Latest / HBCWestminster / Proverbs 6:16-19 What Does Proverbs Say About Sin 9.29.19

Transcript

Proverbs 6:16-19 What Does Proverbs Say About Sin 9.29.19 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Well, if you have your Bibles, you can open to Proverbs 6. We are coming to the end of our Proverbs study. We have this morning, what does Proverbs say about sin? Next week, we're going to look at what does Proverbs say about alcohol? That will conclude our Proverbs study. We've been going through the book of Proverbs for you who have been around the church here for the last four or five months throughout the summer. Next, we will study the book of Jude, the one-page letter of Jude.
• 0:28
  We'll do that for about a month and a half or so. We'll just go verse by verse, as is our tradition and custom. And that will take us through to Thanksgiving, the month of December. As we normally do, we will look at Christ and His coming. And so that's kind of the preaching plan upcoming. I'm in Proverbs 6. We'll begin in verse 16. And I would ask if you're able to stand in the honor of God's Word as we read verses 16 to 19.
• 0:58
  It says, there are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him, haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. And Lord, the eyes of all look to you in hope because you're the one who gives us what we need.
• 1:31
  You open your hand, Lord, and you satisfy our hunger and our thirst. We long to be filled, God, to eat of the bread of life. We long to drink from your life-giving streams to taste your goodness and live. And may the time we spend together in your presence and in your word this morning nourish our hearts and our minds. May it strengthen our relationship with you, God. May we renew our commitments to live in this world as your faithful disciples.
• 2:05
  You alone are God. There is no other. And it's in Jesus' name we pray, and amen. Amen. Thank you for standing. You can be seated. Yesterday was our semi-annual church workday. People come, and I appreciate it. Anybody who came yesterday, there were probably two or three dozen of us who came to work, both on the outside of the church, getting it ready for the winter to come, and on the inside of the church, cleaning things out.
• 2:32
  And kind of starting a new season. And yesterday, one of our trustees, Clarence, who is a good friend and just a faithful man, honestly, came up to me yesterday morning. He said, Pastor Danny, I was looking at Facebook and he said, I realized it was five years ago to the day that you preached here at Highland the very first time. Five years ago yesterday. I counted a great joy, honestly, to be a member of this church. Not just the pastor of the church, but to be a member of this church.
• 3:03
  To be called by God as this flock's shepherd is an immense and humbling privilege. But in those five years, I've made some observations about the region in which we live. These are not necessarily observations about Highland, but observations about our region, North Denver, where we live. We, North Denverites, love the message of forgiveness. We love that message. But many North Denverites...
• 3:33
  deny the existence of sin. Signs, billboards, t-shirts, even sidewalk chalk declares the message of peace and tolerance and acceptance. People love preaching about forgiveness, but if you suggest that how they act or how they think could be erroneous, that they actually need the forgiveness that they preach, they will take offense. Forgiveness?
• 4:05
  Yes. For others, but sin in themselves? No. We, North Denverites, love to talk about the love of God. People are not offended when you talk to them about the love of God, but many refuse the idea that God may stand opposed to certain topics. If you listen to the message of our neighbors, you would think that Jesus is a hippie, granola eating, dreadlock sporting.
• 4:38
  Surfer, whose fingers are permanently fixed, giving the peace sign. He's angry at nothing. He stands opposed to nothing. And he would never make a whip, flip tables, and cleanse temples. Right? That is not the Jesus that many of them preach. A church cleanser? That's not him. We, North Denverites, love preaching about heaven. Nobody's offended by heaven.
• 5:10
  But many refuse to preach on hell. Now, I understand that there is a pastor, a very famous pastor, whose first name is Joel. I understand that he is not a Denverite. He is smack dab in the middle of the Bible belt. But he said in 2016 that he would no longer preach about hell. In his words, and here is a quote, people already feel guilty enough. I want them to come to our meetings and be lifted up.
