No Fear
Pastor David Pranga continues our series on “Beginning Again With God” sharing from Proverbs 1 about how fear of the Lord is being reverent and in awe of God. God has given us wisdom in order to overcome our earthly fears and to live a life pleasing to Him.
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No Fear
In 2025, Pastor Doug challenged us to grow in our faith. One of the challenges was to “Read Through the Bible in One Year.” If you have taken on that challenge, I want to encourage you to keep reading every day and make it a priority. I promise you will grow in knowledge and wisdom.
In fact, I shared this challenge with our bookkeeper, Jennifer. Jennifer is a Catholic and is trying to learn more about what she believes. I just asked her if she wanted to read through the bible with us. Amazingly she said yes. Jennifer started the challenge with us on January 1 as many of you did.
Three days into the challenge, I got a text message from Jennifer. “OK, question!! Will you be free to talk about some of what we are reading when I’m at church. Or will you be tired of talking about it after reviewing with everyone else?”
I texted back, “Yes, we can talk about what you are reading, and I can answer any questions you might have.” Jennifer texted, “Major question is: Why did people lived so long in Genesis?” I answered her question.
Jennifer wrote on day 10, “The reading is good. I just have a lot to learn or understand better.” Honestly, her text just made my day! We all need to start somewhere.
This past week, BBC started two ALPHA Classes (Wed afternoon and Friday night) to help people grow in their faith. Alpha is a class for those who have questions about God and what to believe. It is a great class for beginners and for those who want to brush up on their faith. In Alpha, you have a meal together, watch a video, ask questions, and have a discussion. It is a very relational class. If you are interested in joining, please talk to Pastor Nate Ryan.
BBC is also offering a Spiritual Gifts Class on Thursday Nights. My wife, Christy, and I teach the class. This class is excellent because it helps you learn more about spiritual gifts, your passions, personality and where you can serve in the church. Talk or email me if you are interested in joining.
At Brewster Baptist Church, we care about your spiritual journey with God. We want to help you take the next step in your faith. These are just a few opportunities: Reading through the Bible, Alpha, and the Spiritual Gifts class. We believe these can have a huge impact on your faith.
This week, I am continuing our series “Beginning Again with God.” I want to start today with a question, “What fears do people have?” This is what I found on google – (1) Public Speaking, (2) heights, (3) going to the dentist, (4) snakes, (5) spiders, (6) growing old, (7) loneliness, and (8) fear of rejection. I look at that list and I have a number of those same fears. Public speaking makes me nervous. I am not crazy about heights. Snakes and spiders freak me out.
Let me ask you another question. How many of you have a fear of God? It might not have occurred to you. There may be some who wonder, “Is God happy with me?” “Is God pleased with me?” For some, you may even think that God is out to get you, when you make a mistake. I can tell you that is not true and it is not even a healthy way of looking at God.
I find it interesting that our fear of God has decreased in our society and all our earthly fears, have increased over time. That was not always the case. The bible tells us that we are to fear the Lord. It is a healthy form of fear. The fear of God is one of reverence and awe of Him. When we fear God, we are acknowledging the rightful place of God.
The bible teaches us that God is our creator. (1) He created this world. (2) God created each of us. (3) It was God that created us to live in a particular way. God has a design for every area of our life and the way we are to live. When we live according to God’s design, we will experience blessings. When we deviate from God’s design, we can often experience brokenness. This is not absolute. It does not always happen this way. But there is a lot of truth to what I am saying. God has designed us to live a particular way.
Imagine that I was given a car for Christmas by my kids. I have such wonderful children. This car just happens to be a Tesla. I start driving the Tesla and it is running great. Life is good! I am enjoying the ride. One day, I take it to a gas station. I start putting gasoline in the car. As you can expect, the Tesla stops working.
Why? The Tesla is an electric car. It does not need gasoline; it needs electricity. The Tesla was designed in a certain way. If I want the car to run right, I need to follow the instructions from the people who made it, or it won’t work.
It’s the same way with God. God has designed us to live in a certain way. When we live in accordance with His design for our life, we will experience His blessings. When we deviate and choose our own way, we will often experience brokenness.
