The Maturity of the Righteous

David Causby

Qualities of Righteousness • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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Pr 12.3

[3] "A man shall not be established by wickedness: But the root of the righteous shall not be moved."

Pr 12.12

[12] "The wicked desireth the net of evil men: But the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit."

Pr 11.30

[30] "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; And he that winneth souls is wise."

On Monday 9th January 2017, one of the most famous trees in the world was toppled during a heavy storm.

Known as the Pioneer Cabin Tree, this giant sequoia was about 100ft tall and 22ft wide, and was estimated to be about 1000 years old. It was so big, it had a hole carved through it in the 1880s that was wide enough for a car to drive through.

But how did it fall after enduring 1000 years of all kinds of weather and earthquakes?

It was a combination of the intensity of the storm, floodwater, and, crucially, trunk and root decay.

The roots had finally decayed so much that they unable to prevent this ancient tree from coming down.

The roots of any tree are important to provide it with water, nutrition, and strength.

As we think of the qualities of righteousness, the book of Proverbs speaks of the root and fruit of the righteous. Together they speak of maturity.

1. The Root of Maturity

Pr 12.3

[3] "A man shall not be established by wickedness: But the root of the righteous shall not be moved."

What do we mean when we read “the root of the righteous”?

Well, we know what the roots of a plant are and what they do. They extract water and nutrients from the ground which can be transported to the rest of the plant, and they give the plant a grip on the ground to hold it steady and secure.

This verse tells us, “the root of the righteous shall not be moved” - or “shall not be removed”; or “shall not fall”.

The root of the righteous gives strength, stability, and survivability.

The Hebrew word for root also means depth, and that really gives us a solid picture of what this quality provides for the righteous person.

The righteous person has depth - depth of character, depth of knowledge, depth of understanding, depth of application, depth of experience.

Sadly, today’s modern church is more about breadth than depth.

A W Tozer has written a book called “The Root of the Righteous”. I wish I could just quote the first chapter for you, but allow me to quote a little of it:

The Root of the Righteous Chapter 1: The Root of the Righteous

One marked difference between the faith of our fathers as conceived by the fathers and the same faith as understood and lived by their children is that the fathers were concerned with the root of the matter, while their present-day descendants seem concerned only with the fruit.

The Root of the Righteous Chapter 1: The Root of the Righteous

Our fathers looked well to the root of the tree and were willing to wait with patience for the fruit to appear. We demand the fruit immediately even though the root may be weak and knobby or missing altogether.

The Root of the Righteous Chapter 1: The Root of the Righteous

Preoccupation with appearances and a corresponding neglect of the out-of-sight root of true spiritual life are prophetic signs which go unheeded. Immediate “results” are all that matter, quick proofs of present success without a thought of next week or next year. Religious pragmatism is running wild among the orthodox. Truth is whatever works. If it gets results it is good. There is but one test for the religious leader: success. Everything is forgiven him except failure.

The Root of the Righteous Chapter 1: The Root of the Righteous

The whole Bible and all the great saints of the past join to tell us the same thing. “Take nothing for granted,” they say to us. “Go back to the grass roots. Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross, follow your Lord and pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. The masses are always wrong. In every generation the number of the righteous is small. Be sure you are among them.”

As is so often the case, Tozer hits the nail on the head. Many churches today focus on the fruit - the numbers in attendance, the numbers professing salvation, the numbers getting baptised, the numbers in their children’s meetings, the size of the church bank account - it’s all about quantity.

Two preachers were talking recently and one asked the other how the church was getting on, and the answer was all about how many Sunday morning services they needed for the big crowds that were coming, and how many young people they were getting, and on and on. It was as if he was trying to impress the shareholders of a large business.

Folks, it’s very easy to get quantity - just give the people what they want. Now I’m not saying that every big church is doing all these things. There are some that the Lord has blessed and they are growing numerically, and we praise the Lord for that. But sadly they are very much in the minority as far as the big congregations are concerned. But here’s how a church can grow easily:

Give them entertainment ... excitement ... a good show.

Let them be as casual as they want.

Make sure the music’s modern and loud and played over and over again in such a way that induces a trance-like state in the audience.

Make sure all the Bible verses are up on the screen - after all, we don’t want to put the burden on them to actually carry a Bible in public to church.

Don’t go too deep in the preaching. Avoid all the controversial issues. Be topical, but don’t be too restrictive or dogmatic - let them have the freedom to find their own version of the truth that suits them.

Keep preaching about God’s love and about how cool and amazing He is. Get them to look at Jesus as a romantic figure, a superhero for the ages, a cool mate who could sit back and enjoy the craic with you.

That’s what people want, and if you give it to them, they’ll come … they’ll put their hand up at the appeal, even if they’ve done so before - it doesn’t matter, because it’ll add to the numbers you can report.

They’ll come and sit in the meetings, with their earphones in, texting, or snapchatting, or messaging their mates.

That’s how you get numbers. Do that and you can be bursting at the seams within weeks!

The problem with this approach is that, while your church may be growing in size at an amazing rate, its spiritual life is withering on the branches.

You see, all of this counting of numbers, putting on a show, and giving the people what they want - it’s all external … for the appearance … so that people can see how “successful” the church is.

2 Co 4:18

[18] "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

In a large crowd you may very well have some who are genuine in the faith and growing spiritually, but if the church is using these “market-friendly” methods, you are even more likely to have many who have very shallow spiritual roots.

So how can we make sure we have good roots?

Je 17:7–8

[7] "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

[8] "For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”

I just think those two verses are beautiful - in fact, I think we would all be blessed by learning those two verses off by heart.

Depend only on the Lord

Our spiritual roots will grow and spread and find nourishment if we only depend upon the Lord.