• 5:44
  Timothy Keller responds by saying this, in some ways, the fairest understanding of the afterlife is the Christian one. We're the only ones, he says, who are fair. We say that God gives you whatever you want. If you want to live with God forever, that's heaven and you'll get it. But if you want to be your own person, your own savior, your own Lord, that's hell and you'll get it.
• 6:15
  You'll get whatever you want. Ravi Zacharias has said, every person will spend eternity exactly where he or she has chosen to be. Do you ever wonder what does it do to forgiveness if we deny the existence of sin? How can we preach a message of forgiveness when we don't preach a message of sin? What happens to forgiveness if there's no sin? What does it do to heaven if you erase hell? What does it do to the love of God if you neglect his righteous?
• 6:49
  My middle son, who is now 14 and a freshman in high school, his name is Zach. When Zach was young, five, six years old, I told him that if he did a good job in school that day, I would take him to the store and buy him a new toy, okay? Five, six-year-olds don't understand what the dollar store is, okay? But when you walk into the dollar store and you tell your first grader, you can have anything you want.
• 7:17
  Anything in the store, right? Because you would never do that in Target, right? No way. But you walk into the 99 cent general and you just say, man, I will do anything you want, buddy. And his eyes just get big because it's huge. You want a cowboy hat? You want a six pack of expired green beans? Like, what do you want? Anything you want.
• 7:41
  His eyes get big. He goes running over to the toy aisle. He goes through and he's rummaging through everything. And he grabbed this little truck, you know, this little truck. And it was one of those that if you get going real fast, you know, and then let it go, it'll roll. And so he's playing with everything on the aisle. And you guys know, it looks like a hurricane hit the toy aisle of the 99 cent store. But, you know, he's running this thing. Dad, I want this. You know, when you ran it to it, it had little sparks that shot out the back, you know. Dad, I want this. All right, no problem, buddy. Whatever you want.
• 8:09
  So I take him to the front. You know, it's like $1.06 or whatever it is. And pay, we're walking out to the truck, out to the parking lot. On the way, we had literally just walked out of those automatic doors on our way out to the truck, on the way out to the truck. He says, Dad, it's broken. Thing didn't make it 20 steps. You know, and now I'm thinking, all right, what do I do? I'm not standing in the return line, right?
• 8:41
  buddy, we'll go in, we'll get you another one. Like, it's not worth the dollar to try to exchange and whatever. I'm just going back in. I'll spend another dollar. We'll get you another one. You know, buy it on the way out. But I said, Zach, this time, don't touch it till we get home. You know, at least, at least it'll make it home. If you deny sin, you deny righteousness. If you deny hell, what you end up with is a cheap version of Christianity in the gospel.
• 9:12
  You end up with a facade like a plastic disposable Christianity that has a plastic disposable Jesus. You end up with a made-in-China copy of the original. It costs very little. It accomplishes very little. You end up with a Savior who breaks before you ever make it to the parking lot. Really, honestly, what you end up with is exactly what we've got. The world is loud.
• 9:45
  Our world talks a lot. Our world wants us to agree with them. Indeed, they even expect us to agree with them. But that is not what the Bible calls holiness. J.C. Ryle has said, holiness is the habit of one mind with God. As we find his mind described in Scripture, it is the habit of agreeing with God's judgment.
• 10:18
  hating what he hates, loving what he loves, measuring everything in this world by the standard of his word. Now, last week I preached on the dangers of adultery. That sermon was meant to provide solace to the ones who have been hurt, to provide hope to the ones who have failed, a warning to the ones who may be tempted. I began by saying that nowhere else in Scripture that I can think of are there three consecutive chapters devoted to one subject like we find in Proverbs 5, 6.
• 10:49
  and seven are dedicated to adultery. Now, some of you upon hearing that may have skimmed through those chapters and thought, wait, there seems to be a little island within chapter six that has little to do with adultery. And you'd be right, this morning we look at that island. Chapter six, verses 16 to 19, causes you to wonder what would be important enough.
