Latest / Teachings On This Day On FerventWord / On Aug 16, 2006: Proverbs 11
Transcript
- You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2006. Well, this evening, we're in Proverbs chapter 11. And as we've been studying through the book of Proverbs, we've learned and seen over and over again that it's all about wisdom. Now, wisdom is not maybe what we typically think of it. It's not about how intelligent or smart we are. Wisdom is about how we live, not what we know. And it's about living well and following God's instructions for life. This article caught my attention this week. It was kind of a funny situation that took place in Phoenix, Arizona. It says, a mortgage broker in Arizona, Francesca Cisneros, is used to working with big numbers. It's the double-digit speed limits that she has trouble with. Cisneros racked up 70 speeding tickets in the last five months, a record for the Scottsdale Police Department, police said on Friday. Speeding cameras in Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix, snapped pictures of the 32-year-old woman as she tore through the sun-baked city in her Honda Civic between March and July. She told arresting officers that she was speeding because she seemed to be late for client meetings all the time. Scottsdale Police Department spokesman Mark Clark told reporters, I guess she's got some time management issues. The second worst offender in the department's history accumulated a mere 25 tickets, Clark said. Finally, police said Cisneros said that she threw her speeding tickets away because she thought that nothing could happen to her if she didn't pay them. Anybody ever do that? Don't raise your hand. This lady is incredible, right? She racked up 70 speeding tickets because they're in Arizona. They didn't have the policemen there pulling her over, but they just took the picture as she sped by. And so within five months, she had 70 speeding tickets and all the while throwing them away, getting rid of them, figuring, I think I'll get away with it. It won't matter. Nothing will happen if I don't take care of them. And isn't that how we get into trouble? And as we look at the book of Proverbs, we need to take that into consideration because these proverbs, like the speed limit, are practical principles of God for our lives. And if we disregard them and pretend and we can rip them up and throw them away and disregard the ones that we don't like. But the reality is sooner or later, we're going to have to pay that ticket. And so we want to apply the principles that God has given to us. that we stay within the speed limit and keep ourselves where God wants us. We can fool ourselves into thinking that nothing will happen if we do not apply them, but it will catch up to us. And so we want to encourage you again as we look at the book of Proverbs to apply these things because that's what's best for us. And that is the way that you and I will be blessed and disregarding them will be harmful anyway. to us. And so we pick it up in Proverbs chapter 11. The first one this evening, verse 1 says, "...dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight." Dishonest scales speaks of back in those times, they didn't have the digital scales that we have today. What they had was a balance and they would put a certain amount of weight on the balance and a certain amount of product on the other side when you were purchasing something. And let's just say they were using pounds, which they weren't, but they would buy one pound of barley for such a price or two pounds of barley for such a price and buy The Lord says here that dishonest scales are an abomination to him. And what dishonest scales refers to is the vendors would be quite cunning and they would have two different sets of weights. The weights that they would use for selling would be a lighter set of weights. So one pound would maybe only be 12 ounces instead of 16 ounces. And so you would be getting a little bit less than what you actually paid for. But when people would come to their booth to sell them things, they would pull out a different set of weights, which would be heavier. And the heavier weights would then be able to get them more than what they were actually paying for. And so by a nickel here and a nickel there, they were trying to get ahead in life. It's kind of like, don't you feel cheated every time you open a bag of chips? And you look, there's this big old bag and you open and then there's just like this little tiny bit on the bottom. It's kind of like dishonest scales. This proverb is telling us that God wants us to deal honestly and fairly in all areas. You know, when we are proud because we snuck into two movies for the price of one, or if I do this and that on my taxes and I can fudge these numbers or get a little bit more back here, if I just say this or say that, you know, it's an abomination. The proverb says Solomon says abomination means that it's disgusting to the Lord. God wants all of our business practices and the way that we live to be upright, to be straightforward, to be in accordance with his word. And so we need to be careful of that. Verse two, when pride comes, then comes shame. But with the humble is wisdom. When pride comes, then comes shame. If you want shame, if you want dishonor and disgrace in your life, then the Proverbs say, go ahead and be prideful and be arrogant. because that will automatically produce and bring in your life shame, dishonor, and disgrace. Go ahead and be puffed up and self-absorbed, but it will bring shame in your life. There's so many warnings against pride in the scriptures, and especially in the Proverbs, that we'll see it over and over again. Time and time again, we see that pride and foolishness are linked together. The proud are foolish and the foolish are proud. We'll see as we continue on in the coming weeks. At the same time, humility and wisdom go hand in hand. So the wise are humble and the humble are wise. And so Proverbs says, when pride comes, then comes shame. But with the humble is wisdom, the wise thing for us to do and to be wise. is to be humble, to lower ourselves and to think more highly of those that God has placed into our lives. And we've been studying that for the past couple of weeks in the book of Philippians, where Paul says for us to esteem others better than ourself, following the