The cool thing is that God has given us wisdom to overcome our earthly fears and to live a life pleasing to Him. The book of Proverbs is filled with Godly wisdom. We can see God’s design and purpose in our life. We can receive knowledge on many issues like integrity, friendships, marriage, and work. Proverbs was written by King Solomon. He was the wisest man in the world. He wrote the book of Proverbs to help us walk with God.
Proverbs 9:10 says:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Knowledge is knowing how God designed us. It is understanding what we should do and how we are to live. Wisdom is taking that knowledge and applying it to our life. In the book of Proverbs, we see both wisdom and foolishness in the way people act and respond. In Chapter 1, we meet Wisdom. Wisdom is personified as a woman. Sometimes referred to as Lady Wisdom. Wisdom is there to help us live the way God has designed us to live. Remember all wisdom is from God.
Today’s, passage starts with Proverbs 1:20-21:
20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
she raises her voice in the public square;
21 on top of the wall she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech:
What is Lady wisdom doing? Wisdom is speaking loudly. She is raising her voice. Wisdom is shouting out and crying out at the city gate. She is trying to get everyone’s attention. Why is wisdom raising her voice, shouting, and crying out? She has a message for them. Unfortunately, no one is listening. No one is seeking after God.
Often in our life, we want wisdom from God. We are unsure about what to do. We pray to God. We want God to answer or help us in a situation. How much time do we spend listening and seeking after God?
We live in a world that is full of noise. We live in a world full of distraction. We live in a world full of voices and messages that are bombarding us all the time. The truth is every time you see a billboard, watch the news, listen to the radio or even get on our smartphones, we are being bombarded with messages. These are all things that are vying for our minds and what we believe to be true. The message that is being conveyed to us is one of a certain belief. Each of these messages is trying to shape what truth is and what truth is not. What we should believe.
The Book of Proverbs talks about Wisdom and Foolishness. Both are crying out for our attention. They both are wanting us to follow them. They lead to different directions. There are certain things in life that I know that I can do to be wise. A wise person spends less time on social media, smart phone, and TV. A wise person spends time being helpful. A wise person knows exercise is good and does it. A wise person wants to grow in their faith, so they spend time with God.
Yet, we are all drawn to foolishness. We are drawn to our smartphones constantly. We will go on Facebook and look at pictures and start feeling bad about ourselves. We watch short videos on TikTok or watch TV, and hours will go by. There are competing voices in our life. What we often forget is God and Wisdom are crying out to us. Wisdom is there to help us live our life in a right relationship with God. Yet often we just hear the voice of Foolishness saying to us, “You need to follow me. If you do these things, they will make you happy.” Yet, we often feel empty inside.
Verse 22,
How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
I love the first two words of this verse – How long. God is asking that same question to us. How long will it take before you listen to me. How long are you going to disregard my word. How long are you going to show apathy in your spiritual life? How long will your life revolve around yourself.
Wisdom is speaking to three groups of people in Proverbs: the simple, the mockers and fools, and the wise people.
- The Simple – These are people who do not know what to believe and are naïve. They have no knowledge of God and are easily led astray. They live life like the wind. Not knowing what to believe or do. Proverbs says they are foolish.
- The Mockers and Fools – They understand God’s design and have knowledge of truth. Yet, they do not follow God’s ways. They live their own lives away from God. They have knowledge of God, but they don’t want to apply God’s truth to their life. They refuse to follow God. They are foolish as well.
- The Wise – The wise people are those that understand God’s knowledge, unlike the mockers and fools. Wise people show obedience to God. The wise person takes God’s knowledge and wisdom and applies it to their life. Proverbs says these are wise people.
Let me ask you a question. Where are you among these groups of people? How are you doing at taking God’s knowledge and applying it to your life? Are you like the simple? You are not sure what God’s Word says. You are simply naïve about what to believe or what to follow. That is fine. I am glad you are here to learn.
Are you like the mockers and fools. You know what God’s Word has to say, but for one reason or another, you’re not doing it. You have made excuses about why you are not doing what you know you should do. You continue to live your life on your terms. You are putting God at a distance.
