It saddens us when we see prosperity preachers at work. Just like state run lotteries, and โlegalizedโ gambling casinos โ the participants in these schemes are most often those who can least afford it.
Our blessed Savior lived His earthly ministry in poverty. His life was to be an example to us. There is no place in Scripture, that equates material wealth with spiritual wealth. Money is not evil โ the love of money is.
Proverbs 10:22
ย The blessing of theย Lord, it maketh rich,ย and He addeth no sorrow with it.
Our spiritual father โ Abraham โ lived a spiritually rich life, in such close fellowship with the LORD, that he was allowed to speak directly to the pre-incarnate Christ! When we think of the faith of Abraham, leaving his comfortable life and venturing to an unknown land, and then offering his beloved son on an altar to the LORD, we must be humbled. How can we have this kind of richness โ with no sorrow added? We must walk as closely with the LORD as Abraham did. With no interference from the world and its trappings. Abrahamโs life in the desert, was โseparatedโ from the surrounding heathen nations.
That kind of rich life, may entail separating your โtribeโ from the pagans that surround you. He lived among them (surrounded actually!) but he did not live with them. That is an important distinction everyone needs to make note of.
Beloveds โ do you live with the pagans? Or among them? If you separate yourself from the world โ you will be spiritually rich, with no sorrow. Weโre talking about overflowing abundance, so glorious that you are praising Him from morning till night โ in any and all circumstances. This rich life may require you get rid of your cable, if you canโt watch it in good faith [ you know what I’m talking about.] It may entail purging yourself of many possessions โ if they are controlling you. How much mental space is devoted to your source of bondage? Bondage being anything from your hair, your children, even to your mortgage payment. Abraham was willing to place his son on the altar โ what are you willing to place on the altar?
Decide now to live for him, and only him, and you will be richly blessed โ with no added sorrow.
Can we think too much about what we say? Not according to the Book of Proverbs. Almost from start to finish, the Proverbs contend that our words have great ability to do harm or good. I think of parents who speak unguardedly in their childrenโs presence, and then are shocked when later, the little ones repeat verbatim EVERYTHING their parents said!
Well, itโs not just children who record our words โ our every thought and word is recorded in heaven. Thankfully โ if we are saved under the Blood of Christ โ we will not have to pay for our verbal refuse. But that does not give us license to say whatever pops into our heads.
I beseech you to have the mind of Christ โ and filter everything you say and do through the Bible. And you can only do that by being immersed (baptized) in His Word to the point that His Word becomes a part of you. You are what you eat โ after all!
Proverbs 10:20-21
20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver:the heart of the wicked is little worth.
Indeed โ the Pharisee and the Publican are an exemplary picture of this Proverb. As Christ said โ the Publican was โjustified.โ That means his humble words were โ โas choice silver.โ The Phariseeโs self aggrandizing was of very โlittle worth.โ
21 The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.
Certainly, Paul is our master example of Christian speech and behavior. His written words, authored by the Holy Spirit, have โfed many.โ Just with his Epistles, we can lead a sinner to a saving knowledge of Christ. Think how remarkable that is. In China โ people are happy just to have one page out of the Book of Romans! They are known to sleep with it, love it, and memorize it so they can pass it on to another. Are the words of Mohammed, or Joseph Smith, revered in such a fashion? Hardly. Those who feed on the words of false shepherds will โdie for lack of wisdom.โ And that death will be ETERNAL DEATH IN THE LAKE OF FIRE!
Which brings to mind what the work of a believer is. To spread the Gospel of Christ to the whole world. It is not righteous or wise to keep it to yourself. If you are reading this, and you do not know what it means to be โsaved,โ please read the following:
(1). Admit you are a sinner (have disobeyed God).
ย Sin separates man from God.ย Imperfect man cannot come into the presence of a perfect God.ย
โIf we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.โ -1 John 1:8
(2). Repent (be sorry for and turn from your sins, to a new life in Christ).
โRepent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.โ-Acts 3:19
(3).ย ย Salvation is available only through Jesus Christ.
โJesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes unto the Father, but by me.โ -John14:6
โFor there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.โ -1 Timothy 2:5
โNeither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.โ -Acts 4:12
(4).ย ย Accept the free gift of eternal life through Christ.ย ย
You cannot earn salvation by your own efforts.
โFor the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.โ -Romans 6:23
โFor by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.โ -Ephesians 2:8,9
โThat if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.โ -Romans 10: 9,10
(5). Do it now.
