How to Read These Words
Words to Live By • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsBecause Jesus is wisdom, Jesus produces wisdom in us.
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ME: Intro - How to Read Proverbs
ME: Intro - How to Read Proverbs
As we enter into a new year,
Let us take a moment to imagine what I hope FBC can be like this year.
If you would,
Close your eyes for just a moment.
Now picture in your mind a hot, dry, windy desert.
Sand is blowing into your face and there is no relief from the sand or the sun.
There probably are not many of us who have had the experience of stumbling through a vast desert,
Wondering where to go, or if we are going to survive.
Imagine you were like that though.
You have fallen into the sand,
You are crawling to the top of a sand dune,
Then you look down,
And there is it!
The most inviting sight you have ever seen in your entire life!
A lush and inviting oasis!
You see more than a dozen palm trees providing shade,
Two dozen fruit trees fully ripe with delicious fruits!
You may not be a big fan of fruit,
But at this moment,
They are the most delicious looking things you have ever seen!
Then, most importantly of all,
You see a pool.
It is filled with crystal clear refreshing water.
And this oasis is no mirage.
Brothers and sisters,
That is what I hope FBC can be to the world.
It is my hope that people can come here and be refreshed.
That people can come and be strengthened and invigorated.
That FBC can be a haven for people in a dry howling wasteland of sin.
That is my hope for FBC.
And FBC will become that for people,
As the Bible becomes that oasis for us.
I want us to come to God’s Word and feed on it,
Be nourished by it,
And find refreshment in it.
I want that for you every day when you spend time with God in the Word,
I want that every time you hear a sermon preached here,
That is what I want the gospel to be for us.
I want the Gospel to refresh and renew us.
When your knees feel weak and shaky,
I want the Gospel to stiffen them!
When your arms feel heavy and burdened,
I want the Gospel to strengthen them!
As you come again to the cross and the empty tomb,
I want you to be reminded of what Jesus did for you.
I want you to picture that oasis as if it were a beacon of light,
Surrounded by a dark and cloudy world.
That this beacon of light would beckon us to come to it.
Because the Bible teaches that there is a real paradise yet to come.
The church and the Bible are a foretaste of the real paradise.
The desert is the world around us.
It is all the sin in this fallen world.
And God has given us the oasis of His Word and His Church in the desert of this fallen world,
Until the promise of His permanent paradise comes to pass.
This morning, we come to Proverbs 10,
Where we will discuss How to Read These Words.
Proverbs speaks to a lot of specific topics in this world.
This morning we are going to do a brief introduction to some of these topics addressed in ch. 10:
Wisdom in Work and Finances (vs. 2-5)
Wisdom in Listening and Talking (vs. 8)
Wisdom in Relationships (vs. 1, 12)
Righteous Rewards (vs. 24-32)
Read Proverbs at the Lord’s Table
The first nine chapter of Proverbs was an extended discourse on wisdom.
Chapter 10 begins a new section by saying, “The proverbs of Solomon.”
From here to the end of the book,
The proverbs of Solomon are,
For the most part,
Individual sayings.
This is what we tend to think of when we think of Proverbs.
Majority of these sayings lack any formal structure or organization,
They are condensed and generally memorable sayings that embody important facts gleaned from experience,
And are generally accepted as truth.
Chs. 10-15 primarily contrast opposites.
Contrasting the righteous against the wicked,
And the wise against the fool.
Notice how often you see the word but in the second line of these proverbs.
It is because of the frequent contrasts.
The wisdom being taught in these sayings is not taught in isolation,
It is built upon the special revelation given by God in the Law.
R.C. Sproul summarizes this well;
“Given human intelligence and the gift of God’s wisdom in His self-revelation [the Law], God’s people learn to discern the order and relationships that make for a meaningful and productive life.”
The wisdom of Proverbs stresses the need to apply human knowledge and the Word of God to everything in life.
This morning we are looking at specific parts of ch. 10 to learn how to read Proverbs.
If you are familiar with Proverbs,
It may seem strange to ask how to read Proverbs.
The question may make sense for other books like Leviticus,
But Proverbs seems like a simple and straightforward book.
It is a book on practical advice.
We may not understand why we sacrifice an animal,
Splash it’s blood around,
And burn its intestines,
Like we see in Leviticus.
But surely we can understand when Proverbs tells us not to be lazy.
Certainly Proverbs is easy to understand, right?
Well, not so fast.
There is a right way and wrong way to read Proverbs.
The right way leads to joy and life.
The wrong way leads to either misery or pride.
So, what is the difference?
The wrong way approaches the wisdom of Proverbs as a means to God’s acceptance.
As if we obey Proverbs then God will love us.