Are you here today, as the wise person. You realize that you need God’s word. You want to take Bible knowledge and apply it to your life. You’re not perfect, but you are trying your best at putting Jesus first in your life.
The good news is that Wisdom is here for you. Remember the phrase, How Long? God is not giving up on you. It may take us 5, 30, or 50 years. God still wants you. Wisdom is saying, “You can start over right now. Just follow me.”
January is a time of New Year’s resolutions. Maybe you are here today, saying, “This is going to be the year that I take my faith more seriously. I am going to make it a point to get my family to church. I am going to make it a point to be a part of a small group or attend youth group.”
God is glad that you’re back. When you are ready to listen to Wisdom, Wisdom will begin speaking to you. I truly believe this. We just need to be quiet before God. Have a heart that is open to Him. God will speak to us.
Turning back to the passage… verse 23,
Repent at my rebuke!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
I will make known to you, my teachings.
Wisdom tells the simple, mockers, and the fools one key word. They need to repent because they are not following God. They are living life away from Him.
What does it mean to repent? To express sincere regret or remorse about one’s action. It simply means we are to turn from and change our behavior. We are to walk in God’s ways. If the simple, the mockers, and the fools would do this… what will happen? What does Lady Wisdom say?
She says, “I will pour out my thoughts to you. I will teach you to walk in God’s ways. You will be filled with blessings, peace, and love.”
Yet, we are often like the mockers and fools. There is a struggle inside us to follow what feels right to us. We keep pushing God off. Sometimes we tell God, not this time. Next time I will do it. Sometimes we even believe we know more than God. For some of us we are filled with excuses on why we cannot follow God. Deep down inside, we don’t want to. We want to live our life the way we see fit.
Some of you here today are feeling like there is tension in your life. Maybe there is an area of your life that you are feeling torn between following God and following the ways of the world. I am glad you are here. What I can tell you is that it is worth following God. It takes a lot of strength to repent and to turn your ways to the Lord. It is hard. It takes courage and perseverance. I can tell you that it’s worth it. Many of us have done it. We would never go back to way we used to live. Just like the Tesla car illustration. It is important to understand the creator and writer of the manual.
God is faithful. God is full of love. God is generous. God wants to pour out his blessing to you in your life. You must surrender and trust Him. It is very hard to repent and change the way you are living your life. But following and trusting God, I am telling you, is so worth it. We all need to choose God over the foolishness of this world.
As we turn back to the scripture, in Proverbs 1:24-32, we see that Wisdom gives us a stern warning. Wisdom can see the day of destruction and judgment better than us. Her words are harsh because she wants us to turn back to God.
24 But since you refuse to listen when I call
and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,
25 since you disregard all my advice
and do not accept my rebuke,
26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me,
29 since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord.
30 Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
Wow. After reading these verses, I am not sure that I want to go my own way. Wisdom sees a storm of judgment coming that will bring disaster and anguish to all who reject God’s invitation. When judgment arrives, sinners will call upon the Lord, but it will be too late. Unfortunately, people will reap what they have sown. That is what this passage is sharing with us.
The simple, mockers, and fools all trusted in themselves over God. They continued to mock and rejected God. They choose foolishness or the wisdom of God. It led to their destruction. Wisdom gives us another direction. It is one of hope. I want to leave you with some good news.
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
Wisdom promises security and peace to those who are willing to listen to her and believe. Wisdom is pointing us to Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:24, 29 tells us that Jesus is the power and the wisdom of God. Jesus is the wisdom described in Proverbs.
God calls us to choose how we are live our life. We can either choose the path of foolishness, which leads to destruction at the end of life. Or we can choose the path of wisdom, which leads to Jesus Christ.
Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is having reverence and awe of God. It starts with us wanting a relationship with Jesus Christ. Knowing that we are sinners and in need of a savior. We need to choose Jesus. Jesus gives us both knowledge and wisdom. It is the wise person takes Jesus’ teaching and apply it to their life. People who are wise look forward to walking with Jesus daily.