example of Jesus Christ and emptying ourselves and serving others and being obedient to the point of death. And so pride brings shame, but humility comes with wisdom. Verse 3, the integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. The perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. Have you ever heard the expression or used the expression, a web of lies? That is what this verse is talking about. The perversity of the unfaithful destroys them. They get caught up in their own schemes and their own perversities. And the result is destruction in their life. This word perversity, it means crookedness. And notice how the unfaithful are destroyed. It's by their own crookedness. It's not by somebody else's or their neighbors or their co-workers. My dad is the reason why I'm this way and this is the reason why all these things are happening. Or my mom did this to me. No, it's not the result of anybody else, but it's the result of your own crookedness that you are destroyed. Disobeying God, disregarding his principles, it's bad for you. It's not good for you. It's perversity, and it's by your own perversity that you are destroyed. The upright, on the other hand, is... The opposite, because of their integrity, their uprightness and they're doing things right. They will be led and they will be guided by the Lord. Their integrity means uprightness or adherence to a code of values. And what Solomon is saying is we need to adhere to the code of values that God has given to us. And that will be our guide. And when we're in our situations in life, then God will speak to us through his word and give us guidance and he will lead us and direct us. But if we are involved in perversity and crookedness, we will find ourselves entangled up, messed up in our own problems and our own sin that we bring upon ourselves. Verse four, riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. It's an interesting verse, important for us to keep in mind, especially in this society. Riches do not profit in the day of wrath. It doesn't matter how much you have. You can't buy off God. The only thing that profits you in the day of wrath, Solomon says here, is righteousness. That's what delivers from death. Jesus asked a very good question in Mark chapter 8 verse 36. Along these same lines he says, What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? And then in verse 38, he says, So, So Jesus asked a question, very important question. What profit is it? What good is it for one of you or myself or anybody else to gain the whole world, to be successful, to make it to the ivory tower, to get all of the accomplishments and goals that we set for ourselves? What gain is that if you accomplish all of that, you become the next Bill Gates or whoever you might want to be. And then at the same time, you lose your own soul. And so in essence, you're gaining the success and the money or the things of this life, but it's at the expense of Of the rest of eternity. And Jesus says, what good is that? Why live 70 years of luxury here? Although even in the midst of the luxury, you're still miserable. But why go through that and then be lost for the rest of eternity? That doesn't make any sense. What gain is that? What profit is that? No, what delivers us from death, what we really need is not riches, not fame, not popularity, but we need righteousness. Righteousness. We have the choice. We can believe in Jesus Christ and walk in his ways and be delivered from death, or we can walk in our own way. Think about your life and how you are living. It's important that we ask ourselves the question, which life am I living for? Are all of my goals and my expectations and my hopes and dreams for this life only? Is that what I'm living for? Is that what I hope to accomplish? Or am I living for the next life? And living for the next life means walking with God in his righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ. Righteousness does not mean doing a lot of good deeds or good works, but it means right standing with God. And so the important thing for us, if you want to escape death, if you want to make it through to the rest of eternity, Then live in such a way that you have right standing with God, right relationship with God, whatever you need to change in your life. Stop pursuing the things of this life and start pursuing the things of God, because in that we find life. It's like Paul shared with us in Philippians chapter three, which we'll be looking at this Sunday. In verse eight, he says, you know, I counted everything loss. That I might know Jesus Christ. That I might get to know him and have relationship with him. I counted everything else as loss. And he had wonderful things ahead of him. He was a very bright and prosperous Pharisee before he started following the Lord. But he counted all that loss. He gave all that up to walk in the ways of Jesus Christ. Verse 5. The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright. But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness. How is it that the wicked falls? By his own wickedness. Again, it's our choice. It's up to us. In fact, we see this theme run throughout this chapter in Proverbs 11. That it's our own wickedness. It's our own actions and our own lifestyle that lead to wickedness. The blessings or the consequences for how we live. The wages of sin is death, Paul tells us in Romans 6.23. It will destroy your life. You do reap what you sow. It's a law of God. But righteousness will direct your way. Righteousness will keep you on the right track. And righteousness will keep you in the center of God's will. And so the righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright. But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness. And once again, we find ourselves in a place that we need to keep ourselves in right relationship with God. We need to confess any known sin in our lives. Any sin that God reveals to us through his word, perhaps this evening or in your personal time of devotion, as God reveals to us areas that need to be changed, as he sheds light into our hearts on areas that need to be confessed, we need to confess those and keep ourselves in right relationship with God because righteousness directs our way aright. Seek a deeper walk in relationship with Jesus Christ. Verse 6, the righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but the unfaithful will be caught by their lust. How are the unfaithful caught? By their lust. It's again their own lust and their own desires changed. That bring destruction. If you live in sin, it will destroy your life. But you will be destroying your own life and it will be nobody's fault except for yourself. The Bible gives the full responsibility of our actions and the consequences of those actions to us. It doesn't matter what anybody else did to provoke us. It doesn't matter what situation we grew up in or what example we had. The Bible places the responsibility for right living upon us. And it's our own actions that get us in trouble and our own actions that draw us close to God. And so we need to walk with God and live accordingly. The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but the unfaithful will be caught by their lust. That word lust, it means desire or craving. And if you haven't experienced this yet, you will. The desires and cravings of our flesh are not satisfied when we feed them. You have desires maybe for sexual pleasure outside of marriage. But if you feed that desire, it does not satisfy it. It just continues to burn for more. Or you have the desire consumed with greed, hatred. Consumed with things that are not of God, maybe addiction to drugs or alcohol or success. And you'll find that as you try to satisfy those cravings and desires, they're never actually satisfied. But instead, it continues to create more of a thirst, more of a desire, more of a craving, And the more that you try to feed it, the more that it hungers and thirsts, the more that you have to feed it, and it brings this great destruction, the unfaithful will be caught by their lust. The more you get, the more lust grows. The more lust grows. the more easily you will be caught by that lust. You'll be trapped and destroyed. But if you want to be delivered, again, the righteousness of the upright will deliver them. So keep yourself in right relationship with God. That's the key to blessing, to success, to deliverance. Keep yourself in a close, intimate, personal relationship with God. Pastor Chuck used to share this often, and I quote him a lot on this. If there was ever a time in your life where you were more on fire for God than you are now, then you're in a backslidden state. If there was ever a time that you can remember that you were really close to the Lord or really being obedient to him and serving him in the ways that he's called you to, not necessarily more active in things, but closer to him personally and intimately. If that's a thing of the past, then I'm backslidden and I need to come back to a right relationship with God because it's a daily growing walk with Jesus Christ. And so I need to keep myself in relationship with God, right relationship with God, and that will deliver me. Verse 7, When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish and the hope of the unjust perishes. When a wicked man dies, his expectation or his hope, what he expects to happen, what he's looking forward to, it perishes. And again, I remind you of Mark 8, 36. Jesus says, what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? The wicked have no hope beyond this life. If all of your hopes and dreams are based in this life, then know that they will perish with your death. Once you're gone, who's going to accomplish those things that you always wanted to do? Who's going to see the benefits of those things that you did throughout your life and the preparations that you made or whatever the case may be? No, if our hopes and dreams are just in this life, when we die, that's it. They're not going to be realized or lived out any longer. And that is why we must put our expectation and our hope first. on eternity. We must live for eternity and store up our treasures in heaven and stop being so consumed and concerned about this life. Verse eight, the righteous is delivered from trouble and it comes to the wicked instead. This undoubtedly will bring questions to our mind because it says the righteous is delivered from trouble. And so I will ask, then if I have trouble, does that mean that I'm not righteous? And that's been taught for many years. In fact, since the creation of the world, we saw that in the book of Job, which is believed to be the oldest book of the Bible. All of these things happened in Job's life. Losing his family, losing his house, losing all of his possessions and his livestock. And his friends came and they were miserable comforters. And they said, Job, it's because you're not right with God, because you're involved in sin. You must be doing something wrong. And for 30 some chapters over and over again, this is the message that they give to Job. But it's not the truth. The fact that there is trouble in our life does not mean that we're not righteous, does not mean that we're not right with God. In fact, Jesus promised that there will be trouble in our lives. In John chapter 16, verse 33, Jesus tells his disciples, these things I've spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Jesus promised tribulation for his disciples, for his followers. But it's not just those 12 that were walking with Jesus that would experience tribulation. Paul later, writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3, says, He tells him in verse 12, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But before he tells Timothy this, he recounts to Timothy something that I find very interesting. In verse 10 and 11 of 2 Timothy 3, Paul says, Timothy, you've carefully followed my doctrine, my manner of life, my purpose, my faith, long-suffering, love, and perseverance, persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and Lystra. The persecutions that I endured. But he ends by saying, and out of them all, the Lord delivered me. Paul tells Timothy, you know, the life that I've lived and the things that I've taught and the doctrine that I that I live by and the things that I believe in, the faith that I have, you know, all of that. And at the same time, you've seen all of the persecutions and trouble and heartache and things that have come against me. And you've seen how the Lord has delivered me from all of those things. And so he tells Timothy, yes, I'm walking right and living according to the word of God, but I'm experiencing