And that is one way to read Proverbs.
It is the wrong way,
But it is a way.
Do not read Proverbs this way.
Instead, we must understand that Proverbs does not give us things to do to make God love us,
It shows us how to live in response to God’s love for us.
This may not seem significant,
But there is a huge difference between reading Proverbs in these two ways.
If you read Proverbs the wrong way,
You will likely succeed for a time,
And when you do,
It will lead you into pride.
But eventually,
You will fail,
And when you do,
It will lead you into despair.
But if you read Proverbs the right way,
It leads you into joy and wisdom.
The behaviors we read about in Proverbs are not the behaviors God gives you in order to become His child.
They are the behaviors He produces in those who are already His children.
If you are a Christian,
God is slowly and progressively growing you in Christlikeness,
Making you more and more like Christ.
This is what we call sanctification.
And Proverbs is very much a book on sanctification.
If you do not see these behaviors in your life,
Proverbs suggests that perhaps it is because you are not a believer in Jesus.
My hope is that Proverbs reveals to you the areas of your life where you are a foolish sinner,
Then drives you to Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Through faith in Christ, God fosters the wisdom of Proverbs in you.
This is the proper order of the Gospel.
It is not about making yourself righteous,
It is about how the righteousness of Jesus is credited to you by faith in Him.
Then by His Spirit and His Word He forms you more and more into His likeness.
This is a slow, gradual, lifelong process.
Sometimes it feels like you are taking two steps forward,
Then one step back,
Then two steps forward again,
Then three steps back,
Then one step forward,
And so on.
This is the process God uses you to mold you into the image of Wisdom,
Jesus Christ.
We live the Christian life by faith.
Faith in recognizing our sin and foolishness,
And faith to repent of these things.
As we do,
God shapes us into the image of Christ,
Empowering us to live out the wisdom of Proverbs.
We are not saved by works,
We are saved by grace through faith.
This is the truth we looked at in ch. 9 last week.
When we fail to live up to God’s wisdom,
Which we inevitably will,
It is evidence of the idols in our hearts,
Of the things we love more than God.
The whole point of ch. 9 was that both wisdom and folly vie for our affection.
And we will choose whichever we love more.
Our choice will determine whether we will follow the wise advice of Proverbs.
To follow the wise advice of Proverbs,
We must have a loving relationship with Jesus Christ.
It does not matter how smart you are,
How much experience you have,
Or how much you know,
We cannot be wise without a loving relationship with Jesus Christ.
The wisdom of Proverbs includes all kinds of things:
Listening to your parents,
Finishing your tasks at work,
Controlling your tongue,
And so on.
Whether or not you are doing these things reveals if you love Jesus or love your idols.
And this reveals whether you are in a loving relationship with Jesus or an idol.
If you see patterns of foolishness,
Whether it is in regard to your finances, relationships, or some other area in life,
It reveals whether you love something or someone more than Jesus.
And it does not have to be just one thing.
You could have multiple idols.
But most of the time,
The main idol that leads us into folly,
Is the idol of self.
We exalt ourselves,
We make ourselves number one in or own lives,
And it leads to all kinds of foolishness.
The idol of self is often at the root of folly throughout Proverbs.
Not listening to advice from others because you know better than everyone else,
Being greedy with your money,
Jealous of what other people have,
Lazy because you do not want to make yourself uncomfortable.
This is what idolatry of self looks like.
When we love something more than Jesus,
Even if that something is self,
Leads to all sorts of foolishness in our lives.
The practicalities of life laid out in Proverbs reveal what we worship.
Worship is not just about Sunday morning.
1 Cor. 10:31 says;
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
When you get down to it, this is what Proverbs is about.
It reveals the idols of your life.
But when you read Proverbs,
It is random and disconnected.
So, we will look at the major themes;
Things like work and finances, listening and talking, and relationships.
These things reveal where our relationship with Jesus is at,
Or if we are worshiping idols.
There is no divide between the spiritual parts of our lives,
And the secular parts of our lives.
You do not just have the religious parts of your life over here,
And the rest of your life over here.
All areas of your life are spiritual in nature.
Proverbs teaches that the practical areas of your life reveal that you are either moving toward Christ,
Or away from Christ.
Your work ethic, your relationships, your ability to handle finances have everything to do with our relationship with Jesus.
So, God lays out for us how life works best.
Life works bests when we are in harmony with God through Christ,
Which leads to harmony with others and with the world around us.
God knows this because God created the world.
And even though we have broken the world He created through our sin,
He loves us and He shares the key to living in His world through His Word.
Often, it can feel like we read His Word and still not feel happy.
