The Wisdom of Revival
Proverbs 18-20
October 12-13, 2024
We are in this section of the Proverbs where Solomon gives treasures of wisdom, nuggets of wisdom, one after the other, but one is not necessarily connected to the next. In other words, the topics often change very quickly. One verse may not be connected to the next verse, the topics change very quickly, but as I mentioned, there are these beautiful themes that are woven into the fabric of the Proverbs.
Some of these themes really run through the whole entire Word of God, but they're woven beautifully into the Proverbs here. Of course, these themes touch on every aspect. The whole of life, and they're meant to be applied. They're meant to be taken hold of and lived. Not just studied, lived, put into the practice of everyday life. Now it bears repeating that the foundation of all godly wisdom is the relationship that you have with the Lord.
It says that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and it means the revering of the Lord, the honor, those who put God in a place of great honor in their lives. These are the ones that have laid the foundation for which wisdom can then be built. You cannot build wisdom on it until you have that foundation built in your life. Now, as I mentioned, at the Wednesday service, we are studying through these chapters, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, but on the weekend services, the way we are looking at Proverbs right now is that we're going to look at the themes that are woven through.
We're not going to read every verse in these chapters. We'll do that Wednesday, but we're going to look at these themes that are woven through these chapters. Now, last week we saw the great theme that was woven through the chapters. That was the significance of the work of God in the inner man, and how that then becomes the well from which you speak and from which you live.
Because as Jesus said, the mouth speaks, and the life is lived out of the good treasure that fills the heart. We're speaking here, of course, not only of the treasure of God's wisdom but the presence of the God of wisdom in your life. From that great treasure, the mouth speaks, the life is lived. He spoke of the significance of the words that the mouth speaks. For example, Proverbs 10:31, "The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom."
Wouldn't that be awesome if that was true? Wouldn't you desire that to be true? That your mouth, your words, that-- It means your words flow with wisdom. When you speak, your words just flow with wisdom. Well, that is the keys for those who have treasured up the wisdom of God in their hearts, and it flows from that great treasure. Proverbs 16:23, "The heart of the wise teaches his mouth."
That is such a great word. The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, informs his words. That's the same idea, from the treasures of the heart, the mouth speaks. Last week we saw, he spoke of the power of pleasant words. See, a wise man knows the power of his words, and particularly understand the significance of pleasant words. Pleasant words are sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
He then spoke of the wisdom of ruling one's own spirit. Ah, this is a great word. You want a great piece of wisdom? It's right there. How wise is the one who is able to rule over his own spirit? Proverbs 16:32, we saw, "He who is slow to anger is greater than the mighty." That's what an accomplishment of the spirit it is. "He who rules over his own spirit is greater than the one who can capture a city." That's some significant words. It's a great, great truth.
If a person would abide by this truth, it would tremendously bless their lives and the people around them. Then you look at the themes in these chapters. He builds on the theme. That's why I wanted to review it beause he builds on the theme. It's about the work of God in the inner man, but then he speaks of the integrity of the heart in the man, the woman that lives by that integrity.
Then he speaks of the revival of the soul that causes a man of faith to completely rely on the help of God in times of trouble. It's about taking faith and then putting it into the real world. That's what this book of Proverbs is about. It's about taking the faith and that wisdom, and then putting it in the real world. Again, let's look at these great themes. We'll study the verses on Wednesday, but the theme that I want to start with is this.
I. The Righteous Run to the Tower of the Lord
That the righteous run to the tower of the Lord. Notice Proverbs 18:10, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous runs into it and is saved." This is a great verse. Highlight this, memorize this verse. It's a principle to live by. It's woven through the whole fabric of the Bible, not just Proverbs, and it's one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible. I quote it very often.
It's one of those great truths that you must remember, for when you need it-- Write it on the tablet of your heart, so that when you need it, this great truth will come back to you and remind you of what you must do if you encounter a time of trouble. If you encounter a turbulent time or a storm, what you must do? This verse informs you of what you must do. You must run to the tower of the Lord to rely on the name of the Almighty.
See, notice he says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower." Well, he's referring to a practice in Israel in those times. In times of war or a threat of war, Israel built towers in various places and throughout the land, and then a garrison of soldiers would be stationed there at the tower. Then if an enemy invaded, the people could run to the tower and come under the safety of the soldiers stationed there.
They were farmers, and they would be living out there in the fields and whatnot. Then a signal would come up. Then an enemy is approaching or whatever. They would run to the garrison. They would run to the tower, and there they would come under the safety, and thus it became a picture. A picture of those facing troubles can run to the tower. Now, he says, "The name of the Lord is that strong tower."
