I want to begin in a passage in the New Testament where Jesus was speaking to
the scribes and Pharisees and He rebuked them for their own ignorance of the
Word of God. Turn with me to Luke 11. We’ll start at verse 37, And as he spake, a certain Pharisee
besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat. 38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he
had not first washed before dinner. 39 And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make
clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of
ravening and wickedness. 40
Ye fools, did not he that made that
which is without make that which is within also? Now, down in verse 44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them
are not aware of them. 45
Then answered one of the
lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. 46 And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye
lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the
burdens with one of your fingers. Finally, Jesus admonishes them in
verse 52 Woe unto you,
lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge:
ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. Not only were they blinded in
ignorance, but they were hindering others as well from the key of knowledge!
Tonight’s
lesson is how we can have the Key of Knowledge!
PRAYER
Tonight’s
question then becomes, how can we have the Key
of Knowledge? I would like you to
turn to one of my favorite passages in the Bible: Proverbs Chapter 3. Last
month we talked about prayer and reading our Bibles every day. This lesson now builds on that
framework. Let’s read verses 1-6:
1
My son, forget not my law; but
let thine heart keep my commandments:
2 For length of
days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy
neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the
sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not
unto thine own understanding. 6
In all thy ways acknowledge
him, and he shall direct thy paths.
I.
The Key to a Long Life and Peace
Again, Proverbs 3:1 & 2 says, “My son, forget not my law; but let
thine heart keep my commandments:
For length of days, and
long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.”
It
is not only important for us to read our Bibles every day, but it is also
important or “key” for us to “forget
not” and to “KEEP” the “commandments.”
And, if we do our part, there is a promise attached: long life and peace will be added to us. Do you ever wonder why your life is troubled? Have you stopped to think that perhaps you
are not in obedience to what God has commanded?
Perhaps you have forgotten to use the key? You have the key in your hand, but it’s like you’re
standing in front of a locked door and refuse to use it. You cannot enter if you don’t turn the key.
A.
Long Life
Moses told the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 11:7-9 – “7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did. 8 Therefore shall ye keep
all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and
go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; 9 And that ye may prolong your
days in the land, which the LORD
sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that
floweth with milk and honey.” In fact, we don’t have to wait for a
longer life, because Jesus promised us in John
10:10 – “The thief cometh
not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might
have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Again,
we read in Psalm 119, verse 2 – “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that
seek him with the whole heart.” verse
92 – “Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then
have perished in mine affliction.”
B.
Peace
Psalm 119:165 tells
us, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and
nothing shall offend them.”
Again, the KEY to having that
peace? We’ve got to get in the BOOK! Read and study and keep His commandments! In Isaiah 26:3 we read, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is
stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Finally, Paul says,
in Philippians 4:9, “Those things, which ye have both
learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace
shall be with you.”
II.
The Key to Favor and Good Understanding
Now
we read in Proverbs 3:3 & 4, “Let not mercy and truth forsake
thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good
understanding in the sight of God and man.”
Here
we have another key that involves
binding the word of God “about thy neck.” The best way to understand this is to
go back to Deuteronomy. Let’s look at Chapter 6.
1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes,
and the judgments,
which the LORD
your God
commanded
to teach
you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to
possess
it: 2
That thou mightest fear
the LORD
thy God,
to keep
all his statutes
and his commandments,
which I command
thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days
of thy life;
and that thy days
may be prolonged.
3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe
to do
it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase
mightily,
as the LORD
God
of thy fathers
hath promised
thee, in the land
that floweth
with milk
and honey. 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD
our God
is one
LORD: 5
And thou shalt love
the LORD
thy God
with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6
And these words, which I command
thee this day,
shall be in thine heart: 7
And thou shalt teach them diligently
unto thy children,
and shalt talk
of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way,
and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand,
and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house,
and on thy gates.
The
Israelites were taught to keep the Word of God close to them. The idea was to not be separated from God’s
Word and thus learn it – memorize it!
But the Israelites were frail humans like us, and the rituals took over
to the point where many of them wear little boxes strapped on their bodies with
Scripture verses inside, but they don’t learn the Scriptures. But what is the KEY? To obtain favor and good understanding we must LEARN the
WORDS! Jesus is our example in this for Luke 2:52 tells us, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and
stature, and in favour with God and man.” And Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus.” –
Philippians 4:7.
III.
The Key to God’s Leading
Finally
we have Proverbs 3:5 & 6, “Trust in the
LORD with all thine heart; and lean not
unto thine own understanding. In all
thy ways acknowledge him, and he
shall direct thy paths.” Our
final KEY is one of direction. It requires that we act in faith. There are many, many verses which remind us
to trust in the Lord, to have faith:
2 Samuel 22:3 – “The God of my
rock; in him will I trust: he is
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my
saviour; thou savest me from violence.”
Psalm 31:19 – “Oh how great is thy goodness,
which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought
for them that trust in thee before
the sons of men!”
Psalm 36:7 – “How excellent is
thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.”
Psalm 37:5 – “Commit thy way
unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”
Psalm 40:3 – “And he hath put a
new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it,
and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.”
Psalm 56:3 & 4 – “What time I am
afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I
have put my trust; I will not fear
what flesh can do unto me.”
Psalm 91:2 – “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.”
Psalm 118:8 – “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put
confidence in man.”
Proverbs 29:25 – “The fear of man
bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust
in the LORD shall be safe.”
Isaiah 12:2 – “Behold, God is
my salvation; I will trust, and not
be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my
salvation.”
Romans 10:17 – “So then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God.”
2 Timothy 3:15 – “And that from a
child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation through faith which is in
Christ Jesus.”
Now,
it may be that some of us haven’t known the Scriptures from a child – but it’s
not too late! We can know them now! Take the keys
you’ve learned tonight: the key to a
long life & peace; the key to
favor & good understanding; and the key
to God’s direction and turn them by learning God’s Word and trusting in
Him. It’s that simple! Follow the path – He’s given us the key!
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