God gives us His Word because He wants us to have a true and eternal happiness.
He wants you to know the way life works best,
And He knows that a life filled with idols will destroy you and others in your life.
For the rest of this morning, we will briefly go through some of the key examples of wisdom found in ch. 10,
Which shows how we will read the rest of Proverbs as a book about Jesus and our wisdom in Him.
Proverbs starts to seem kinda random here in ch. 10.
“Let me tell you how to be wise,
Let’s talk about money,
Now let’s talk about laziness,
Now let’s talk about the blessing of the Lord,
Now let’s talk about how to speak,
Now let’s talk about how you disciplines your children.”
It is seriously all over the place.
But this is not by accident.
Deuteronomy 6 commands parents to teach their children the law.
It says to do it when you wake up,
When you sit down,
When you walk along the road,
And when you lie down.
This makes up the entire day.
That is the point.
A parent is to teach their children the law throughout the day.
But how does that work?
Parents, when you are teaching your children,
Do you sit them down and tell them,
On Monday I am going to teach you about relationships,
Tuesday, I will teach you about work,
Wednesday, I will teach you about your speech.
And so on?
My guess is, no.
That is not the way you tend to teach children.
Generally, you tend to teach them a bunch of different things as you go through the day.
You talk about the boring, simple, and mundane things,
As well as the important, profound, and significant things.
You teach children how to play sports,
How to drive, how to work, how to handle finances, how to handle conflict,
How to pray, and all kinds of things.
As the day goes, these conversations come up.
And that is what is happening in Proverbs.
The author is Solomon,
And he is saying that as you go throughout the day,
Conversations come up about different topics you need wisdom for.
For the rest of Proverbs,
We will, Lord willing,
Arrange the broad categories Proverbs addresses to walk through these themes in more detail.
This morning we are just going to get a glimpse of what Proverbs says about these topics.
So, we can rightly understand to read Proverbs as areas in our lives that Jesus produces wisdom.
WE: Work and Money (vs. 2-5)
WE: Work and Money (vs. 2-5)
The first areas we will briefly summarize is wisdom in work and finances in vs. 2-5.
Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.
We do not profit when we gain treasures through wicked means.
The phrase literally means treasures of wickedness.
Meaning it is wealth obtained by harming another.
So, Proverbs implies that these ill-gotten gains lead to death.
But righteousness rescues us from death.
Righteousness is the best security.
If you are greedy,
If you cheat on your taxes,
If you cheat your employer,
Proverbs says it will not profit you the way you think it will.
Because you are an idolater.
Idolatry is not just loving bad things,
It can be loving good things more than God.
Proverbs speaks a lot about money,
A lot of the times, it speaks positively,
Saying that wise people make more money, generally.
But not everything Proverbs says about money is positive.
If money is not gotten in the right way,
Or if we put our trust in money,
It is destructive.
In college, I worked as a salesman.
I had been trained to start by showing people the most expensive items first,
Then I would slowly show the less expensive items,
Until I could convince them to finally make a purchase.
I was never a great salesman because I felt like I was pressuring people to make a purchase they did not want or need to make.
I would always be calling my supervisor after I got to the last couple pages of the catalogue,
Trying to get my customer one or two small but affordable things.
I often received poor evaluation grades for getting through the catalogue too quickly.
I felt like I was having to swindle people to receive good reviews from my supervisor.
So, I found a different job as quickly as I could.
Now, the Bible says here that getting money in wrong ways is destructive.
But the problem is, many of us question if this is true.
Many of us have probably observed people who have cheated the system and gotten away with it.
People make tons of money and get away with it,
Even when they do it the wrong way.
So, is this true?
Is this the way the world works?
Vs. 3 says that the Lord does not let the righteous go hungry.
But what about Christians in the Sudan, for example,
Who are starving to death?
What about Christians who lose their jobs?
Does this mean they are not righteous?
In his commentary, Derek Kidner says,
These sayings are true on four levels;
Logical, providential, spiritual, and eternal.
It is the eternal level that we often overlook in Proverbs.
The key to understanding Proverbs is viewing them in light of Christ and eternity,
Rather then viewing them in terms of immediacy.
In a general sense,
These things will come true in this world,
But regardless of the state of the righteous in this world,
We remain rich,
Because these things will always be true in eternity.
This explains the correlation between righteousness and life.
This exists both in the covenantal promises of God,
But also in the wisdom taught throughout Proverbs.
This understanding reminds us that,
Vs. 3 should not be interpreted as a universal promise or guarantee that the righteous do not suffer or go hungry.
But it is true that wisdom and righteousness promote a healthy and secure lifestyle.
However, since this world is cursed by sin,
This life is destined to have its struggles.
