Christ Through the Bible- Proverbs

Introduction

Today is the day we celebrate the resurrection of the LORD.  Before I get into the message from Proverbs of Christ Through the Bible, let me say a few things about this day of celebration.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith. Without the resurrection, the belief in God's saving grace through Jesus is destroyed. When Jesus rose from the dead, he confirmed his identity as the Son of God and his work of atonement, redemption, reconciliation, and salvation. The resurrection was a real, literal, physical raising of Jesus’ body from the dead. 

During this week of remembrance, we are reminded of the days leading up to the resurrection.  Jesus was arrested, tried and found guilty of claiming to be a king. His body was hung on a cross between two thieves. After his death, Jesus’ body was wrapped in linen clothes and placed in a tomb with a large stone rolled across the opening.  On the third day, an early Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and another Mary came to the tomb and found it empty. Sitting on the rolled away stone was an angel of the Lord who told them to not be afraid because Jesus had risen.  

Both the Old and the New Testament speak of the truth of the Jesus being raised from death - Jesus testified of his resurrection before he died on the cross and his disciples witnessed his body after the resurrection.  The message of the resurrection is about the plan of salvation.  The plan of salvation is based on the character of Jesus Christ. 

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not only the supreme validation of His deity; it also validates the Old Testament prophecies that foretold of Jesus’ suffering and resurrection. Christ’s resurrection also authenticated His own claims that He would be raised on the third day. If Jesus Christ is not resurrected, then we have no hope that we will be, either. In fact, apart from Christ’s resurrection, we have no Savior, no salvation, and no hope of eternal life. As Paul said, our faith would be “useless,” the gospel would be altogether powerless, and our sins would remain unforgiven.  The question that we should asked on this day is who was Jesus Christ?  What type of man was he?  For us to appreciate who Christ is, we can look in the book of Proverbs.  Solomon gives us some insight into the character of Christ. 

There are several ways we could approach this sermon today.  About one-third of Proverbs is a father appealing to his son.  We have wisdom taking on the role of a lady who is the mediator of God’s wisdom, who counters the fatal banquet for the foolish by preparing for them a feast with a gracious invitation calling sinners to the dinner table.  

We could look at the role of Christ in creation. God created the world. What many didn’t know was the central role that God’s Son had in it – that is, until Proverbs 8 was written. It is much easier for us to read Proverbs 8 and see Jesus in it because we have the benefit of John 1:1-4 and Hebrews 1:1-2, where the Israelites did not have this revelation.  We might even look at Christ as the perfect Bridegroom choosing the perfect Bride.

Christ was the Wise Son who pleased His Father in every area of life. He was the Wise Host who invited weary, hungry, and thirsty outcasts to His gospel banquet and who also promised us if we hungered and thirsted after righteousness we would be filled.  He was the Wise Creator who was “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:1-3)  He was the Wise Bridegroom  Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God. (Rev. 19”7-9)

The entire book of Proverbs is a lesson on wisdom.  Christ as the Wise Teacher will bring to us the knowledge to live godly and righteous lives.  What I want to spend the next few minutes looking at Christ as the Wise Teacher.  The first recorded extensive teaching of Christ as we read in the Gospel of Matthew is the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, and in the first 30 verses of chapter five, we have at least seven clear hints of Proverbs in the Sermon.

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

Jesus gives four blessings found in Proverbs
1.Proverbs-16:19 Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Christ in Matthew 5: 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

2. Proverbs 11:17 The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh. 
Christ in Matthew 5: 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

3. Proverbs 21: 21 He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honor.
Christ in Matthew 5 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

4. Proverbs   22:11 He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend
Christ in Matthew 5: 8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Jesus explains who we are.
Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
 Christ in Matthew 5: 14 Ye are the light of the world.

Jesus’ warning about what we say
Proverbs 18:6 A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.
Christ in Matthew 5: 22 But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Jesus’ warning about how we deal with people.
Proverbs 6:3-5 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.  Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.   Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Christ  Matthew 5:  Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Jesus warns us how we look at others.
Proverbs 6:25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
Christ in Matthew 5: 27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

When I see how often the wisdom taught in Proverbs is repeated and expanded upon in the teachings of Jesus, I see Him as the ultimate teacher of whom the wise teacher in Proverbs is a type or forerunner.  No one had more wisdom than Solomon (I Kings 3:12), who wrote much of Proverbs, but “a greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42).  I see no reason to draw a strict similarity between the wise teacher of Proverbs and Jesus Christ — I am not suggesting that Jesus IS the wise teacher of Proverbs. Instead, when we see the teacher of wisdom in Proverbs, we see a foreshadowing of the most significant Teacher of Wisdom, our Lord, and Savior.