• 11:12
  To interrupt a father lecturing his sons on the dangers of adultery, because that's what we have in Proverbs 5, 6, and 7. You have King Solomon talking to his sons. What's important enough to interrupt a father lecturing his sons? How about this? What is God's opinion of sin? Not our opinion, not the church's opinion, not individual Christians' opinion, not even the opinion of North Denverites. But what is God's opinion of sin?
• 11:40
  And we find it here in these four verses. Notice in verse 16, he says, there are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him. Now we find this brief island beginning with what may appear to be kind of a weird phrase. It's an idiomatic Hebrew expression, which means that it was a culturally understood coined phrase.
• 12:04
  So when they said six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination, when you're adding this six and then seven phrase, they understood what that meant. It's actually used multiple times throughout the Old Testament. We won't look at all of the instances for sake of time, but it's used throughout the Old Testament. What it was meant to convey was here comes a list, which is a very good cross section of what I'm talking about. But the list isn't exhaustive.
• 12:33
  Okay? And so as you're looking at the list of seven things and you see seven points, Pastor Danny said there are seven things, seven sins that the Lord hates. Don't think, he never said mine, right? Now I'm off the hook. God must dislike that one less. It didn't make the list. That's not what he's saying. All he's saying is these are an example, a cross section of the types of sins that are rebellion and wickedness against the Lord.
• 13:02
  By his use of the word hate, the word abomination, the Hebrew word toavah, King Solomon was showing with precision and clarity the Lord's attitude towards sin. That same word, abomination, could be translated loathsome, detestable, repugnant, disgusting, abhorrent. You get the idea? He doesn't...
• 13:26
  like it, okay? That's the word that he uses. And he uses this word 117 times in the Old Testament. It's not like he just mentions it once and maybe we can get around that one. 117 times he uses the word abomination, all in reference to sinful rebellion. The conclusion that we should draw is that there are some things that God does not like and which he will not abide by. Is he forgiving?
• 13:54
  That's a good place for a yes, or what are we all doing here, right? Of course he is. Is he loving? Yes, of course he is. But his forgiveness and his love do not exist at the expense of his holy standard. His forgiveness and love do not erase his holiness. In fact, in my opinion, they actually deepen the richness of his holiness, despite what our culture would claim.
• 14:25
  Some things are just not okay. They're just not. Like what types of things? Seven. We'll go through these quickly. Quickly. Number one, verse 17, haughty eyes. Haughty eyes, what I'm going to call disdainful eyes. Disdainful eyes. Now, haughty means proud. The English equivalent of haughty eyes would be referring to someone who, and we use the phrase, looks down his nose at others. That's how we word it.
• 14:57
  haughty eyes, looking down his nose. It refers to the person who thinks more highly of himself than he ought to think. The haughty person is the one who proudly considers himself greater than others. You say, well, pride. I mean, proud. What's the big deal? Why is pride such a big deal? You know, you can make an argument from Scripture that pride was the beginning of all other sins. In fact, Lucifer's original sin
• 15:26
  was pride. You want to know what turned Lucifer into Satan? It was pride. Isaiah chapter 14, verse 13 says, you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven. Above the stars of God, I will set my throne on high. I will sit on the mount of assembly. I will make myself like the most high. That was the thought of Satan as he was going to rebel against God. He says, you're no better than I am. I'm higher than you. I'm more beautiful than you. I'm more powerful than you.
• 15:57
  Pride. Ezekiel 28, describing the same instance when Lucifer is expelled from heaven, describes him as being proud. It says your heart was proud because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. If you guys have your Bibles open to Proverbs chapter six, just put your finger there. Turn to the right a few pages if you would. Proverbs 21. Proverbs 21 in verse four describes the same thing. Haughty eyes. It's used again. Proverbs 21 in verse four.
• 16:31
  It says, haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, the lamp of the wicked are sin. Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked are sin. Now, haughty eyes we understand, a proud heart we understand, but what about the lamp of the wicked? What does that mean? You may notice there's a translator's note that says, could also be translated the plowing of the wicked, the plowing of the wicked, the lamp being used for work, the plowing of the wicked are sin.