โโฆbehold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.โ -II Corinthians 6:2
(Jesus said) โBehold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.โ -Revelation 3:20
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Receive Christ as your Lord and Saviourย Now
It would be presumptuous and proud to think that only the behavior in the illustration qualifies as mischief. Any act of mischief โ vandalism, gossip, back-stabbing, pilfering, cheating, cruelty, bullying, flirtations, or the host of evil things that people do qualify as mischief; because the persons who do such things, never think that what they are doing is of any consequence. It is โsportโ to them.
They are fools!ย
but a man of understanding hath wisdom.
Sitting at the feet of Jesus is where true wisdom and understanding is to be found. As we can not sit at His physical feet at this moment in time, we can sit at His spiritual feet by going to church and reading His Word. The more His Holy Spirit fills us โ the less chance we have of playing the fool. If we put Him on the back-burner, there is every chance that we will commit some sort of mischief, that we do not think is very serious.
If we think in our minds that โItโs not that big of a deal. Itโs not like I killed somebody,โ then we are making sport of the mischief we are doing, and are counted a fool.
Fill your time and mind with His Word โ and there will be no chance for mayhem and foolishness.
Gossiping, backstabbing, and lying โ are all traits that should never be named in the Body of Christ โ but they are there all the same. Hidden jealousy, covetousness, and bitterness donโt really stay buried โ they ooze out of our mouths with the greatest of ease โ but leave a sticky coating that is hard to escape from. Words once spoken can never be taken back.
Proverbs 10:18-19
18ย He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.
Wow! Hiding hatred with lying lips. . . how awful. But itโs all too true. We comfort ourselves by sugar coating what we are doing, thinking we are not hurting anyone, but it puts us in the category of fool no matter what the reason. Cutting up someoneโs appearance, children, marriage โ whatever โ is nothing more than slander. If itโs not something you can say directly to the person โ then do not say it! This includes tearing apart the pastorโs sermon in the car on the way home from church. Repeating something youโve heard is a dangerous and shameful practice. So is embellishing and exaggerating something that may be true in order to make it more interesting to your listeners.
slander, lying, and gossiping are all acts of self centeredness. they are the hallmark of the baby christian. this sin is one of the greatest detriments to the furtherance of the gospel to a lost and dying world. it is a demonstration of the opposite of love โ which is hate.
ย 19ย In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin:
Did you realize that the more you talk, there is more chance of you saying something wrong? The odds are against you. Those who run-off at the mouth, are notorious for putting their foot in that same mouth. Even when you are not talking about yourself (which most talkers do) you are still feeding your ego, by holding your listener(s) hostage. Parents โ this includes lecturing of your children or spouse. Less is more in this case, and in every case. The longer your spiel โ the greater chance you will sin, and sin big, during the overflow.
ย 20but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
There is a reason why God gave us two ears, and only one mouth!
Any parent knows, that part of training a child is continual reminding. This is called โinstruction.โ Once the child โretainsโ the instruction, he will apply it to his actions and decision making.
The act of training is not the province of parents alone โ for our Heavenly Father is forever about the business of instructing us โ and we โ like recalcitrant children โ do not always โretainโ the teachings.
Since even the very ground we walk on, instructs us and reveals to us His glory and majesty โ it behooves us to take notice of the lessons being offered, and to โkeepโ them within our hearts that they may be applied to our daily walk. The things that we need to learn, are not always obvious!
Proverbs 10:17
ย He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.
There is a famous song, dedicated to stopping and smelling the roses, and counting your many blessings along the way. Nice, but superficial. In the image of the great tree above, we can see that underground, the tree is even bigger than what is obvious. Could the tree survive without that massive root system? No. Nor can we flourish with out going deep, and holding onto the Word of God with tenacity, in the same way that the roots of the tree takes up water and nutrients from the soil. The Bible has so much to teach us, that if we put it aside for worldly pursuits and concerns โ our plans will topple like a tree with no root system โ and we will be nothing more than drift wood.
The most miserable sin of self justification, is a sin we all contend with. Continually attempting to explain why we do the things we do (even alone in our minds) does not โsit wellโ with our Sovereign Creator. Oh โ to be free of this flesh and with the Lord for ever . . .
Proverbs 11:28
ย He that trusteth in his riches shall fall;ย
At right you see the Parable of the Rich Fool aptly portrayed.
Luke 12:19-21
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
The Lord in no way states that material possessions and riches are wrong. The issue at hand, is where we put our trust. Many Christians have fallen into the general hype of โhoarding.โ It is interesting to note, that some of the super-stars of televisionโs โExtreme Couponing,โ are professing Christians, one even a youth pastor! There are dozens of conservative news sites which have their own brand of food storage systems, and right leaning financial advisers beat the drum of buying gold and silver โ from them โ of course.