The ultimate application of this promise comes to fruition in eternity,
Where God will provide perfect care for all His children forever.
We see this demonstrated in the life of Jesus.
Judas earned money in the wrong way,
And he ended up dead.
But Jesus, the righteous One,
Though He died,
He was delivered from death,
Just as this passage promised.
Since Jesus is the only righteous One,
All who trust in Him will also be delivered from death,
Just as this passage promises.
Then vs. 4-5 shift the focus to work ethic.
These verses basically say two things;
Laziness leads to poverty, shaming your family.
And diligence, or hard work, leads to riches, bringing joy to your family.
The theme of poverty is used frequently throughout wisdom literature.
It is not saying that poverty itself is shameful or wicked.
When poverty is caused by laziness, then it is shameful and wicked.
A handful of other examples include Proverbs 13:4; 15:19; 24:30-34;
The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.
I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
In contrast to laziness is prudence.
Vs. 5 demonstrates this by contrasting the honor of a prudent son
Against the shame, or disgrace, of a son who sleeps through the harvest.
It is a characterization of prudence vs. laziness.
Showing how hard work is rewarded with riches.
Now, you may say that you are not interested in getting rich.
That is perfectly fine.
But this is not speaking solely of material riches.
It is saying that the diligent will be rewarded with honor,
Not only for themselves, but also for their family.
Wisdom is about the effect your actions have on you and those around you.
The only problem,
Is people rarely confess that they are lazy.
I have yet to have someone contact me for counseling and say,
“My biggest issue is that I am just really lazy.”
Why is that?
Because the stereotype is a couch potato, sitting in a bathrobe, with crumbs all over the place.
And everyone thinks,
“Well that is not me, so I am not lazy.”
But Proverbs describes a lazy person as someone who does not see their tasks through to completion.
A slack hand, a sluggard, a lazy person,
Is someone who starts a task,
But walks away before finishing it.
The illustration Proverbs uses is a son who helped to plant crops at the start of the season,
But he slept in and is nowhere to be found when it is harvest time.
So, what does laziness look like in our context?
It is getting distracted by news or social media or a game when you are suppose to be working.
You work for a few minutes,
Then you spend 15 minutes scrolling through a news feed.
When I understand laziness by Proverbs standards,
This becomes much more convicting.
How am I doing at completing tasks?
How often am I allowing myself to be distracted from the work God has for me?
Even in preparing this sermon,
I reflect on how often I was distracted,
And I am convicted by this.
But the temptation is to ask,
What’s the big deal?
The big deal is that the Bible teaches that this is a Jesus problem.
We need to repent of our foolishness,
Because we need Jesus to grow our wisdom in work and finances.
GOD: Listening and Talking (vs. 8)
GOD: Listening and Talking (vs. 8)
We also need Jesus to grow our wisdom in listening and talking in vs. 8.
The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
Bruce Waltke’s commentary of this verse says it well;
“The fool is so full of himself that instead of having the capacity to accept wisdom he dangerously prattles out his own ‘clever opinions,’ which are devoid of true wisdom.”
Jon Akin adds;
“If you are the king of person who loves to hear the sound of your own voice and who speaks more than you listen, then you’re probably a fool.”
The reason for this is because you worship the idol of self.
Think of people you know who you can tell they are not listening to a word you are saying,
Rather, they are waiting for you to stop talking,
Just so they can talk.
They want to tell you their thoughts,
But they do not care to hear anyone else’s thoughts.
Now ask yourself,
Are you that kind of person?
Do you just love to talk and not listen?
It is hard to know if this is true of yourself,
So, prepare yourself to ask the person who you talk with the most,
Am I that kind of person?
Perhaps it is a spouse or a sibling,
A parent or a friend?
Whoever it is, be receptive to however they respond.
Why?
Because Proverbs says that kind of person is a fool,
And a fool will come to ruin.
If you cannot listen to others, you will never learn from your mistakes.
The wise person, however, listens and learns from others.
The commands of wisdom are not lost on the wise.
They humbly accept these commandments and as a result, flourish.
Psalm 37:30 reinforces this;
The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.
But fools do not know when to stop talking and listen.
They lack the discipline of wisdom.
They lack good judgment.
They reject the commandments of wisdom.
As a result, their babbling promotes their own downfall.
Proverbs suggests that the fool is an idiot,
Who will be destroyed by his own foolishness.
And here is the hard part.
We all think we are right, don’t we?
That should be obvious.
If you did not think you were right about something,
You would change your views.
If you knew you were wrong about something,
Why would you continue to hold to a wrong view?
So, the reality is that you think all your views on everything are right,
But you also likely believe that you could not possibly be right about everything.