trouble. Yet God is delivering me from that trouble. What does it mean that he's delivering him from that trouble or that the righteous are delivered from trouble? Back in Proverbs chapter 11, verse eight, it doesn't mean that we will not experience trouble, but that there's a promise of deliverance from trouble. The righteous will be delivered from trouble, but we still will experience it. Even as Paul experienced trouble, even to the point of being stoned and left for dead outside of the city. He was executed by the Jewish method of that day. They thought he was dead. They drug him outside the city. But he says, you know, the Lord delivered me from all those persecutions. The Lord gave him exactly what he needed, carried him through, and And so we have this promise of deliverance, even in the midst of trouble. We have the promise that God will never give us more than what we are able to bear, more than what we are able to handle. God will always give us the strength. He will always give us the grace to be able to have a right relationship with him through it all, to walk with him and do what's right through it all. There will never be a time where we will be forced to to denounce God or walk away from Him or disobey Him because of some situation, we will always have everything that we need because God delivers the righteous. Even death for a righteous person is the ultimate deliverance because then we are delivered from trouble forevermore. To be with Jesus Christ for eternity. But for the wicked in this life and in the next, they will have trouble with no promise of deliverance. So the righteous will be delivered, but not the wicked. Verse 9. The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. Now, just for a quick survey of this room, how many here know of a hypocrite in their life? Anybody know a hypocrite in their life? I think everybody's hands should be raised. How many are sitting next to a hypocrite? No, don't raise your hand. I'm just kidding. The word hypocrite in this passage, it means someone who is ungodly. It's related to the word that is used for corruption. Monique wrote two hands. Okay. It's related to the word for corruption. And it refers to someone whose ways are corrupt, who perhaps put on a show, a good show, a A nice, pleasant neighbor. But in the meantime, behind the scenes, they are plotting things that are wicked and vile. Now, our neighbors are supposed to do good for us. That's why neighborhoods existed from the beginning. You could have lived far apart, but then you'd be alone and isolated and vulnerable for attack. And so people would group together to protect themselves from the enemy. That's why we have programs now like Neighborhood Watch where we help protect each other. Neighbors are there so that you can borrow bread and butter and milk. We help each other out. But there are those who are not good neighbors. And so Solomon tells us we need to be careful because there's the hypocrites that with his mouth destroys his neighbor. But notice how the righteous is delivered. It's by knowledge, knowledge that comes from having a right standing with God. Again, the righteous being in right standing with God by our faith in Jesus Christ. Very often as Christians, we say that Christianity is a relationship and not a religion. And it is true. But we need to remember why we say that and what that means. Religion is based on rituals. It's based on rules and regulations by which we attempt to reach God and meet his standards. But relationship is simply receiving from God already the finished work, which he did for us on the cross. But then beyond that, living together. daily in intimacy with the father and having a real relationship with him. That means that we can have relationship with God, walking with him in every aspect of our lives and that he will help us and guide us in our relationships with others, in our workplace, in our financial decisions that we must make and All of the things that we do, we have a relationship with God by which he is able to lead us and guide us. He wants to be involved in that way intimately with every part of our lives. And so if we let him guide us, he will protect us from the hypocrite next door. Verses 10 and 11. When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices. And when the wicked perish, there is jubilation by the blessing of the upright. The city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. So not only do we affect our own lives by the way that we live with blessing and cursing and sinning, We also affect our city because when it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices. And verse 11, by the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted. This city and this nation has been blessed so much as a result of the Christians, as a result of the founding fathers. principles of this nation based on Christian values. But we see that this nation is quickly digressing and moving away from these things. And so the best thing that you and I can do for this city, for this nation, is to live a godly life. Because when it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices. And by the blessing of the upright, a city is exalted. Verse 12. He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his peace. This is a good one for me. He says he is devoid of wisdom, despises his neighbor. Now, neighbor, we should probably define that very quickly. It's not just the person who lives next door to you, but really, as you look at the word, it's any person that you come in contact with. And so your neighbor might be someone that you, you know, run into at the grocery store who cuts in front of you in line or or someone who cuts you off on the freeway or someone you, you know, happen to live next door to or work with or whatever. People in your life are your neighbors. Remember Jesus's parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10. He asked which of the three men were the neighbor of the Samaritan who had been robbed by bandits. Now, they had all come in contact with him, but the one who did him good was the Good Samaritan and he was the good neighbor. And so the question for us, though, and the people that we come in contact with is, are there those that we despise in our lives? Are there people that we despise, which means to look down upon with contempt, to regard