• 17:02
  The wicked, he says, plow their fields in pride. They refuse to acknowledge, recognize that God is the one who causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall and the crops to grow. It's plowing, it's working without recognition of God. And I'm telling you, God hates it. Isn't this true? God hates it when his creation pretends like he's not there. He hates it when we pretend like every good and perfect thing has not come from him.
• 17:34
  He hates it when we pretend like we don't need Him, when we pretend like we can take care of ourselves, provide for ourselves, look out for ourselves. In fact, it is the same sin as Lucifer exalting himself above the throne of God, pretending as though we are a being unto ourselves, God's unto ourselves. Can I just encourage us? Take a moment. Take a moment to thank the Lord. Stop.
• 18:03
  and recognize when you know this is of God, this is from God, I'm enjoying this because of God, take a moment in that moment and thank the Lord. I've gotten into the habit of publicly and spontaneously thanking God for good things. I do this. I really do. Kind of weirds people out sometimes.
• 18:25
  I'll be fly fishing with my sons. We'll be in the middle of the mountains, the middle of nowhere, walking through just an absolutely beautiful meadow, put my arms around my boys. And I'll just say, we don't, you know, boys, we're going to pray now. It's not as formal as that, but I'll just say, thank you, God. I say it out loud. Thank you, God, for this. Thank you for your creation. Thank you for hungry fish, right? Where do they come from if not him? Thank you, God, that you've made them hungry and you've made us smarter than them.
• 18:57
  watching a baseball game. You go down to Coors Field, watch a baseball game on a calm, warm, sunny afternoon. Say it out loud. It's from Him. Don't be ashamed to acknowledge Him. Thank you, God, for this. We're enjoying this. We know that it comes from you. This last Thursday evening, Hallie and I went out to dinner together. We were up at a restaurant that has just a beautiful view up on kind of this bluff overlooking the Boulder Valley. After dinner, we walked out. The sun is setting. It was just gorgeous.
• 19:28
  A cool breeze, warm afternoon, a cool breeze. We stood up on this bluff kind of overlooking the city. And I just said, Lord, thank you. Thank you for this. Thank you for the breeze that is your grace. Thank you for the beauty. Thank you for the mountains. Thank you for my wife. These are all from you and I'm grateful. Take a moment to thank the Lord. That's first, haughty eyes. Second, a deceitful tongue. Look, he continues, a lying tongue is how he words it, a lying tongue. A juice for, a juice for.
• 19:59
  Jesus called Lucifer, never mix those two. Jesus called Lucifer the father of lies. He was the father of lies in John 8, verse 44. Satan's native language, his first language is deceit. He's the author of untruth. In fact, all error, no matter what error it is, no matter in what field, all error can ultimately be traced back to him. On the contrary, Jesus is the truth.
• 20:31
  He cannot but speak with accuracy. Jesus' words comprise our definitions of right and wrong. Numbers chapter 23, verse 16. God is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? Satan's strategy to cause the fall of mankind into sin was simple. You go all the way back to Genesis chapter 3. His strategy was simple. I'm going to go down there.
• 21:02
  and lie. You will not surely die. But God knows the day that you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will become like him, knowing right and wrong, becoming like God. He lied. You will not surely die. And you know, today, after thousands of years, his strategy has not changed. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 8 says this, see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy.
• 21:34
  and empty deceit. Deceit, which is based on human tradition upon the elementary spirits of this world and not according to Christ. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit. Satan is a liar, and the Lord hates a lying tongue, a deceitful tongue. Notice third, what does the Lord hate? He hates, verse 17 says, hands that shed.
• 22:06
  Innocent blood, deadly hands. Deadly hands. Think back again to that day in the garden as the serpent is spouting his lies and Eve is standing there pondering the fruit and Adam is standing by as a willing participant. They had no idea, I think, that day that the choice that they were about to make would actually cost them their first two sons. I think if they had considered that fact, maybe they would have backed the truck up a little bit.
