Sunday School Lesson

1. Proverbs 8:6-21
Pursuing Wisdom
July 12, 2020
His Followers Sunday School Class
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA
What’s the number one thing?
The glory of God!
1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of
God.
References
• Packer, J. I., Knowing God (Downers Grove, IL, InterVarsity Press, 1973).
• Jeremiah, David, Seeking Wisdom-Finding Gold (Atlanta, GA, Walk Thru
the Bible Ministries, 1994).
• Palmer, Edwin H., The NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1985).
Focus of Lesson Today
• Read Proverbs 8:6-21 to hear Solomon’s plea for man to pursue wisdom.
• Look at how man lost the wisdom of God with the fall of man.
• Study God’s plan to restore that wisdom to man.
Wisdom Literature in the 10th Century B.C.
• Egyptian Literature – “Wisdom of Amenemope.”
‒ Accumulation of human observations & experiences.
• Hebrew Proverbs – All wisdom is seen flowing from the true God.
‒ Solomon was known throughout the world as the wisest man.
‒ Solomon’s wisdom was a gift from God.
Analysis of a Proverb
ACTION OBJECT OUTCOME
(If you………then…………)
Example: The benefits of wisdom in Proverbs 3:1-4

2. ACTION OBJECT OUTCOME
• Proverbs 3:1-2 NIV
1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years
and bring peace and prosperity.
• Action: Do not forget, keep.
• Object: Teaching, my commands.
• Outcome: Prolong your life, peace & prosperity.
ACTION OBJECT OUTCOME
• Proverbs 3:3-4 NIV
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.
• Action: Let love and faithfulness never leave you, bind, write.
• Object: Love and faithfulness (for God).
• Outcome: Favor and a good name.
Proverbs 8:6-14 NIV (Pursuing Wisdom)
6 Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say;
I open my lips to speak what is right.
7 My mouth speaks what is true,
for my lips detest wickedness.
8 All the words of my mouth are just;
none of them is crooked or perverse.
9 To the discerning all of them are right;
they are upright to those who have found knowledge.
10 Choose my instruction instead of silver,
knowledge rather than choice gold,
11 for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.
12 “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;
I possess knowledge and discretion.
13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil;
I hate pride and arrogance,
evil behavior and perverse speech.
14 Counsel and sound judgment are mine;
I have insight, I have power.

3. Proverbs 8:15-19 NIV (Pursuing Wisdom)
15 By me kings reign
and rulers issue decrees that are just;
16 by me princes govern,
and nobles—all who rule on earth.
17 I love those who love me,
and those who seek me find me.
18 With me are riches and honor,
enduring wealth and prosperity.
19 My fruit is better than fine gold;
what I yield surpasses choice silver.
20 I walk in the way of righteousness,
along the paths of justice,
21 bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me
and making their treasuries full.
Why does Scripture instruct us to pursue wisdom?
• The answer lies in the attributes of God, and in the fall of man in the
Garden of Eden.
The Attributes of God
• Incommunicable – Attributes and characteristics that belong only to God.
• Communicable – Attributes of God that were transmitted (communicated)
to man at creation.
Incommunicable Attributes of God – J. I. Packer
• Independence – Self-existent and self-sufficient.
• Immutability – Entire freedom from change, leading to entire consistency
in action.
• Infinity – Freedom from all limits of time and space; eternity and
omnipresence.
• Simplicity – The fact that there are in Him no elements that can conflict.
Scriptures on the Incommunicable Attributes of God
• Exodus 3:14 NIV
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the
Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
• Malachi 3:6a NIV
6a “I the Lord do not change.”
• Hebrews 13:8 NIV
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

4. Scriptures on the Incommunicable Attributes of God
• Psalm 90:2 NIV
2 From everlasting to everlasting you are God.
• Psalm 147:5 NIV
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.
• Revelation 4:8 NIV
8 Holy, holy, holy,
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come.
Communicable Attributes of God – J. I. Packer
• Genesis 1:26a & 27 NIV
26a Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
• “At creation, God communicated to man his moral attributes
such as goodness, truth, holiness, righteousness and wisdom.”
Quotes from J. I. Packer in Knowing God
• “When God made man in his own image, God made man a free spiritual
being, a responsible moral agent with powers of choice and action, able
to commune with him and respond to Him, and by nature good, truthful,
holy, upright: in a word, “godly.”
• “The moral qualities that belonged to the divine image were lost at the
Fall; God’s image in man has been universally defaced, for all of human-
kind has in one way or another lapsed into ungodliness.”
• Wisdom is one of those moral attributes that God communicated to
man at creation and was lost at the Fall.
• “The Bible tells us that now, in fulfillment of His plan of redemption, God is
at work in Christian believers to repair His ruined image by
communicating these qualities to them afresh.”
What is God’s plan for man after the Fall?
• God’s plan of redemption is to return these characteristics back to man.
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV
18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are
being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes
from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

5. Christians are being renewed in the image of Christ and of God
• Colossians 3:9-10 NIV
9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its
practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in
knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Pursuing Wisdom
• Wisdom is presented in The Book of Proverbs and in the New Testament as
a gift that God is ready to give back to all who desire and take the
necessary steps of pursuit.
• James 1:5 NIV
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to
all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Prerequisites to pursue the gift of wisdom
1. We must accept Christ, God’s Son, as our personal Savior.
2. We must learn to reverence God.
3. We must learn to receive God’s word.
1. We must accept Christ, God’s Son, as our personal Savior.
• John 14:6 NIV
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me.”
• 1 Corinthians 1:30 NIV
30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us
wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
• 1 Corinthians 2:16b NIV
16b But we have the mind of Christ.
2. We must learn to reverence God.
• Psalm 111:10a NIV
10a The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
• Proverbs 9:10a NIV
10a The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
• Humility and teachability are required.
• Proverbs 11:2 NIV
2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.