The name. You run to the name. There is no greater name under heaven by which men must be saved. Jesus has the name above all other names that, as the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. When you run to that name, you are running to the greatest name of all names. Amen.
You run to the names. See, the name represents all of the significance of who the Almighty is. The Almighty is a great word for that. You're running to the power and the might of the name of the Almighty, is a refuge and a strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge." The tower of the Lord. "God is our strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Therefore, we will not fear." Those who run to the tower of the Lord. We will not fear. "Though the Earth should change and the mountains slip into the heart of this sea."
I tell you, I was thinking of an illustration. Many years ago when the church was very young-- The church is almost 35 years old now. I know I don't look that old. I started the church when I was seven, pretty much. Not really. Not really. Not really. We're almost 35. Well, in those days, I think church was maybe, I don't know, only four or five years old. The church went through a difficult time, encountered severe turbulence. We recognized right away that it was spiritual warfare. When we encounter this great trouble, this Scripture came to my mind. What do we do? We've encountered a great turbulence. We've encountered a great trouble. What do we do? This is a good question for anybody. What do you do? That verse came to my mind.
See, the verses of Scripture inform your decisions. What do we do? Here's a verse. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into that and are saved. That's what we're going to do. That verse informed the decision. That's what we're going to do.
We were meeting in those days in the gymnasium at a school, which we affectionately called our sanctuasium. The next Sunday morning, I asked everyone. I sent leaders and ushers out to every class, all the children. I want everyone to come into the sanctuary. We're all going to get together. The kids would go, "What's happening? What's happening?" "Just bring everybody." "Everybody?" "Bring everybody. Go get the infants in the nursery. Bring everybody." All gathered in the sanctuary. All of us.
We just waited on the Lord. We worshiped. We prayed, and God met us there. We took communion. We were running to the tower of the Lord. We were coming under the banner of the Almighty. We were relying on the help of the Lord. We were waiting on the Lord. I tell you, the result was beautiful revival. Revival. Those who run to the tower of the Lord do so because of revival. See, later on in the history of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Israel in the South, it was reported to him that a great army from across the Jordan had assembled to make war against them.
The word came, the report came, they were approaching, and they were on this side. They were in Ein Gedi, on this side of the Dead Sea. Jehoshaphat did not know what to do, and so he proclaimed the fast, and he assembled everyone into Jerusalem to seek help from the Lord. Then everyone assembled, Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly. They set up a platform, and Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly and prayed.
This is one of the great prayers. Part of the prayer, 2 Chronicles 20:6, and then 12-13. "O Lord, God of all fathers, are you not God in the heavens? Power and might are in your hand so that no man can stand before you. We are powerless before this great multitude. We do not know what to do. Our eyes are on you." Then it says, "All Judah was standing before the Lord, with their infants, their wives, and their children."
See, I love that part of the verse right there, it's so descriptive. Jehoshaphat prayed this amazing prayer. Are you that God of the heavens? All power is in your hand. We do not know what to do. We wait on you. It says that they just waited. Parents holding their children. Babies in their arms. We just wait.
2 Chronicles 20:14. "Then, in the midst of the assembly, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, and he said, thus says the Lord, 'Do not fear, do not be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go down against him, but you will not need to fight in this battle. Station yourselves, stand, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf.'"
Jehoshaphat then went out to meet the enemy. When he went out to meet the enemy, interestingly, he appointed those who sing to the Lord and those who praise the Lord in holy attire to go out in front of and before the army. They go out singing and worshiping. They're going out with the army, but the worshipers are leading the assembly of the army. Then when they arrive, they station themselves on this place, a high place where they can see the enemy all encamped in this great valley.
Then they saw what unfolded before their eyes was amazing. For the Lord, it says, set ambushes so that they began to fight one against the other. The confusion reigned that they began to fight one against the other, not knowing who and what the enemy was, and destroyed and routed one another, so that Israel simply stood and watched as they destroyed one another. The victory is ours when the battle is the Lord's. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are saved.
A. Revival is the key to going through a storm
See, this is what he's saying. Revival is the key to going through the storm. You run to the tower of the Lord because of revival. Notice he says, it's the righteous who run to the tower, the name of the Lord. Who are the righteous? Now, this is important. We've spoken of this before. He draws this contrast between the righteous and the evil ones, the foolish and the wise. Thus, you would choose the course of your life.
Of what will you then become? The righteous or the wicked? He sets before you that you would choose the course. He sets before you that you would see the outcome, that you would choose well the course of your own life. Because God loves you, and he wants you to choose the course of wisdom. He wants you to choose the life of the righteous.
