifty-two years

I'm still working on the language I like

that well friends here we are in

Proverbs number two we're looking at

chapters four to six so in a way just as

Jesus Christ is kind of personified

wisdom with passion so our key truth

today is that we must love him to

crucify our deceitful passions because

in a real way

Christ is personified in the Proverbs

here I'm going to read from chapter four

here verse eighteen I think the path of

the righteous is like the first gleam of

dawn shining ever brighter till the full

light of day when six earlier in the

chapter

dural forsake wisdom and she will

protect you love her and she will watch

over you wisdom is supreme therefore get

wisdom so remembering that Christ we can

ourselves say today is the power and the

wisdom of God

that's a quote ready for 1 Corinthians

chapter 1 verse 24 then why is wisdom

presented here as a woman through our

proverbs speak to us o theologian yeah

that's a common question because if

wisdom is Christ and we think what how

do we know that well I often say to

people make a list of everything that is

true of wisdom in these chapters that in

which if you get wisdom you get life if

you get wisdom you get the favor of the

Lord you get understanding you get

forgiveness you get you know how to live

everything that you were list is true of

Christ and then and all the way down

through church history people have

understood this as Christ and even when

we say the Nicene Creed and that the

Council of Nicaea back in the 4th

century the

was came out of an understanding of the

book of Proverbs of Christ as wisdom and

all that but why is a woman because you

think shouldn't was well first of all

it's important to remember that the word

the Hebrew word for spirit is feminine

and it's Christ filled with the spirit

the spirit of wisdom and sometimes we

think about the church as well as this

woman in throughout Scripture filled

with the spirit and I loved it in the

New Testament when Jesus says that if we

asked for the spirit the father will

give us that give us the spirit and

James says if we ask for wisdom will

always receive that promise

so is this to be filled with the spirit

and to be filled with wisdom it's the

same thing so that when we're looking at

the book of Proverbs it's not just God

the Son in the abstract it's God the Son

the Lord Jesus filled with the Spirit

the fit the spirit filled man who lives

human life as it was always supposed to

be lived I always think if the book of

Proverbs was like a preacher and

preaching wisdom when the book of

Proverbs looks at Jesus of Nazareth

living human life as it's supposed to be

Proverbs that go that's what I'm talking

about

he's it he's everything I ever dreamed

of that's wonderful to hear it's a great

testimony to for many people around the

world who say in the end we read about

them from the Bible and actually so much

of proverb is quoted by in the New

Testament that is a surefire indication

that this indeed is part of the inspired

inerrant Word of God as well where in

chapters 4 to 6 looking at chapter 4:23

that warns us to God our heart for it is

the wellspring of life I could ask how

does this chapter show the importance of

this as the wicked so often become

addicted to evil as in chapter as in

verse 6 you know they they cannot sleep

till they do evil what do you think

about that George well we're getting

into for me the most important part of

the book of Proverbs where it gets right

into this issue of lust and sexual

purity and this is why it was so

important to me I'd

such struggle with lust I'd started into

the world of pornography I wasn't from a

Christian home and here I'm a young

Christian and some Christian I met gave

me the idea I couldn't like kiss girls

anymore that's the main thing I did was

kiss girls you know in those days we

didn't jump in bed we just kissed up a

storm so I needed a verse that was you

know that was shalt not kiss and I

didn't find it so I kept kissing

everything available but as I got into

this proverbs I realized that this lust

could have you know as it grew it would

it would destroy me and this brought me

into brokenness and repentance and all

my life is also as I've been counseling

people with sexual addiction almost all

my Christian life

this has really helped this there's over

500 verses about sex in the Bible but

back in my day it was hardly spoken

about in the church and then we wonder

why there were so many casualties

including many Christian leaders and

just a few months ago another major

leader in America's just had to stand up

in front of his huge church and confess

multiple adultery and addiction to

pornography so we're in something really

relevant here and I thank the Lord for

that it's that way of the guarding of

the heart I love the verse guard our

heart fits the wellspring of life is it

to say if you allow whatever lust or

greed or anger to go down into your

heart and you don't guard that that you

can't do that with impunity you do that

you allow it in and that's gonna create

huge consequences for life and people

think it's okay I've got it under

control

nunna once something's down in your

heart it's gonna shape your whole life

tremendous verse well she began with

that verse 18 of chapter 4 but the ever

brighter path of the righteous but

that's of course compared with this

adulterous aspect so why in chapter 5

verse 20 do you see them

if captivation by an out adulterous why

does it why is it given such attraction

such attention here in the Proverbs why

this are these things mentioned in the

Bible quite offensive

well people sometimes say that and when

we used to speak as corner

some of these things people would say

that should you shouldn't even mention

things like that but the point is we

were designed with great passion and

affection why because we were designed

to have like a passionate romance with

the Living God the infinite being who is

Father Son and Holy Spirit so he gave us

massive appetites and passions and

things and the problem is is when we

direct those away from the Living God to

each other and expect of each other that

level of satisfaction and fulfillment it

just doesn't happen it just you know we

we sort of expect what the appetites

that were meant to be satisfied with the

infinite God for all eternity are turned

on each other and we demand of each

others a level that we can't give to

each other and so this almost it's

almost there's a pathetic failure in

inner and when people say oh I found

this relationship and it's everything

and it's gonna last forever and then

very quickly it fizzles out and there's

disappointment and failure but that's

and I actually find the saddest thing of

all is when a person like says no I'm

totally satisfied in the human

relationship I have and I'm they are

that's so sad

because we were designed for so much

more with so that brought that all the

way through here were being the reason

that this subject is addressed so often

in Scripture and so deeply and frankly