as negligible, worthless or distasteful? Do you have that attitude or that mentality towards others in your life? We need to check our hearts because it's the one who is devoid of wisdom who despises his neighbor, who has his neighbor in a worthless point of view or thinking of them with contempt or distastefully. We need to check our hearts because when we have that attitude and that mentality, it shows that we are devoid or completely lacking wisdom. You and you alone have charge of your heart and also of your peace. He says, but a man of understanding holds his peace. You have charge of your heart and your peace. And so hold on to it. And don't let your neighbors steal your peace. Even if they are trying to provoke you to let that peace go and to be involved in some despising or some aggravation. So what if he throws trash in your yard? So what if she gets the promotion that you wanted? What good is it for you to worry and fret and despise them? It's no good at all. We need to hold on to our peace, hold on to our trust and our faith in Jesus Christ and not despise those around us. But again, esteem them as better than ourselves. Verse 13, another good one. A talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is a faithful spirit conceals a matter. You ever notice that secrets do weird things to people? It begins when we're kids, right? When there's a secret, oh man, it's so hard for a kid to hide a secret. They're taunting you, I know something you don't know. And, you know, as adults, we're not much different. Have you ever noticed how you feel when you've been told a secret? Suddenly you have power, authority. Suddenly you're special. Now you have this forbidden knowledge is kind of how we look at it. There's a little kid in all of us still yearning to say, I know something you don't know. We have this desire, this mentality. A tailbearer reveals secrets, Solomon says. This word tailbearer, it's based on two words in the Hebrew. Literally, it means a slanderer who walks about. It's a walkabout slander. Someone who goes back and forth and around and around, picking up a little information there, divulging a little information there, picking up some information at this new location, going back to the other one and going back to this. It's like a person who sells merchandise, a person who is trading, but is trading information, secrets. This is a tale bearer. But specifically, it's related to the word slander. Now, slander is a report that brings injury to a person or their reputation. In essence, it's anything negative about a person. And a tailbearer is one who goes back and forth and forward and back, sharing negative things about others. A tailbearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. Let's be people who conceal matters rather than slander a person. First Peter, chapter four, verse eight. Peter tells us that love covers a multitude of sins rather than sharing with others sins or things inappropriate in a person's life. We need to allow love to conceal those things and cover those things and not share those with others. Here's a couple helpful tips. If you have to say, don't tell anyone else, it's probably not a good thing that you're talking about and you should not be sharing that. If you have to say, don't tell them I told you. You don't want to be sharing that. You're speaking things that are out of your place and you need to be quiet. Or if you need to say, nobody else knows. Those are secrets that you should not be sharing, nor the other end of that is, nor should you be listening to them. If anybody begins, hey, don't tell them, well, I'm sorry, I can't promise that. I need to step out of this conversation. Nobody else knows, well, then I probably don't need to know either. We need to keep ourselves informed. from slander, sharing it or receiving it. We should not participate in any negative conversations or comments about a person. General rule of thumb. Which is what I go by. Do not say anything that you are not willing to attach your name to. And I grab that from 1 Corinthians 1, verse 11, where Paul is writing to the Corinthians and he says, It has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. Could you imagine all the Corinthians looking at Chloe's household? What are you guys telling on us for? Tattletales? But there was a legitimate problem that was taking place in the church that And they share with Paul, hey, here's the problem. But they're willing to attach their name to it. They're not just slandering things and making up things, but there's a real legitimate situation. And so they come and say, it's okay, use our name, but here's what's going on. And Paul, you need to address it. And he spends several chapters in Corinthians addressing the situation that was going on. And so I apply that principle to my life. Do not say anything that you are not willing to attach your name to. So much damage is done by our tongues. We must be very careful. If you think you have a handle on your tongue and this is not a struggle, then you need to read James 3, 1-12 again. James 3, 1-12, which teaches us that nobody does. Nobody is able to control their tongue completely. And that is why we must rely upon the Lord. But our practice should be not revealing secrets, not being a tailbearer, but being of a faithful spirit and concealing matters rather than revealing them. Verse 14 says, Where there is no counsel, the people fall. But in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. If there's no counsel, people are going to fall. And again, we see here in Proverbs the importance of receiving instruction, receiving counsel in our lives. How much counsel do you receive? How many times do you allow others in your life to direct you and to guide you, to speak into your life? And give you wisdom from the Lord. Especially those of you who are in places of authority, who are responsible for others. Without counsel, the people fall. But in a multitude of counselors, there is safety. And of course, the best counsel is the one that's based on the principles of God out of the word of God. And so I would encourage you to let seasoned believers counsel you and share with you. the truth that they have learned from God. Every service after the service, we have people up here that we make available to pray with you and things that God may