Who are the righteous? Are they perfect? No, not even one. Who are the righteous? These are the ones who delight in what God is doing in their life. They're delighting in what God is doing in their soul. They know that they were born in the ugly condition of man, but God's doing a revival, a work of transforming them, and they delight in it. They take hold of it. Are they perfect? No, but they're being transformed.
These are the ones that know that they can come under the shadow of the Almighty. That God welcomes them to run to the shadow of the Almighty and seek refuge under his wings. You seek revival. When you run to the tower of the Lord, it's about revival. We need a revival of passion. That's what revival is. It's a revival of passion for the Lord, to ignite the soul again. You run to the tower of the Lord and ignite your soul in the presence of the Almighty. You pray and you wait.
Later, in the history of Israel, when Hezekiah was king over Judah in the south, the Assyrians determined to bring a great and vast army of even greater proportion against Jerusalem. Hezekiah prepared the people. Tells us that, first, he cut off the water supply from outside the city. By the way, if you ever go to Israel with us, we always go to Hezekiah's tunnel there in Jerusalem. This is where he had men engineered to cut through solid bedrock so that the water flowed from outside the city into the Pool of Siloam inside the city.
Whenever we go to Jerusalem, we always walk through this tunnel. It's still feeding water to the Pool of Siloam today. You can walk in Hezekiah's tunnel that he built in those days of great trouble. The water's about up to here on you, and one single file at a time with a little flashlight. It is an experience because you're walking in the pages of the Bible. It's a great thing.
Hezekiah, first he cut off the water supply from the city, diverting the water. Then he built another outside wall, made weapons and shields in great number, gathered all the people in the square, and then called for revival. It's not enough to just divert the water, not enough to build another wall, not enough to make weapons and shields. You need to strengthen faith. Running to the name of the Lord is about faith. It's about trust that God is the Almighty under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.
2 Chronicles 32:7-8, Hezekiah gathered the people, "Be strong and courageous." That is a way of saying, believe, have faith, "do not fear, do not be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of the whore that is with him. Notice for the one who is with us is greater than the one with him." What is he saying? He's strengthening their faith.
"With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God." This is faith. This is revival. This is what it means to run to the tower of the Lord. You seek refuge under the shadow of the Almighty. With us is the Lord our God to help us to fight our battles. It says the people relied on the words of Hezekiah. Words are powerful because they can spur up and stir up faith and revival. Faith is strengthened in revival. It says, "The righteous run to the tower of the Lord and are saved."
Psalm 91:1-2, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide there in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, 'You are my refuge, you are my fortress.'" The word fortress means the same idea. My high tower, the place to which I run. You are my fortress, my refuge. You are my God in whom I trust. That is revival. That is running to the name of the Lord, the tower of the Lord. Then notice that those who dwell in the shadow of the Almighty, he brings this to us, that God then builds integrity in the soul of the righteous.
It's then about how you live. You run to the tower of the Lord. You bring yourself under the shadow of the Almighty, and God does this work of transforming the inner man. When God transforms the inner man, he builds integrity. No one can see the inner man, only God. This is the inner work only God sees, integrity. Notice Proverbs 20:7, "A righteous man who walks in his integrity, how blessed are his sons after him?" This is great.
I don't know your father, but if you have a father, if you had a father that had integrity, you were blessed. What a blessing to have a father with integrity. That you will look up to your father and know that here is a man of integrity. It blesses the sons to look at their father like that. "My father." Now, I'll tell you, many do not have a father like that, nor did I. My father was an alcoholic. Many of you know him, that story. God became my Father, and my Father in heaven had all the integrity that the word contains. God did such a work. Many of you know my story.
B. God builds integrity in the soul of the righteous
By the time that story ended, I had brought my father to faith in Jesus Christ and baptized him with my own hands. My point is that integrity in your Father is a blessing. If your father didn't have it, your Father in heaven, surely does. Amen. Verse 19, Proverbs 19:1. "Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity." See, you have integrity, then you walk in it. You can tell if a person has got integrity because of how they walk. A tree is known by its fruit.
"Better to be a poor man who walks in his integrity than he who perverts his speech and is a fool." My mother used to tell me not to call people fools, but the Scripture is using the word, so I'm going to use it. Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than he who perverts his speech. He's a fool. You cannot see the significance of words. You've perverted your speech. No, it's better to be a poor man and walk in integrity than to be that. He says, "There's something of honor." There's something of great honor which we'll see.
Proverbs 2:7, "God stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in their integrity." There's the theme. Notice, he is a shield for those who walk in their integrity. That integrity is a construct in the inner man. For those who honor God, those who delight in God, those who dwell in the shadow of the Almighty, God does a construct in the soul. That construct is not only revival, it's integrity. The posts, the beams, the steel, the rocks inside the inner construction of Godly strength. That's what integrity is.