• 22:40
  Your first two will be sacrificed on that altar. One to death, one as a murderer. I don't think they had any idea what it would cause to humankind. Think about this. You know, when Cain killed Abel, he exterminated 25% of humanity. And every generation since has been filled with violence.
• 23:07
  You can imagine the rivers of blood that have flowed through the ages since that day. Hundreds of millions, maybe even billions of lives have been taken at the hands of another. Murder, warfare, holocausts, genocide, suicide, abortion have claimed countless lives. Become a student of history, you realize very quickly.
• 23:39
  that the hands of men are guilty of claiming the lives of men. And now for a moment, consider the hands of Jesus. His hands welcomed children. His hands restored health. His hands gave wholeness, fed multitudes. They granted sight to the blind. His hands even bent down and reattached the ears of his enemies. Malchus was not a friend.
• 24:10
  He was the man showing up at the front of the pack to get him arrested and crucified. And he bends down with his hands and reattaches the ears of his enemies. His hands even provided the blood that bears away our sin. Jesus was hung on the cross by his hands. Scripture says those nail marks are still even embedded there. If you were to see the physical manifestation of Jesus today, there would be scars on his hands.
• 24:43
  It reminds me of the old hymn, Behold the Lamb of God, which says this, Behold his arms extended wide on the cross, on the cross. Behold his bleeding hands and side on the cross, on the cross. The sun withholds its ray of light. The heavens are clothed in shades of night while Jesus wins the glorious fight on the cross, on the cross. Deadly hands, it says the Lord hates. Fourth, devising hearts.
• 25:13
  Notice verse 18, a heart that devises wicked plans, devising hearts. The heart that devises wickedness stands in contrast to the heart that is pure. Jesus said in the Beatitudes, blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Those who have devising hearts are like those described in Romans chapter 1. And let's turn there. I want you guys to see this in your own Bibles for a moment. Romans in chapter 1. Turn to the right. I don't know, 500, 600 pages.
• 25:45
  Romans 1, and look at verse 28. It says, And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. And so he's saying people sometimes disobey God, right? There is sin. Here it is again, the existence of sin. It says in verse 29, They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossips, slanderers, haters of God.
• 26:20
  Insolent, haughty, boastful. What's the next one? You guys are allowed to talk in church. What's the next one? Inventors, inventors of evil. That creative ability that I just talked a few minutes about that God endows mankind with has actually been used to invent ways of rebelling against him. Inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Inventors of evil.
• 26:57
  Coming up with new ways, devising new ways to rebel against the Lord. It says the Lord hates that. Devising heart of heart that devises wicked plans. That's fourth. Fifth, go back to Proverbs 6, verse 18. Feet that make haste to run to evil. Feet that make haste. I'm going to call it delinquent feet. Delinquent feet. Feet that make haste to run to evil. In other words, your feet.
• 27:28
  say something about you, where you've come from, where you're going, where you've been, and what your plans are. There was a recent publication titled, What Our Shoes Say About the Man Wearing Them. And it began this way, the eyes might be the window to the soul, but shoes are the window to just about everything else. Whether you realize it or not, men, here is what your shoes are saying about you.
• 27:55
  If you wear Vans, this list was long. I thought it was funny. I'm only going to give you a few, okay? If you wear Vans, probably over in this section, right? You're chill, low maintenance, you're easygoing, you probably show up late to meetings. That's what they said. If you wear desert boots like Clark's, trendy but understated, masculine but not aggressive, detail-oriented but not flashy, needless to say, you will probably really like that guy.
• 28:26
  If you wear flip-flops, this dude signals he's super chill, without a care in the world, also probably doesn't feel pressure to succumb to societal expectations, even when he maybe should. Timberland boots. I like this one. They said, these might be for hiking, but we doubt this guy's ever actually been on a trail. Lace-up Oxford, like dress shoes. Solid, responsible, means business, dresses like a gentleman, probably acts like one too. Retro Nikes.