We can all fall into the trap of trusting a preacher, or trusting an author, or a 40-day plan, or a trending method. We can certainly listen to the preacher, read books the author has written, have a goal or plan for ministry, and consider other methods, but in the end, if we’re putting our trust in these things for what God calls success we’re always going to be disappointed.

Ps 20:7–8

[7] "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.

[8] "They are brought down and fallen: But we are risen, and stand upright.”

Folks, whatever you think of our current situation in the world, and whatever opinions you have about what is being done to get us out of the COVID-crisis, don’t put your hope in Westminster or Stormont; even if you do take it, don’t hope in a vaccine; don’t hope in herd immunity; do what the Psalmist says in Ps 42:

Ps 42:11

[11] "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

There is a strong in us to have control, to know what’s happening, and to have some kind of input into our destiny. But all of that has to come second to our faith in the Lord, and our dependance upon Him.

That will show itself in how much we’re willing to bring to Him in prayer. Is it just the “big” things, the “impossible” things, or is it also the possible, the small, the day-to-day stuff that we think we can handle on our own.

Pr 3:5–6

[5] "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding.

[6] "In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.”

1 Th 5:17–18

[17] "Pray without ceasing.

[18] "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

O, what peace we often forfeit

O, what needless pain we bear

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer

As we learn to depend on God we also learn to bring all to God in pray.

And if we start bringing everything to God in prayer, do you know what you’ll discover? That you’re praying without ceasing, praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. You’ll find that the Holy Spirit will always give you something to pray for - and that how you can deepen your roots.

Delight in the Scriptures

Je 17:8

[8] "For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river ...

The same picture was used by the Psalmist:

Ps 1:2–3

[2] "But his delight is in the law of the Lord; And in his law doth he meditate day and night.

[3] "And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

Here is the godly being compared to a tree beside a river again.

We know that the Word of God is refreshing and life-giving, just like water.

Eph 5:26

[26] "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,”

The righteous person delight in the Word of God, and spends time in the Word of God, and meditates upon the Word of God, and studies the Word of God.

2 Ti 2:15

[15] "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Three times in Ps 119 the Psalmist speaks of the delight he has in God’s Word:

Ps 119:24

[24] "Thy testimonies also are my delight And my counsellers.”

Ps 119:77

[77] "Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: For thy law is my delight.”

Ps 119:174

[174] "I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; And thy law is my delight.”

Do you delight in God’s Word?

To those young people listening - do you get excited about reading the Bible, or is it just a thing you have to do every night?

The Bible isn’t an easy book to understand - parts of it are easier than others, but for a lot of people, reading the Bible is tough going. Do you know why?

Satan knows that if you get to enjoy the Bible, you’ll be able to stand up to him far more effectively. So he tries to convince you it’s boring, or it’s too difficult, or it keeps repeating itself, or that it’s fine but there are far more interesting things you could be doing - anything to turn you away from the Bible.

Don’t listen to him! If you’ll make time for God’s Word, you’ll begin to discover its value, you’ll start to learn what it can do to you and for you, and you’ll learn to enjoy it and delight in it. That’s how you can learn to be a righteous person.

To delight in God’s Word isn’t just to delight in the nice parts - it’s to delight in all parts. But we can delight for different reasons.

We can delight in the encouragements that comfort us.

We can delight in the rebukes that correct us.

We can delight in the challenges that change us.

We can delight in the fulfilled prophecies that amaze us.

We delight in the unfulfilled prophecies that motivate us.

We can delight in the stories that teach us.

We can delight in the visions of God that thrill us.

We can delight in all of Scripture because it is all profitable to us. And as we delight in God’s Word, we will begin to meditate on it. As we meditate on it, the Holy Spirit will apply it. And as the Holy Spirit applies it and we obey it, it will change us.

THE ROOT OF MATURITY

2. The Fruit of Maturity

Pr 12:12

[12] "The wicked desireth the net of evil men: But the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit.”

A strong root system leads to a strong fruit system.

Pr 11:30

[30] "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; And he that winneth souls is wise.”

The word “fruit” speaks of reward - the delightful outcome of having strong roots.

The contrast is made between the wicked and the righteous.

The wicked “desireth the net of evil men” - the net is for hunting, for catching something that wasn’t cultured or farmed. It’s the shortcut to satisfaction that they’re looking for, but they themselves are unproductive. They reap the benefits of other people’s efforts, especially taking advantage of and profiting from the misfortune, or suffering, or gullibility of others.

Many today would prefer the quick fix, the easy buck, the shortcut to riches - that’s why the Lottery and scratch-cards are so popular...

By contrast, the righteous yield fruit because of their strong roots - their dependency upon the Lord and their delight in His Word.

Now the fruit of a tree takes time to grow. There’s no shortcut to getting a fruit harvest off trees.

Productivity and fruitfulness requires patience, nurturing, growth, strengthening, light, water, nutrients, fertiliser - and in its time, fruit will come.

Fruit is the natural outcome from a tree that’s healthy, and it’s the natural spiritual outcome from a righteous person whose roots are healthy.

Proverbs 11:30 reminds us that “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life”.

The word life is interesting. It’s a plural noun that refers to living things, and not just the creatures, but their actions and experiences - it’s those things that are living life.

The fruit of the righteous is a harvest of lives worth living.

Those who get saved - darkness to light, death unto life, kingdom of Satan unto the kingdom of God. A life with meaning and purpose and direction and destiny.

Those who are saved and are motivated to a deeper and closer walk with God - others whose roots grow deep and who in turn bear much fruit.

Both are the fruit of the righteous.

What we need are more righteous people - not just righteous in our standing with God, but righteous in our service for God, righteous in our sanctification with God, and righteous in our submission to God.