There is NOTHING wrong with stockpiling. Nothing. Joseph wisely stored food against the prophetically revealed famine. But we must never, never trust in food stores or caches of precious metals to save us. Our faith is not ever to be in anything of this world. If we are walking closely to Jesus โ all of these things will grow dimmer and dimmer as we mature in Christ. We will not fear anything that โmightโ happen in the future โ simply because we already know our futureโฆ
Together with the LORD in eternity.
but theย righteousย shall flourish as a branch.ย
Looks good! That is how we appear (metaphorically speaking) when we allow the righteousness of Christ to rule in our hearts. Every truly born-again believer possesses the righteousness of Christ โ and is completely capable of bearing much fruit. The child of God may require a great deal of pruning in order to bear prolifically. This is chastening from a Father to a son. Praise Him for it. Take it and learn of Him. Is your trust in your IRA, or a basement full of freeze-dried food stores? Or is your trust in Him alone?
Jeremiah 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.
Keeping our hearts and minds on the Lord becomes easier the more we read the Word, fellowship with other believers, and turn from the world. In a sense, we need to repent of the world every moment of every day โ because we are living in it while being housed in very weak flesh. To put it in perspective, we are not unlike sailors long at sea โ being lured to their deaths by the call imaginary sirens among jagged rocks. Or a thirsty soul in the desert โ seeing a mirage and swallowing mouthfuls of sand instead of water. What the world presents to us โ is a trick of the devil. It has the appearance of something we are convinced that we need โ but will in reality โ only destroy us. It is of utmost importance to spread the Gospel. It is of very small importance to stockpile food and gold.
I told my Bible teacher that I spend far too much time being astonished at what people do โ rather than praying for them. Our LORD tells us that we are like dogs, and repeat the same offenses over and over again โ eagerly swallowing sin as a dog does his own vomit. The underlying question is โ why? Why do sheeple persist in making the same (and quite obvious) mistakes over and over again?
The answer to that question is contained within our hearts. If my own heart were truly righteous, I wouldnโt spend so much time in a state of incredulity, and instead, would be delving into the Word of God and praying for those who continually fall into sin (myself included.)
THE FACT IS – IF WE ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ROTTEN – WE WILL FIND IT
Proverbs 11:27
ย He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.
Applying logic to this Proverb, it becomes quite obvious what we should be seeking after (that is, if we desire to reflect the righteousness of Christ to the world.) Seeking good, is the same as seeking God, because only God is good. Jesus and only Jesus should be the mantra of the righteous believers of God.
The Lord says that if we are seeking after mischief, we will find it.ย ย Haman sought mischief, when he machinated the hanging of Mordecai.ย ย Yet โ it was Haman who was the receiver of all the mischief he had devised in his own heart.ย In the same vein of thought, does this mean that others are contemplating my behavior and sinfulness?ย Very likely.ย This is a deep thing of God for us to take in.ย While we are to earnestly contend for the faith and rebuke sin, we must be ever vigilant to avoid hypocrisy.ย If, I, myself, have a besetting sin which I continually fall back into, how can I righteously judge a fellow believer who does the same?ย Herein is the patience of the saints.ย We must strive daily to die to ourselves, and let the righteousness of Christ shine forth to a dark and dying world.ย It is a struggle we must all partake in, until the LORD calls us home. ย
As believers, our natural inborn tendency leans towards works of self-indulgence, rather than works of righteousness. The struggle within us, mirrors the twins (Esau and Jacob) wrestling within their mother, Rebekah. It is a continuous battle between our flesh, and Godโs Holy Spirit. The strength of one over the other, depends entirely on what we feed them. If we indulge our flesh with worldly fare, the Spirit will become weaker. These Proverb studies, and other such materials, are intended to feed the Spirit of true believers.
Proverbs 11:23
ย The desire of the righteous is only good:
As born-again Christians, we have the Righteousness of Christ within us. We Have no righteousness of our own. The holy righteousness living inside you, desires only good. If the Holy Spirit is your dominant โtwinโ you will desire only good. On the other-hand, if the flesh is the dominant twin, you will desire the opposite of what is good.
For example, when pondering the evil antics of worldly politicians and other leaders, do you sometimes fantasize that a lightening bolt, or some other act of God, would strike them down, and put them out of your misery? If someone has wronged you โ do you long for them to โget whatโs coming to themโ?