be speaking to your heart. But I would also invite you to come up and seek counsel if that is what you require. If there's decisions or situations, they will gladly share with you what the Lord says in his word about those things. So if you don't have someone in your life, please come forward after the service and share with them what's upon your heart and allow God to speak to you in that way. Verse 15, he who is surety for a stranger will suffer, but one who hates being surety is secure. The word surety talks about it. We would refer to it today as cosigning. And so he says, if you cosign with those people, who you don't know, you're not familiar with, or you enter into those type of agreements with strangers, you're going to suffer. And so stay away from cosigning and surety with those whom you do not know. Verse 16, A gracious woman retains honor, but ruthless men retain riches. So this one's for the ladies here. Ladies, the way to retain honor is to be gracious, which means to be marked by kindness and courtesy. And I love the comparison of this verse, but ruthless men retain riches. I picture someone like Scrooge McDuck. You remember him in the cartoons? The old miser, he counted his money constantly. He's hanging on to it, wouldn't let it go for nothing, not a penny out of his sight. And the idea here is for the ladies to retain honor by having that mentality towards grace, towards being gracious and kind and courteous. That you let nothing in your life take you away from being kind and courteous and being gracious in your personality and your attitude. Retain honor by holding on to grace like Scrooge McDucks holds on to his money. There's nothing... You'll be saying, there's nothing that you can do to make me let go of kindness and courtesy in my life. Verse 17, the merciful man does good for his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh. The merciful man does good for who? His own soul, himself. And the cruel man troubles who? Again, we see we have the choice. If you are merciful, it will be for your benefit. Now, mercy means not giving what is deserved, specifically not giving punishment that is deserved. And if you show mercy to people in your life, it will be for your good. It may not feel like it at the time, but God says show mercy. That's what he does because he knows that's what is best. But if you want to be cruel and give what is not deserved, Then it will be trouble to yourself. Again, Galatians chapter six, verse seven and eight. Paul says it's a law just like you sow corn and reap corn and sow potatoes and reap potatoes and sow tomatoes and reap potatoes. Whatever you reap or whatever you sow, you're going to reap. He says, don't be deceived. God is not mocked. A man sows what he reaps. Whatever he sows, that's what he's going to reap. If you sow to the flesh and the things of cruelty or the things that are not of God, you're going to reap corruption. But if you sow to the spirit, to the things of God, then you will reap everlasting life. It's up to you. You bring upon yourself whatever you give to others. Mercy brings back goodness. Cruelty brings back trouble. Verse 18. The wicked man does deceptive work. But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. The New International Version puts it this way. The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward. Whether it's the work or the wages that are deceptive, the point is that it's not lasting, nor is it guaranteed. Whether it's the wages or the work, you cannot cheat, steal, connive and smudge. And be lasting. You can do all those things, but it will not last. It will not be worthwhile. It will not be successful in the end. But if you do what is right, Solomon says, you will have a sure reward, a guaranteed reward. It's a promise. That is why we're told to walk uprightly, even when it's the difficult thing to do, the harder thing to do. Do what's right. Live uprightly and you'll be blessed. Verse 19, as righteousness leads to life. So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death. Again, we have the choice before us. What you pursue determines the outcome, life or death. Which is it that you choose? Now, the answer is not based on what you say. Oh, I choose life. But it's based upon how you live. Will you live in a way that demonstrates that you choose life or will you pursue evil to your own death? Verse 20. Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord, but the blameless in their ways are his delight. Verse 20. Now, we have a problem here because he says those who have a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord. Again, are disgusting to the Lord. And the problem is that we, all of us, are born with perverse hearts. Jeremiah 17, 9 tells us that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Our heart is perverse. It's crooked. It's perverse. Perverse and crooked and desperately wicked and not just a little bit, but beyond repair. And that's why David in Psalm 51 verse 10, as he is praying to God in response to the revelation of the sin that it took place in his life, in immorality, adultery, murder, he says to God, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Here is the wonder of the grace of God. We, by nature, have perverse, wicked, hopelessly lost hearts. They're beyond the hope of reform. They're beyond the hope of maybe some restructuring to get it right. No amount of refurbishing will bring our hearts back to a right. But David prays, create in me a clean heart. The word that he uses here for create is It's not take something that's existing and mold it and shape it into something. But it means to create out of nothing. It's the Hebrew word bara. The same word when God created the heavens and the earth. He created out of nothing the heavens and the earth. And David recognized my heart. It's perverse and wicked. Lord, I don't want you just to reform my heart. But Lord, you need to give me a completely new heart. Like Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5.17, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Also, God promised through Jeremiah that he would take out the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh as a part of the new covenant, the relationship with Jesus Christ. And so the perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord, but the blameless in their ways are