The issue is,
You just do not know which things you are right about,
And which things you are wrong about.
So, you will continue to operate with the assumption that you are right about them all until proven otherwise.
Here is the issue with being a person who does not listen to others:
You will never be made aware about where you are wrong.
You will never grow in wisdom,
You will continue to make the same mistakes.
You cannot learn where you may be off unless you are willing to listen to the commands, counsel, and correction from others.
That is what it means to be wise.
Receive advice humbly and apply it.
Once again, we see Jesus is our example.
He perfectly accepted the will of the Father.
Proverbs repeatedly teaches that those who talk a lot tend to sin a lot.
And those who sin a lot are destructive to themselves and others.
Friends, we are all sinners,
The more we talk, the greater the chance that we will say something stupid.
But once that stupid thing comes out,
You cannot pull it back in,
Even if you realize how stupid it is as it is coming out of your mouth.
But Jesus has paid for the stupid sinful things we have said.
So, we need to repent,
And Jesus can grow our wisdom in talking and listening.
YOU: Relationships (vs. 1, 12)
YOU: Relationships (vs. 1, 12)
The last area of wisdom we will summarize this morning,
Is the area of wisdom in relationships in vs. 1, 12.
The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
Wisdom has a lot to do with relationships.
Whether you love your neighbor or make fun of your neighbor,
Reveals if you are wise or a fool.
Whether you can be trusted with secrets or not,
Reveals if you are wise or a fool.
These relationships have everything to do with your relationship with Jesus.
Whether you take care of your animals, listen to your parents,
And other authorities, surround yourself with good company,
And have good dating relationship,
Reveals if you are wise or a fool.
It reveals if you are walking with Jesus or not.
Not only does Jesus reconcile you to God,
The Bible says He reconciles you to others.
Sin has created conflict.
It has caused broken human relationships,
Difficulty in relationships.
I would assume that there is no one listening to me right now,
That does not have a sense of what I am talking about.
In fact, some of you may have even experienced it this morning.
So, all of us can relate to the issue of conflict.
Our world is filled with conflict.
World War I was described as the war to end all wars.
Yet, within a single generation,
World War II was born.
A military conflict ending with two nuclear explosions,
And the discovery of just how hideous the Holocaust was.
It was a revelation of the depravity of the human heart.
In response, the UN was born,
So, that we would never go to war again.
We would be able to talk things out,
Resolve matters through political means and negotiation.
There have been about 200 armed conflicts since then.
But human conflict is not just a big picture, global problem between nations.
No, conflict hits home.
It attacks marriages, it attacks parent-child relationships, it attacks sibling relationships.
Divorce, estrangement, abuse, abandonment, bitterness, and violence,
Are all words that can be used to describe some family relationships.
The first human conflict we see in the Bible is when Cain,
Jealous of his brother, Abel,
Murders him.
And this type of conflict has remained ever since.
The root issue of all this conflict is sin.
So, the real issue is not between management and the employees,
It is not between teachers and students,
It is not between neighbors,
It is not between police and citizens.
The core issue is that we are not at peace with God apart from Jesus Christ.
Therefore, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only resolution to human conflict.
There is no other answer.
And friends, it is a victorious answer!
Remember that paradise we talked about at the start of our time.
You know what is going on in that paradise?
Zero conflict!
None!
The Bible says that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are in perfect unity with one another.
They always have been and always will be.
Never has there been,
Nor will there ever be,
Even a tiny hint of a conflict between them.
Because they are in perfect agreement about everything.
And they are in perfect love for one another.
And that spreads from God’s throne in paradise,
To the countless angels that are circled around His throne.
They are in perfect peace with one another, no conflict.
And so it is,
And ever will be,
For all of the redeemed in heaven.
All of the people who have been reconciled to God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
We will love one another perfectly with no conflict,
Just as the Father and the Son love one another in perfect unity.
That, brothers and sisters, is where we are headed.
If we trust in Jesus Christ, we are going to get there.
He is going to get us there,
And we will leave all conflicts behind,
How?
Because of Jesus’ work of reconciliation on the cross by His blood.
We, who once were enemies of God,
Have been reconciled by Christ’s body through His death,
To present us as Holy and blameless in God’s sight.
Totally free from sin.
We are reconciled to God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1 says;
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, this means, Christians,
We can be at peace with one another.
Now, I may be speaking to some of you who do not trust in Jesus,
Some of you who are not Christians.
If that is you,
The Bible says that you are not reconciled with God right now.
That you are not at peace with God.
And you may be completely unaware,
But this means, you are God’s enemy,
Because of your sin.
Despite being His enemy,
The nature of God is one of love.