As we investigate Proverbs, there are many lesson that can be learned which will develop more significant character.  The Bible also teaches that a man is measured more by his character than by his creed ( I Tim. 3). A godly man is not merely one who professes to believe absolute truths, but one who practices them (James 2:14-26). No book in all the Bible is more devoted to the development of godly character than Proverbs. And there is no greater need in the Christian community today than for the kind of character Proverbs exalts.

We live in a secular society that wants to separate the Christian from the spiritual.  In every aspect of life, the Christian is surrounded by the spiritual.  Proverbs teaches that the fallen man will always seek to establish a separation between the sacred and the secular.  We have those who are strong supporters of the separation of Church and State.  Limiting the influence, the spiritual has over the secular.  The Old Testament prophets frequently addressed this misconception by warning Israel that religious ritual had no value when separated from righteous living.

The Book of Proverbs will not allow Christians to linger in the land of the theoretical. We love to keep Christianity on an abstract level, rather than on an application one. Our most significant failing as Christians is not that we know too little, but that we fail to do what we know we should. The emphasis of Proverbs is both on the attainment of wisdom and the application of it. Seldom do we find ourselves “in church” in this book, but rather in the home, on the job, and dealing with the mundane matters of daily living, we cannot separate our spiritual life from the secular world we live in.

We learn how to find wisdom.   While knowledge is  increasing rapidly, wisdom is seemingly more and more rare.  The implications of this trend are frightening. We now have the capability of reaching the moon and splitting the atom. Yet without wisdom men will too often utilize knowledge for the purpose of accomplishing evil, rather than doing good. Proverbs is more interested in making men wise than in making them smart.

We learn what is good is also right.  Proverbs directs us to be godly and righteous in our conduct. Those who pursue happiness as their goal in life will not find it, but those who seek holiness will find happiness as a pleasant by-product. Proverbs never promises that everyone who works hard will get rich or that honesty always is more profitable than crime. As a rule, this is the case, but there are many exceptions. If I live life wisely, I will not suffer the consequences of folly. But Proverbs hints at what other Scriptures tell us plainly--the righteous will sometimes suffer because they are righteous (cf. II Tim. 3:12).

We learn to look at life realistically. Ignorance is not bliss and is more a vice than a virtue. While simplicity is not necessarily sin, it can quickly lead to it. Our Lord instructed His disciples to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves,” (Matt. 10:16). Unlike Satan, who invited Eve to attain a “higher” knowledge of good and evil by disobeying God and experiencing sin (Gen. 3:5), Proverbs would instruct us about evil so that we might not fall into temptation (Prov. 7:6).

We learn that the process of right thinking will help us to think right.   While it is essential to study the Bible to know what to think, it is just as vital that Christians learn how to think. Most of the Bible was written to convey truth. Proverbs also has many essential truths, (16:4), but it also seeks to develop a mature process of thinking. The terms employed in Proverbs 1:1-6 informs the reader at the start that it is not a sequence of truths which is being transmitted, but the ability to discern and apply truth.

It is from this right-thinking process that we learn to obtain divine guidance.  One would not immediately expect to read the Book of Proverbs to discover the will of God, but this is one of the purposes of the book stated in Proverbs 1:5: “A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.”

The expression “wise counsel” is derived from the Hebrew root meaning “rope.” This “rope” was connected to the rudder of a ship, thereby being the means of determining its course. By obtaining wisdom which Proverbs offers to teach us, we are enabled to make right decisions which will set a godly direction for our life. These are some of the benefits which the student of Proverbs can expect to gain. If all Scripture is profitable (II Tim. 3:16), Proverbs is especially so.

As we celebrate this day in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, let us not forget the message of wisdom He has given to us.  Christ came not to be a great teacher but to become the Savior of all men.  Today is the day of salvation, now is the acceptable time.