Proverbs 2:5 (Mini Sermon)

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1.      Pro 2:5 – “Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.”

1. In the first four verses of this chapter, Solomon gave eight specific requirements necessary for finding the knowledge of God (Pro 2:1-4).
   1. The LORD stressed the conditional nature of acquiring this knowledge by repeating the word if three times.
   2. Thus there are three general prerequisites required to obtain of the knowledge of God.
      1. if thou wilt (Pro 2:1): He must be willing to have it.
      2. if thou criest (Pro 2:3): He must ask for it earnestly.
      3. if thou seekest (Pro 2:4): He must search for it diligently.

• If all these prerequisites are fulfilled, then, and only then, will we understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God (Pro 2:5).

1. The man who desires, asks, and seeks in the manner prescribed shall find the knowledge of God (Jam 1:5-7).
   1. The LORD didn’t say that such a man might, could, or will possibly find the knowledge of God, but that he shall find it.
   2. This means that the person who has not found the knowledge of God has not earnestly desired it, asked for it, and sought for it.

• The reason that most people (including many that profess to be Christians) never find the truth is solely owing to the fact that they don’t want it badly enough and are not willing to exert the effort required, and forsake whatever is necessary, to attain it.

1. Therefore, the man who claims that he sincerely wants to find and understand the truth and is willing to do whatever is necessary to obtain it, but never finds it, is a liar; for God has said that it shall be given to such a man.

1. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD.
   1. Though the knowledge of God is the primary object of the seeker of truth (Pro 2:3), it is first necessary to understand “the fear of the LORD [which] is the beginning of knowledge” (Pro 1:7).
   2. The fear of the LORD is not only an emotion, but is also a concept that can be understood when it is taught to a man with the spiritual capacity to receive it (Psa 34:9-11).

• There is no fear of God before the eyes of natural men who are spiritually dead in their sins (Rom 3:18).

1. But for the righteous, the fear of the LORD…
   1. is a fountain of life (Pro 14:27)
   2. can be chosen (Pro 1:29)
   3. is the beginning of wisdom (Pro 9:10)
   4. is the instruction of wisdom (Pro 15:33)
   5. teaches them to hate evil (Pro 8:13)
   6. teaches them to depart from evil (Pro 16:6)
2. Thus, when a man truly desires the knowledge of God, the Almighty first makes him to understand the fear of the LORD which enables him to clean up his heart in preparation for seeking and finding the truth.

1. And find the knowledge of God.
   1. Once a man understands the fear of the LORD his eyes are then opened to find the knowledge of God.
   2. The knowledge of God’s truth is the key which opens the door to a rich Christian life, and should therefore be highly preferred by every believer.

• God desires that His people know Him more than for them to offer to Him sacrifices (Hos 6:6).
  1. The LORD judged His people Israel “because there [was] no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land” (Hos 4:1).
  2. God has not changed (Mal 3:6; Heb 13:8).
  3. He still chastens His people in the New Testament for their ignorance of His truth (1Co 15:34).

1. The knowledge of God is deep and rich, unsearchable and past finding out, which is why a Christian’s pursuit of it should never end (Rom 11:33).
2. We should count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord (Php 3:8).
   1. We should devote our lives to “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2Co 10:5).
   2. We should pray that we and our brethren would increase in the knowledge of God (Col 1:10).
   3. We should cry after knowledge and lift up our voice for understanding, esteeming the knowledge of God’s truth more highly than any earthly pursuit.
   4. When they do, grace and peace shall be multiplied unto us through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord (2Pe 1:2).