That those then who have this belt into their lives are called to walk according to it. When you have that inner construct of integrity, God sees it. He becomes your shield, he says, your hedge of protection around you. Those who run to the name of the Lord will find a hedge of protection around them. That integrity then will be seen in your character in the way that you live your life. Notice Proverbs 19:22. What is desirable in a man is his kindness. That's character. Kindness is character. Where does kindness come from?
Kindness is the result of God's glory because God's presence is the revealing of God's nature. God is kind. The fruit of the Holy Spirit, as we've seen before, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness. How you treat people around you with kindness. That is what is desirable. Then there's Proverbs 20:3 speaking of the character that comes out of integrity, it says, "Keeping away from strife is in honor for a man." This is a great word. God speaks of honor. To have honor in one's life is to reveal that work of God that people can then see.
Keeping away from strife is wise, and it is an honor to a man. Then he adds, "Any fool can quarrel." I love that part. "Any old fool can quarrel, but a righteous man has honor, and he does not quarrel." It's a great word. This is wisdom, isn't it? You take that wisdom, and then you put it into your life, and it'll transform you. Like, oh, yes, here's a good piece of wisdom right here. Here's a good piece of wisdom. Remember this. Any old fool can quarrel, but a wise man keeps away from strife and contention.
There's much contention and strife in this world that's so not needed, so unnecessary. I was thinking of an illustration several years ago. It's a funny story now. Several years ago, a pastor friend asked if he could bring a group of leaders from his church over to tour this building and get ideas for their building. I said, "Of course, I would love to do that." He brought this group of people, and I was leading them around, giving them a tour.
At one point, I think we were upstairs, and a man in the group says, "I have a question. I see that you have a sign on the doors of the sanctuary that says that people are not to bring coffee into the sanctuary." He says, "How do you enforce that rule?" I said, "We don't," and I was ready to move on. I'm like, "We don't." Okay now, whoa whoa. He asked with a bit of disdain in his voice, "Why in the world would you have a rule and not enforce it?" Because I answered, "Some people are confrontational by nature, and they are the ones who need the gospel most." You could see, [groans].
Some weeks later I ran into the pastor somewhere, and I said, "Tell me about what happened there. Tell me about this fellow." He said, "Oh Rich, you have no idea what you started." I go, "What do you mean?" He said, "Next Sunday, I'm standing in the back greeting people as you're coming into the service, and he walks past me with a cup of coffee in his hand, this high to make sure I could see it, and he's like this.
Then Rich, he sat in the front row drinking the coffee." I said, "Oh I am so sorry." He said, "Oh it gets worse. He's one of my elders, "Oh lordy." I said, "How did someone like that become an elder?" Now that's another story. 2 Timothy 2:24-25, "The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome." It's in the New Testament too. It's wisdom. Any old fool can quarrel. I can say that because it's in the Bible. Any old fool can quarrel, but a man of wisdom, it's his honor.
"Be kind to all." That's the theme. "Be kind to all, able to teach. Be patient when you're wronged." Many times when somebody is wrong, when somebody is wronged, they think they've got the righteous high hill. This is important. When somebody is wronged, they think they've got the righteous high hill. Watch out when someone has a righteous high hill because you'll soon discover their character. Be patient when you've got the righteous high hill. Be kind when you have the righteous high hill. When you've been wronged, be kind.
II. A Plan in the Heart is Deep Water
With gentleness correct those who are in opposition. It's a good word. This is wisdom, you take this wisdom, and you live it in the life and you will be changed. Proverbs 26:21, "Like charcoal into hot embers like wood the fire, so is a contentious man, the kindle strife." All right, back to the proverbs. The next great theme we see, a plan in the heart is deep water. This is very interesting. Proverbs 20:5, "A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water, but a man of understanding draws it out."
Now the plans of the heart are the thoughts, the intentions of the heart. Everyone plans, everyone thinks, everyone plots a course. A man of understanding, a man of wisdom a man of understanding and insight draws it out so that his plans are laid before the Lord. He knows how to search his own soul and draws his plans before the Lord. See in other words, commit your works to the Lord. Commit your plan, your works to the Lord and he will do it.
A. Commit your works to the Lord
Proverbs 16:1-3, "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives." Why? What drives this plan? What is the motive behind the plan? He says, "Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established." Let God establish the plan. See these verses are great reminders that God is the one that ordains our steps. You can make plans and you should.