He is welcoming you,
Beckoning you to come back and be reconciled to Him through Christ.
2 Cor. 5:20 says that God is making His appeal through Christians for you to be reconciled to Him.
2 Cor. 5:21 says;
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
That righteousness of God is a perfect relationship with God.
It is perfect oneness with God.
It is peace and love from God.
So, friends, if you are not a Christian,
Come to Christ.
Frankly, all the practical wisdom Proverbs teaches will not help you,
If you do not first come to Christ.
You cannot be changed if you do not come to Christ.
If you are going to continue to experience conflict,
Like you always have,
Because you are not at peace with God.
I implore you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
It is not complicated,
You do not need to do anything.
You do not have to get up or come forward,
You do not have to raise your hand or make a pledge.
Right where you are sitting,
You can look to Jesus who shed His blood on the cross for you,
And you can confess that He is your righteousness.
That you are a sinner,
And He died for sinners.
So, you say to Jesus that you trust in Him as your Lord and Savior.
Jesus did not stay dead.
He has risen from the dead,
Meaning His work as a sacrifice for your sin has been accepted.
So, you can be reconciled with God right now!
I implore you,
On behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Others of you have been reconciled,
Maybe you have been reconciled for many years.
If that is the case,
How is it going in your relationships?
Are they perfect and wonderful?
My guess is that they are not.
The Bible says that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
Part of that is done through our relationships as sinners.
And we need help.
Because we seem to have a habit of conflict.
We do not deal well with conflict.
And Proverbs is very practical in the help it gives.
It is excellent at describing conflicts and how to resolve them.
It gives us Wisdom in Relationships.
We have these deep and bitter habits in relationships that need to be uprooted.
They only can be uprooted by God’s Word.
So, Proverbs is useful for helping you with your marriage,
With a boyfriend or girlfriend, with family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers.
Proverbs helps give you wisdom in relationships.
Last week in Prov. 9:12,
We talked about the individual benefits of wisdom.
Prov. 10:1 says that a wise son brings joy to his father,
But a foolish son is a heartache to his mother.
This talks about how your individual choice is not a private choice.
Your wisdom will bless others,
While your folly will be a burden to others.
You need to observe the response your behavior elicits from other people to know whether you are wise,
Or whether you are a fool and need to repent.
Wisdom has everything to do with the emotional results you bring out of those around you.
If your foolishness is a burden to those around you,
You have a problem with Jesus.
If we’re honest, all of us should admit that we have made decisions that have hurt those around us.
I know I have.
This is why the Gospel is such good news!
This convicting reality points you to Jesus.
He is the One Who fulfills the wisdom of Proverbs.
He was perfectly wise in this world.
Jesus kept all the commandments of God’s law for you,
And He died the death you deserve to die for your sinful foolishness.
He offers up His perfect record of wisdom and righteousness in your place,
If you trust in Him.
It is an offer to wipe your slate clean,
And fill you with His Spirit to grow you in wisdom,
So, that you bring joy and blessing to those around you.
But vs. 12 addresses one monumental problem for us,
The problem of hatred.
Hatred causes fights and quarrels.
What is this hatred exactly?
It is deep-rooted malice toward somebody.
You are just against them in your heart.
It is generally caused by unforgiveness.
And hatred is generally not a good quality for conflict-resolution.
In fact, hatred makes you ready to have a conflict with that person,
Simply because you do not like them,
Because you hate them.
This is obvious, we just don’t like to acknowledge it.
The root of it is once again the idol of self,
Because, generally, you are unwilling to let go of a perceived wrong against you.
The strife caused by hatred is so tragically yet vividly seen in the fragmentation of society.
It is clear to see this proverb is true,
Hatred breeds conflict.
To be motivated by hatred is to be a troublemaker.
The opposite of a troublemaker is a peacemaker.
So, how can you be a peacemaker?
Love!
A peacemaker is motivated by love.
So, how can we overcome conflict?
Forgive quickly and wholeheartedly,
As the Lord has forgiven you.
Love seeks the best for others,
Not the best for yourself.
People who love,
Unlike people who hate,
Are willing to forgive those who wrong them.
Love is the greatest expression of order and harmony in relationships.
In fact, relationships cannot experience harmony without love covering over those matters that cause friction.
Paul alludes to this in the famous love passage of 1 Cor. 13:7;
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love gives the benefit of the doubt to others,
Not the benefit of doubt to yourself.
It forgives others,
Instead of overlooking your sins just to fixate on the sins of others.
If you are an angry person who loves a good fight and are constantly stirring up conflict,
Then you are a fool.
You resolve conflict by loving and letting go of offenses.