6. Job understood wisdom and reverence.
• Job 28:12 NIV
12 But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?
• Job 28:20 NIV
20 Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
• Job 28:28 NIV
28 And he said to man,
“The fear of the Lord – that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.”
3. We must learn to receive God’s word.
• Psalm 119:98-99 NIV
98 Your commands are always with me
and make me wiser than my enemies.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your statutes.
• Colossians 3:16 NIV
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one
another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual
songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
The Power of God’s Word
• Psalm 119:11 NIV
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
• Hebrews 4:12 NIV
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-
edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and
marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
What wisdom is not. – J. I. Packer
• “God’s gift of wisdom does not consist in a deepening insight into the
providential meaning and purpose of events going on around us or the
ability to see why God has done what he has done in a particular case,
and what he is going to do next.”
• Example: The view of the traffic on a highway from the roadside and a
webcam. We have the roadside view, but God has the webcam view.

7. What wisdom is not. – J. I. Packer
• Wisdom from God is not knowing every purpose of what happens to us.
• Wisdom is not knowing all the details in our lives.
• Isaiah 55:8 NIV
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
The example of Job – Why am I suffering?
• Job and his friends questioned where could one get the wisdom to know
the “whys of life?”
• Job concludes that only God knows these answers.
• Job 28:23-24 NIV
23 God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
24 for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
What God’s wisdom is. – J. I. Packer
• God’s wisdom is knowing how to navigate thru life and not knowing all of
the reasons why things are not going my way.
• Example of STOP sign when driving.
- Knowing when to GO, STOP and TURN.
- Knowing to STOP at sign, but not trying to figure out why it is there.
Wisdom is believing God.
• Romans 8:28 NIV
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love
him, who have been called according to his purpose.
• Wisdom from God is a disposition to confess that He only is wise, and to
live for Him by faith.
• Bubba Cox – “I have gone from believing in God to believing God!”
The Results of Wisdom in the Christian Life – Dr. David Jeremiah
• Paul saw that the greatest need in the Colossian church was godly
wisdom.
• Paul wrote his prayer to the Colossians.
• The prayer is long, but the request is simple.
‒ Colossians 1:9 NIV
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not
stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge
of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

8. Details (Definitions) of Paul’s Prayer
• When Paul uses the term “wisdom” as a synonym for the “will of God”, he
means basically the content of God’s Word.
• Wisdom is the acquisition of knowledge from God’s Word
• Spiritual understanding is the application of the knowledge of God’s Word.
‒ Applying God’s truth to situations of life.
Colossians 1:3-4, 9a NIV (The Church in Colossae)
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for
you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you
have for all God’s people—
9a For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped
praying for you
Colossians 1:9b-12 NIV (Results of Applied Wisdom)
9b and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual
wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life
worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good
work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power
according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and
patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who qualified you to share in
the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
Colossians 1:13-14 NIV (Rescued from Darkness)
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the
kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins.
The Results of Applied Wisdom in Colossians 1:9-14
1. You will please the Lord constantly.
2. You will produce fruit consistently.
3. You will progress in knowledge continually.
4. You will persevere in stress cheerfully.
5. You will praise God correctly.

9. 1. You will please the Lord constantly.
• Colossians 1:10 NKJV
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in
every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
‒ The highest goal of the Christian experience is to “walk and please
God”
• John 8:29 NIV
29 “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always
do what pleases him.”
Paul taught how to please God.
• 1 Thessalonians 4:1-2 NIV
1 Finally brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God,
as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord
Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we
gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
2. You will produce fruit consistently.
• Colossians 1:10 NKJV
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in
every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
‒ All fruit is the direct result of being filled with the will of God in all
wisdom and spiritual understanding.
‒ Spiritual fruit is the byproduct of a righteous life.
The Fruit of the Spirit
• Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such
things there is no law.
‒ The fruit of the Spirit mirrors those communicable attributes of God
that man lost at the Fall.
‒ The process of sanctification (becoming like Christ) is returning
these to be used to bring others to Christ.
3. You will progress in knowledge continually.
• Colossians 1:10 NKJV
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in
every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
‒ Without knowledge there can be no growth in the believer’s life.
‒ The knowledge of God requires a commitment to be a continual
student of His Word.

10. 4. You will persevere in stress cheerfully.
• Colossians 1:11 NKJV
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all
patience and longsuffering with joy;
‒ Living joyfully in the midst of difficulty is the supreme reality test for
Christians.
‒ The goal is not just to endure our difficulties, but to triumph in them with
all joyfulness.
5. You will praise God correctly.
• Colossians 1:12 NKJV
12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in the light.
‒ Being filled with God’s wisdom helps provide you with a proper and
scriptural prayer life.
‒ Paul emphasized the need to be thankful for the light of Jesus who has
delivered us from the power of darkness.
‒ Colossians 1:12 NKJV
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us
into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
How do I pursue wisdom?
• Galatians 2:20 NIV
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in
me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me.
The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
John 3:16-17 NKJV
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not
send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him
might be saved.”
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me.”
Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

11. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
Romans 6:23a NKJV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this life to
pay the penalty for our sin.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the “second death” explained in
Revelation 21:8.
Revelation 21:8 NKJV
8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
• Anyone who’s lifestyle is one or more of the sins listed in Revelation 21:8,
will experience the “second death,” if they do not repent.
• To Repent means to turn around, to go in the opposite direction, to turn
away from sin and believe in Jesus.
Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 6:23b NKJV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Revelation 21:7 NKJV
7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be
My son.”
• Romans 10:9-10 explain to us how to be overcomers.
Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.
Romans 10:13 NKJV
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Do you have questions?
Would you like to know more?
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-949-1900 or
http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/