A plan in the heart is deep water, but the righteous one knows that it is God's hand that establishes any plan, that God is the one that ordains the steps of the righteous. It says, "A man's ways are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives." Motives matter. Why do you do what you do in matters? I tell you, whatever I have, I want God to give it to me. Whatever I have, I want God to give it to me. I don't want to take in life. I want God to bless me with it.
I want God's hand to move. I want God. I want to submit every plan to the Lord. I want God to move. Here's what I've discovered in life. You never know what might happen. I want God. He goes before me. He knows the future before one day was ever lived, and I want God to ordain my way. I want God to ordain my steps. You never know in life what may happen.
James 4:15, come now you who say today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there, and engage in business and make a profit." You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. "Instead, you ought to say, If the Lord wills we will live and do this or that." Commit your works to the Lord. Commit your way to the Lord.
B. The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord
Then there's this, the spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord. Notice this out of Proverbs 20:27. He says, "The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the innermost parts of his being." The inner man, the lamp of the Lord. He says, "The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord." See the glory of God is light. The lamp of the Lord is the glory of God in the soul. He's speaking here again of the wisdom of revival. It's a great theme.
The lamp of the Lord is the light of the glory of God in the inner man. That is the very definition of revival. Revival is wise. Revival is wisdom itself. The wisest thing you can ever do is to get your soul right with God. That is wisdom itself. Then when your soul is right with God, you dwell there in the tower of the Lord. You dwell under the shadow of the Almighty. You stay in that place of being near to the Lord that the lamp of God the glory of God is your good.
Psalm 73:28. "As for me, it's the nearness of God that is my good." See when you calculate the plan for your life-- everyone calculates a plan. When you calculate the plan for your life, be certain of this, that the greatest plan you can ever plan is for your soul defined revival. Build whatever plan you're going to do on that, that God will ordain your way because then your heart is right, your motive is right, your desire is right, for you have honored God. The foundation of wisdom is for those who have placed God in a great place of honor in their lives.
These are the ones then who seek revival. I'll tell you revival is the wisest course because it predicts the greatest outcome. Wisdom predicts the outcome. Revival is the greatest wisdom because it predicts the greatest outcome. Revival has a tremendous outcome. Blessed life, blessed eternity. I was thinking of an illustration. Some of you perhaps are old enough to remember the song My Way by Frank Sinatra made also famous by Elvis Presley. My Way. I'm not going to sing it for you. I'm not, but I will quote some of it.
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway, and more, much more than this, I did it my way. Now I'm just summarizing the lyrics here and now the end is near and so I face the final curtain. My friend, I'll say it clear. I did it my way, my way. This is the pride of his life. This is the pride. This is his final declaration. This is the pride. This is my grand declaration. I did it my way. My friend, the end is near. I face the final curtain and that's all you've got to say.
That's your great grand proud moment. That's your great boast? I suggest to you that he fell far short of what his life could have been. To do one's life my way is to miss out on God's way. For God's way is the way of revival. God's way is the way of blessing that your soul will be alive. Never miss the significance of your soul. For those who have done life their way have relied on self the entire charted course. Psalm 73:25 says it so much better and besides you, Lord, I desire nothing on this earth.
There is nothing on this earth that I desire that is greater than you. My heart to my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, and God is my portion, and God is my portion forever. Which is to say, God, I'll do it your way. What is the final outcome, my friend, when the end is near and you face the final curtain? What is the final outcome? Will it be without hope? Without God? When you stand before God at the end of the age, I submit to you that you're going to want to say much more than I did it my way.
When you stand before the throne of the great Almighty, you're going to want to say, I did it your way, God. That was revival. I did it your way. I lived it your way. Revival is the wisest course for it predicts the greatest outcome. Revival is life to the full right now. I would rather live God's way than any other way. For there is nothing on this earth I desire more than what I have found in God. It's the greatest blessing, and it's the greatest eternity. When you stand before the great Almighty, may you with great joy say, I did it your way, God.
Let's pray. Oh Lord, what can we say? What glorious truths are these? The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run, run. They run to it and are saved. There they dwell under the shadow of the Almighty. For there is where revival is found. My friends, when you face the final curtain and you stand before the great Almighty, may you then say, I did it your way. I lived it your way, God.
Church, how many would make that declaration? Revival is the wisest course to have your soul right with God so that you come to that final curtain and you say, I did it your way, for there is nothing on this earth I desire more than you in my life. Church, would you just raise your hand to make that declaration to the Lord? I want to just declare it. I'll do it your way. For revival is the desire of my heart.
Let there be a revival of passion. Revival is the desire of my heart. I want to live it your way, God. To your glory and to your honor, I want to live it your way. We praise you and thank you for meeting us here by your Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name, and everyone said--