Peter is desperate for us to understand this,
So, he writes in 1 Peter 4:8,
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
Jesus once again modeled this by His love for us displayed on the cross.
His love covers our offenses against God.
His love reconciles us to God.
This reconciliation with God leads to reconciliation with others.
It is in this way that we are most like Jesus.
When we cover one another’s sins,
By forgiving one another deeply from the heart.
Brothers and sisters, being a Christian means,
You see the way God dealt with your sin and offense against Him,
And you deal with others who wrong you in the same way.
Cover their offense in love and forgive them.
It is impossible for you to do this.
But Jesus can grow your wisdom in relationships.
WE: Righteous Rewards (vs. 24-32)
WE: Righteous Rewards (vs. 24-32)
Following the wisdom of Jesus leads to righteous rewards.
Vs. 24-32 summarize the rewards both in this life and in eternity.
What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted. When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever. Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him. The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short. The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish. The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers. The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land. The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.
Proverbs could really be simplified as our conduct and the consequences that comes out of it.
Any good teaching includes the why behind the what.
And these verses say what will happen.
If you are wise, here is the good.
If you are foolish, here is the bad.
Vs. 24 says the wicked do not fear the Lord,
But they fear punishment,
Which, in a tragic irony,
Is inevitable because they do not fear the Lord.
Think about what you fear the most.
What gives you nightmares?
I am not talking about spooky scary movie type of things.
I am talking about things like financial ruin,
Or marital ruin,
Or children not turning out the way you want them to,
Or not succeeding in your career,
Or not having a good reputation,
Or death.
What do you most fear?
Whatever it is,
Proverbs says that if you do not trust in Christ,
That is what you will receive.
This observation of the wicked can be seen in this life,
But it an absolute certainty in eternity.
This reveals that the wicked are, at their core, extremely insecure.
It is this insecurity that fuels the dread of inevitable punishment.
What the wicked do not realize is that they ultimately dread standing before God.
While the wicked dread standing before God,
This is what the righteous desire!
That they will see God.
You see, in the end,
God will be the greatest delight for the righteous,
While simultaneously being the greatest terror for the wicked.
The righteous are those who trust in Christ.
So, when we leave this earth,
Everyone of us will experience inexhaustible glory transferred onto us,
Or endless shame that cannot be hidden.
So, vs. 25 says, a whirlwind will take out the wicked.
But the righteous will remain secure through the storm.
Because the wicked place their trust in what is temporary,
While the righteous trust in the Lord,
So, they will remain established for all eternity.
This is very similar to what Jesus teaches in the parable of the Two Foundations in Matthew 7:24-27
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Then you get to vs. 26,
And this verse kinda sticks out here.
Most of this chapter is written in what is called antithetic parallelism.
In other words,
The second line is parallel the first line,
But it is contrasted against the first line.
In the midst of all these antithetic parallelisms
This line uses synonymous parallelism.
In other words it uses similes to compare a commonality between the three pairs listed here.
First, vinegar irritates your teeth.
Second, smoke irritates your eyes.
Therefore, a sluggard irritates those who send him.
In other words,
If you ask a lazy person to run an errand for you,
The job they do will irritate you.
Just like vinegar irritates your teeth,
And smoke irritates your eyes.
The fear of the Lord is a posture that promotes harmony with God.
And harmony with others and the world.
As Deut 5:33 ; 30:20 promises;
You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.
loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
It is in the Lord where we have massive certainty.
As vs. 28 affirms,
The hope of the righteous is well founded,
And the result is joy.
However, this is not what the wicked can expect.
Vs. 29 is a basic principle of our understanding of God,
More than it is an observation of human life.
It affirms that the source of all truth and wisdom is God’s revelation to us.
In a general and providential sense as we study and learn more about His creation,
But also in a specific and salvific sense as He has made known to us in His Word.
He is our stronghold.
And the blameless do not dread the imposition of God’s truth.
Paul teaches this in Rom. 13:3
For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
When God’s Kingdom comes,
And every knee bows,
As Phil. 2:10 promises,
The way of the Lord will be a stronghold to the righteous,
And ultimate destruction to the wicked.
This continues in vs. 30.
We are given a proverb that is grounded in God’s covenantal promise with His people.
The promise is that the righteous will never be removed from the land.
That the righteous will never be shaken.
But just as the nation Israel was sent into exile for their disobedience,
Proverbs teaches that the wicked will not dwell in the land.
The land is referring to the promised land.
Possession of the promised land is understood as possessing life itself.
In God’s initial covenant with the nation, Israel,
Possession of the land was conditional upon the response of faith to God’s covenantal promises from His people.