• 28:57
  He's not obvious about it. He really does care about looking cool. He's probably pretty good at it. Sandals with socks. I debated whether he'd even say this one, but it was on their list. I didn't say it. Don't shoot the messenger. Sandals with socks. Just lazy, not to mention silly, they said. This guy maybe missed the memo that sandals with socks are just unacceptable. You know, our shoes. Our shoes reveal who we are in the same way our spiritual shoes say a lot about us.
• 29:29
  You know, Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 15, in the context of the armor of God. The armor of God, Ephesians chapter 6 verse 15 actually says, put on then as shoes for your feet the readiness given by the gospel of peace. The gospel, your willingness and readiness, your preparedness to share the gospel are your shoes. In other words, if you're not ready to share your faith, you don't have your shoes on. You're not ready to go.
• 30:02
  Our feet represent our walks and our walks represent our lives. The course of your life, both in the past and in the future, can be determined by the path your feet choose to walk. Galatians 5 and verse 16 says, walk by the Spirit. Walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5, 16, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. How do I keep myself pure and unstained? He says, walk by the Spirit of God. Don't walk according to the rules of the world.
• 30:33
  But walk by the Spirit and you won't gratify the desires of the flesh. Just a few verses later, same chapter, Galatians 5 verse 25, says, if we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with Him. As the Spirit takes a step, we take a step, right? As the Spirit leads, we follow. There is a prayer that I often pray, and most of the time it's with other pastors, where we will beseech the Lord, Lord, guide us.
• 31:04
  God, we are committing to follow you. Show us where to go. We will follow. But God, keep us from misstepping, from getting out of sync with your spirit. God, keep us from getting ahead of your spirit as if we're the ones in the lead and Lord, you just come along. The Lord loves feet that keep in step with the spirit of God, not feet that run, make haste to run toward evil.
• 31:34
  Notice sixth, similar to one of the other ones. Sixth, verse 19, a false witness who breathes out lies. He already talked about the lying tongue. But now he says again, a false witness. This would be somebody who distorts and twists the truth. This would be somebody who practices manipulation. Somebody who pushes their agenda, personal agenda and gain.
• 32:02
  Somebody who exaggerates themselves to make themselves look better than they actually are. Can't be coincidence that of the seven sins listed, two of them have to do with deceit. Our Lord cares about the truth. He cares about the truth. He speaks the truth. And He expects the same of His people. That's six, the dishonest witness. And last, last, look at verse 19 at the end. This is number seven. He hates the one who sows discord.
• 32:35
  among brothers, who sows discord, the discordant meddler. You know, the enemy of our souls hates unity. He hates it. He hates harmony. He hates reconciliation. He does everything that he can to sow strife and discord. Broken homes are his favorite song. You know how you get a song stuck in your head?
• 33:08
  and you just sing it over and over and over and over. It's the song that you wake up to. It's the song that you go to bed to. It's the song. It's like the theme song for your life. Our enemy's song, Broken Homes, he loves it. Brothers that can't get along. I think that you can apply that not only to physical homes, but also to the church. Brothers splitting, disunity, lack of loyalty, lack of harmony. The enemy of our souls loves that.
• 33:40
  Psalm 133 and verse 1. I love this song. In fact, there was a song written about just this one verse. I won't sing it for you now. But Psalm 131, verse 1. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. Brothers, this idea of a home dwelling together in peace. And the same thing is true in the church. The Lord loves.
• 34:09
  When brothers and sisters in the church dwell in unity, when there is peace. You know, our world is peddling a dollar store Jesus. They're peddling a savior without sin. They're preaching heaven without hell, forgiveness without holiness. But honestly, the last thing humanity needs is a cheap plastic Christianity. That's not what we need. We serve a loving and forgiving God. That is true. We also serve a holy God.
• 34:43
  who calls us to keep in step with his spirit. Let's pray. Lord, I pray that you would align our hearts with yours. God, align our definitions of sin and righteousness and hell with yours. God, we want to think like you do and agree with your word. God, make us like you. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen? Amen. Let's stand and sing together.