his delight. We cannot reform ourselves by doing good works or by accomplishing things on our own, but by putting our faith in Jesus Christ, the method that God has given to us, we become blameless. He creates new hearts in us and we become the delight of God instead of the disgust of God. Verse 21, though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished. But the posterity of the righteous will be delivered. This is important. Justice will be done. God will make sure of it. You cannot outnumber God. Even if all the wicked join together to come against, they will not go unpunished. They will get what they deserve. God will make sure of that. And it's interesting because, of course, that seems to make sense to us. Well, of course, we can't all gang up on God. I mean, who would try to do that? But it's very interesting that Just before this world is renewed completely and God sends us into the rest of eternity with him. Satan will try one last time. There'll be a thousand year reign of Jesus Christ on this earth where Satan will be bound. But then after the reign of a thousand years, he'll be released for a short time. He'll go and he'll gather together as many as he can muster and he'll come and attack God and God will wipe him out. And so as foolish as it may seem, it's going to happen. They will try to outnumber God, but it cannot happen. God is just. Justice will be done. But don't expect justice in this lifetime necessarily. God is not relying upon this lifetime to bring justice. That's what eternity is for. For now, God prefers mercy. Second Peter three nine. He prefers to have someone repent from their sin and receive the forgiveness of Jesus Christ that he can show them mercy, that he can give them grace. And so right now he is patient. And right now we don't necessarily see the justice be fulfilled, but it will take place. We can count on that. Verse 22, as a ring of gold and a swine snout, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion. Discretion is the ability to live well and make good decisions. And so, ladies, this one's for you again. Can you imagine taking off your engagement ring and sticking it up the nose of a pig? That's the picture that Solomon is painting here. The ring of gold and a swine snout. So is a lovely woman who lacks discretion. That's what it's like from God's perspective, you might say. If you look good on the outside and you've got the right haircut and the eyebrows done, as the ladies were talking about before service. But if you're not living right, it's like a wedding ring that's stuck in the nose of a pig. That's why Peter in 1 Peter 3, 3 and 4 says, Speaking to the ladies, he says, do not let your adornment merely be outward, arranging of the hair, wearing gold, putting on fine apparel. Rather, let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. And so the right thing is not just the outward appearance, but the ability to make good decisions, to do what's right and to live well. And if you need help, I would encourage you, let the older women teach you how to do this. Titus chapter 2, verses 3 through 5. Paul encourages that the older ladies, those who have been experienced with the Lord, walking with God, should share with those who are younger in the Lord how to walk in this way. Not just in outward appearance, but allowing God to do a work within. Verse 23 says, The desire of the righteous is only good, but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. The desire of the righteous is only good. Now, this brings some good light to Psalm 37, 4, which you're probably familiar with. It says, delight yourself also in the Lord and he shall give you the desires of your heart. God gives you the desires of your heart when you delight in him. And that can be interpreted two ways. Either, first of all, that God places the desires in your heart. In other words, the desires that you have come from God. Or it can also be interpreted that God grants the desires that you have. But either way, the result is because your desires are good. The desires of the righteous is only good. But the wicked, on the other hand, their expectation, all they do is store up wrath for themselves. And that's what we do when we're disobedient to God. Verses 24 through 26. There is one who scatters yet increases more. And there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich. And he who waters will also be watered himself. The people will curse him who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it. I include these three together because they share the same principle that we're to give generously and willingly and we'll be blessed and taken care of. It's like how we saw on Sunday that God's ways are sometimes backwards to us. How can one who scatters increase more if you take care? All of the money out of your bank and you go around and just kind of scatter it everywhere. Well, how does that increase what you have? It doesn't make sense in the natural realm, but it is a principle of God. There are those who are generous to others and they will be blessed. It's a promise that we should be generous and we should scatter, which doesn't mean just waste the money, but spread it out and use it in different ways for the kingdom of God. And you'll be blessed and there will be increase. God will not be a debtor to you, primarily because he already paid more than you're able to pay him back in giving his son. But it's also a principle that he established. As you give to him, he will give back to you and take care of you. Give to the Lord, give to others and you will be blessed. Verse 27, he who earnestly seeks good finds favor, but trouble will come to him who seeks evil. Again, we see that we reap what we sow. If you seek to do what is right and what is good, you will find favor. But if you're looking for trouble, you're going to find it. Verse 28, he who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage. Jesus said it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Solomon says he who trusts in riches will fall. So if we trust in riches, we will certainly fall. We will not inherit the kingdom of God. If that's our hope, if that's our trust, again, the things of this life will not last. They will disappoint us. But if we trust in the righteousness that comes from God by faith in Jesus Christ, the promise is that we