So, the wicked do not do this,
As a result, the wicked do not remain on this earth.
It is a characterization of the righteous vs. the wicked.
The righteous are certain to have eternal life,
While the wicked are certain to be kept from it.
Then, our chapter ends with two more contrasts between the righteous and the wicked in vs. 31-32.
This contrast is specifically related to the difference in speech between the righteous and the wicked.
Proverbs 10:14 says;
The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.
The wise person continues to listen and learn.
But a fool believes, and acts like, he knows everything already.
Earlier, the fool was described as a babbler.
Proverbs 10:18-19 describe the fool this way;
The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool. When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
James also explores this theme in James 1:26;
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
Knowing when to speak and when to keep silent is a prominent theme,
Not only in Proverbs, but in wisdom literature in general.
One specific form of foolish speech that Proverbs addresses is gossip or slander.
Gossip destroys and belittles other people,
But it does nothing for the person who goes about gossiping.
So, in response, Proverbs teaches, the wise know to keep silent.
A handful of examples include;
Proverbs 12:23; 13:3; 17:28; 18:2;
A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.
Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
Vs. 31-32 describes this type of wicked talk as perverse.
It suggests dishonest speech that does not give sound judgment.
And the law in Lev. 18:29 states that the person who speaks what is perverse will be excluded from the community of God’s people,
And more importantly,
Will be excluded from God’s presence.
Speech with grace and truth is pleasant.
Perverse speech, however, is opposed to this.
And it is not only unpleasant or unwise,
It is destructive.
Throughout Proverbs, the consequences for the wicked,
And the rewards for the righteous are presented as happening both in the present and future.
The only problem with the righteous rewards is that none of us are righteous.
So, Proverbs means that we all deserve hell.
But if we trust in Christ,
The Bible says that we are counted as righteous.
So, even though we may die, we will live forever.
It is by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ that we are given eternal life.
Reading Proverbs can often be very discouraging.
For me, when I read it,
I take inventory of my own life,
And I am reminded of how often I mess up.
Reflecting back,
I did not listen to my parents many times,
I have made selfish decisions that brought sadness to people close to me,
I have said hurtful things to other people,
I ignored loving advice because I thought I new better,
I procrastinated tasks I should have gotten done sooner,
I have held onto grudges because I felt so wronged by someone else.
Proverbs lays out so many things that make it abundantly clear that I have messed up many times.
And if I were only reading Proverbs at Josh’s table,
Then I would begin taking each Proverb and one by one trying to earn my own righteousness by doing a better job at it.
But that is not how we are to read these words.
We read these words rightly by reading Proverbs at the Lord’s Table.
Reading Proverb’s at the Lord’s Table bring joy, not discouragement.
Graeme Goldsworthy summarizes this well;
“Jesus has fulfilled in our place the perfection God demands. He was the truly wise and fully sanctified human on our behalf. Thus, as we struggle to become wise, we know that our failures do not disqualify us from life because Christ Himself is our only qualification. He, when all is said and done, is our wisdom, and to possess Christ is to be accounted wise by the only judge who matters.”
Because Christ is our only qualification,
He invites all who would accept His invitation to come.
Come read Proverbs at the Lord’s Table.
It is here we are reminded that Jesus gathered together with His disciples,
On the night He was betrayed,
And gave them this visceral reminder of His love that covers all our sin.
So, as we prepare to participate in this reminder by coming to the Lord’s Table this morning.
I want to give one last invitation,
The Lord’s Table is a celebration for those who trust in Christ’s body being broken and blood being poured out in their place.
If that is not you,
The Bible teaches that all you have to do is believe that to be true in your heart and confess it with your mouth.
For everyone who has trusted in Jesus,
In just a moment I am going to lead us in a word of prayer,
Then we will have some music playing.
While the music is playing you can make your way to the table.
If you are unable to come up to the table,
We do have a couple of volunteers coming around with a tray,
If you hold a hand up when they get close,
They will bring the bread and cup to you.
Once you have the bread and the cup,
Please hold them for a moment at your seat.
Take this quiet opportunity to hold your life up to the mirror of Proverbs.
And as you read Proverbs at the Lord’s Table,
Confess and repent of any foolishness you see,
Then as Jesus for His wisdom in those areas,
And recognize the joy for His forgiveness being represented by the bread and the cup that sits in your hand.
After you have a moment,
I will return up here and we will participate in the Lord’s Table together.
Pray.
When Jesus was gathered together with His disciples that night,
He took the bread,
When He had given thanks, He broke it, and said,
“This is my body, which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of Me.”
So, together we eat.
In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
So, together we drink.
Please stand as we continue to worship the Lord by joining our voices together in song.