is because the Bible knows how we do

were designed and we unless we take this

seriously and deal with it properly it's

going to control us in all sorts of ways

and if we go well I'm just going to

repress it I'm not going to face up to

my desires that's gonna be like a

volcano and you'll be crushed you have

to face it

there's a huge issue and look at chapter

5 verse 20 verse 12 you will say how I

hated discipline so sexual purity and

celibacy I mean they're openly mocked

really today and as as you were saying

George a moment ago even within the

church sometimes we've lost sight of

that wisdom so what wisdom has proverbs

for those who feel we could say trapped

by such things I just really feel we

need to just read these couple of verses

there's such

my you know right there in Chapter six

just pick it up quickly at verse 23 for

this command as a lamp this teaching is

a light and correction and instruction

keeping you from your neighbor's wife

you know it's not vague is it from the

smooth talk of a wayward woman we think

of the whole massive growth of the the

prostitute industry and sex trafficking

which finally people are talking about

proverbs at it before these things were

even hardly thought about do not lust in

your heart think of the battle with

pornography today much tougher than

anything I faced as a young person and

we need to be able to help young people

of course with a message of grace when

they failed when they they put

themselves down especially if they're

people who love Jesus do not lust in

your heart after a beauty let her

captivate you with her eyes and that can

be a picture not necessarily woman on

the street corner for a prostitute can

be had for a loaf of bread and now

completely free of charge through

pornography can a man scoop fire into

his lap without his clothes being bird

can a man walk on hot coals without his

feet being scorched so is he who sleeps

with another man's wife no one who

touches her will go unpunished powerful

stuff that that we need we need to look

at and we encourage those who are with

us in this program to read to read every

verse in this text and read it maybe

also in the message a paraphrase which

some of the verses just punch even hard

we're onto something actually very very

serious indeed and actually from the

paths of the right of the righteous and

the immoral from those two different

paths now proverbs actually introduces

us also to what is called the sluggard

pops up several times actually we're

looking at chapter 6 verses let's see 6

to 9 I think we would say those those

particular verses in chapter 6 go to the

ant you sluggard consider its ways and

be wise it has no commander no overseer

or ruler unit stores its provision

in summer gathers its food and harvest

how long will you lie there you sluggard

when you get up from your sleep so

that's a question for us now from the

beginning of the world it seems we were

commanded to work you know for six days

so we could ask why is it foolish when

we forget that basic wisdom well it is

it is tremendous foolishness because

lots of people have tremendous amount of

leisure time and can just waste hours

and hours and huge amounts of their life

and then they feel depressed and tired

amazing thing is is that when when we

are like tiredness doesn't create

laziness laziness creates tiredness

it's that when we stop doing and stop

working then we become Altana I can't be

bothered I may as well go back to bed

and things like that and then people

become depressed and the Scriptures

actually say that when we fail to work

properly we get depressed then we can't

understand what life's about and we lose

our energy it's because we were God

created us before the fall he says look

I want you to work for six days and then

have a day where you're properly

refreshed by me the Sabbath isn't just

like a day for say no I'll do a bit of

DIY or go down the park or something

you'll just watch telly

that's not refreshing I often feel more

tired after spending two hours in front

of the telly then if I done - I was

doing something productive like so the

Lord's like worked for six days but then

spended they'd been refreshed in me and

the in the point is whether we're

unemployed or were working or looking

after a home or were retired or were

working in an office or a college the

point is we spend six days working for

the glory of God and and the the the

problems return to this over and over

again because the person who's the

sluggard is not someone who's just

ridiculously lazy all the time it's just

an ordinary person who time after time

after time says oh well I'll do it later

or I'll get to it or it doesn't matter

now it's not a priority and by

cumulatively making those decisions not

to work and be productive you end up

with nothing and your life's gone and I

guess they're not it's not the quite the

same as being unemployed some are

unemployed but nevertheless I still like

the ant

exactly right it doesn't matter who

whether were paid for work work or not

we may not be paid but even if we

haven't got paid employment we can be

busy and work and help others and serve

the Lord and bring glory to him hmm

so we've learned from these ants

apparently go to the ant that's for

chapter 6 verse 6 if we look at those

verses again what results from us well

as you put it lazing about what do you

think Joe yeah well again these verses

as a young Christian they just kicked me

all over the place you know I had a lazy

streak and they owned a business before

I was a Christian my dream was to be on

the beach with my girlfriend and let

other people work out 200 people

part-time working for me I had this

red-hot fire extinguisher and so when I

became a believer and I started to read

many of the verses in Proverbs on the

same theme we'll see them later on it

you know it just changed my life and

I've never had since God met me here

much difficulty with with laziness it's

just and I was with a group of

missionaries interviewing them I lived

in India and I never forget I said look

what's the biggest problem you guys are

facing here in India to reach the lost

and almost 80% said it's laziness so we

need to be honest and open and realize

this this this might be happening in our

lives right now those who are with us in

this program deal with it repent of it

get get some accountability so that you

can you can grow and be be more

productive for the kingdom Oh wasting

time I think is one of the greatest sins

of our generation so go to the amp'd go

to the ant consider its ways and be wise

as we close off and be wise you know

that's what you will need actually when

we Paul and I were working at All Souls

Church in Langham Place in London we had

on our team a lady called Sheena Gillis

remember Sheena we heard her on our team

because she was wise she was our

security against going down the wrong

paths again and again

we learned from that join us again next

time won't you please thank you for

joining us today

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