will flourish and we will find salvation. Verse 29. He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart. Your family has been entrusted to you by God. They are your first ministry and priority, second only to your relationship with God. They're more important than anything else in your life. Your occupation, even your distant relatives, your... What do they call that? You know, your other family. Not your immediate family, but your... Extended family. There you go. Your immediate family is for you, your priority in the ministry that God has given to you. And Solomon says, if all you do is cause trouble for your family, you're going to inherit the wind. You're going to reap nothing. You're going to end up holding nothing in your hands. Kind of similar to what Paul said in 1 Timothy 5.8. If anyone does not provide for his own, especially of those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. We need to take care of our families and love our families and provide for them and serve them and minister to them first and foremost in our lives. Second to God, of course. Verse 30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he who wins souls wins. is wise. And then verse 31, if the righteous will be recompensed on the earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner. We reap what we sow. The law is firm. It will not be changed. How we live determines how we're blessed, the results that will take place in our life and where we will spend the rest of eternity. But I like what verse 30 says, and I want to close with this thought. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. This picture of a tree of life. And sharing with us that the natural product of our lives as Christians should be the bringing of others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28, that we would bring others to to follow God, to walk with God, to experience relationship with God. And so the fruit of a righteous person, the fruit of one who is right with God and doing what God has called them to do will be a tree of life. And I picture it like a family tree, a history and a legacy of people who have been impacted by the righteous. Those who were ministered to by you and Then the Lord used you to minister to others and the Lord used those others to minister to yet others. And as a result of one person ministering to you, there's much fruit on this tree of life. There's this great family tree that we can see of impact upon impact upon impact upon impact. And I'd like to share with you an example. It's an article I will read to you. It says this. You've probably never heard of a man named Edward Kimball. Edward was a Sunday school teacher who one day felt compelled to share his faith with a young shoe salesman. That shoe salesman's name was Dwight L. Moody, who went on to become one of the greatest evangelists of his generation. Well, years later, a man named Frederick B. Meyer attended a crusade where Moody was preaching. He became a Christ follower and began his own evangelistic crusade. During one of his crusades, a college student named Wilbur Chapman heard Meyer preach, and he too became a Christian who impacted the life of a professional baseball player named Billy Sunday. And soon Billy Sunday accepted Christ, and he too began a powerful evangelistic ministry. Now, following the bouncing ball, he says in 1924, Billy Sunday spoke at a crusade in Charlotte, North Carolina, where hundreds of people came to follow Christ. A number of businessmen were so impacted by the ministry of Billy Sunday that they decided to arrange for a speaker named Mordecai Ham to come and speak to their group. Even though it never became a huge evangelistic success, one night a man named Billy Graham attended his meeting and decided to become a Christ follower himself. Billy Graham, you know him as the one who has preached to more people in the world than anyone else in history. More than 210 million people in 185 countries. And so you follow the family tree, as it were. Billy Graham, Mordecai Ham, Billy Sunday, Wilbert Chapman, Frederick B. Meyer, Dwight L. Moody. And Dwight L. Moody was saved because of the efforts of one man who was a Sunday school teacher named Edward Kimball. It's an example of how you never know how that one person will really impact the world. And in God's economy, the way that God sees it, God sees this guy, Edward Kimball, his faithful servant. And it is as a result of his ministry. Countless people have received the gospel and been ministered to and found healing and hope and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. And that is accredited to his account. It's counted as if he had done that in God's economy. The importance for us, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. Let's be faithful to share the gospel, to minister to people in our lives. You never know what that person will go on to do and the tree of life that will be produced because of your faithfulness to share with someone else. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for your promises and principles here. God, may we... Take heed to these things and apply them to our lives. You've given us the choice, Lord, of how we live and how we're blessed. Lord, you've left it in our hands and it's not about what we say, but Lord, how we live. And God, we're not able to live these things and apply these things on our own. And so we ask you to fill us with your Holy Spirit. God, lead us in right relationship with you, that we might be strengthened, that we might be led and guided, that we might walk with you, receiving the forgiveness that you offer as we confess our sins to you, receiving the power and the strength that you desire to give us, Lord. The desire and the power, Lord, to live a godly life, Lord, to walk in the ways that you've called us to. And so, God, we recognize the principles of righteousness here in this chapter. And we ask, Lord, that you would draw us close to you. Lord, that you would do whatever it takes, no matter how hard it is or how much it hurts. Bring us into right relationship with you. That we might have perfect peace in you. Lord, that we might be blessed. That we might share with others and they might find hope in you, Jesus Christ. Lord, we ask that you would work in our hearts this evening. It's in your precious name we pray. Amen.