Beloveds โ that kind of attitude is your flesh talking. The best thing to do is rebuke it, and turn to the Lord in prayer. Rather than wishing for revenge, or โinexorable justiceโ on the workers of iniquity, why not pray for them? Pray for the most evil of them. Yes, it is true, that some individuals are beyond redemption, but that is not for us to determine. It is for us to pray, and pray, and pray.
but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
ย
The lost have a truly bleak future in eternity.ย As the children of God, we should not desire that for anyone.ย Though your prayers for the wicked may seem like they go unanswered, it is a fact, that if your heart is right with the Lord, He hears all your prayers, even if you are praying for the worst miscreant in the world.ย We should desire their good, and the only good for them, is salvation in Jesus Christ.ย It is a terrible, awful, thing โ when someone dies in their sins.ย And when you pray for that lost soul โ make sure you mean it.
1 Timothy 2:1-3
2ย I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2ย For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3ย For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour
Please reread verse 2 again โ do you see what that says? It is conditional. If we donโt pray for those in authority over us โ we will have persecution! Obviously, the Body of Christ has dropped the ball on this one.
While it is one hundred percent certain, that each member of the human race is responsible to the Creator for their own sins, there are things sheeple do, which can adversely affect their offspring โ or seed. The obvious things are consuming drugs and alcohol during pregnancy โ but there are the more subtle โ and equally devastating things mankind does which seeps down to their kids. Global leaders, politicians, business owners, school boards, churches leaders, voters, and every other sort of human interaction that you could imagine โ regularly compromises in agreement with the Devil. It is tossed off as a โnecessary evil,โ โchoosing the lesser evil,โ or โbetter the devil you know than the devil you donโt know.โ We sinners may make light of such agreements, but our Heavenly Father takes serious note.
Proverbs 11:21
ย Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished:
These compromises, treaties, contracts, and agreements may give us a temporary feeling of success, but in the long run, we and our children will suffer for it.ย Legal maneuvers are frequently mentioned in the media as โburdens placed on our grandchildren.โย
President Trump’s daughter (Ivanka Trump) and Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter (Ella Emhoff).
President Donald Trump’s son, (Barron Trump) and Former President Barack Obama’s daughter (Sasha Obama).
Thankfully, if we are walking closely to the Lord, His Holy Spirit will guide us farther and fartherย awayย from the worldly things andย intoย the deep things of God.ย But the perpetually infantile Christians who continue in the world without spiritual growth, in every way resemble the pagans they contract agreements with.ย And it doesnโt matter what kind of contract it is.ย From marriage to global treaties โย any contract that omits God is a deal with the devil.ย
but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.
Young people are like sponges and mirrors. ย Whatever they see and hear becomes an integral part of them.ย When they live with televised politicians who donโt know the difference between right and wrong, hypocritical and ignorant teachers, and parents who are lazy, liars, and compromisersย โ they will both reflect and absorb such ungodliness in their teenage and adult lives.ย Additionally, they develop a hardness of the heart against the things of God. Believers have the ability and opportunity to give their offspring a great example to follow.ย While this is not a guarantee that your children will be saved, in my observation, those parents that are steadfast in their devotion to the Lord (with minimal hypocrisy)ย areย respectedย by their adult kids.ย And many,ย manyย times, even those children who have walked the Prodigal trail, return and repent.ย ย If you live prudently, gently and without avarice โ you are doing a wonderful thing for your descendants.ย Salvation is an individualโs choice.ย At the same time โ we are doing Godโs will in helping our children along the path to Godliness.ย What a kindness you are doing forย them, when they see you praying and reading your Bible!ย And as our children walk closely to the Lord โ our families are aย wonderfulย testimony to a lost and dying world.
Mature Christians rarely need to be reminded to show mercy. Young believers, on the other hand, can lapse into their flesh more easily. This Friday Proverb study is devoted to our young brothers and sisters in Christ, who are growing and learning in all the doctrines of God. As young Christians, you also need to know, that we were also young once, and can recall with vivid clarity how impulsive and unwise we could be in those early days of our earthly sojourn.
Proverbs 11:17-19
17ย The merciful man doeth good to his own soul:ย but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.
Animal shelters unite pets with owners. Credit: SWNS:South West News Service
Thisย studyย by secular scientists agreesย with what the Word of God has saidย all along.ย Kindness is a boon to your health.ย Those who are saved under the Blood of Christ, do not need a scientific study to tell them anything.ย The King James Bible is all sufficient for every life question you will ever have.ย Mean spirited people, will reap such nastiness in their own flesh.ย Our Lord in the Beatitudes said:
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
18ย The wicked worketh a deceitful work:ย but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.
Psychologists like to tell us that everything we do is a reaction to things that other people did to us. While this may be true for the flesh, it is not so for those who have been made free in Christ Jesus. The flesh tells us to justify what we do โ because so and so did that to us. The flesh tells us to hold grudges and get revenge. This Proverb tells us that those kinds of machinations are wicked and deceitful!
My wife gained a lot of weight during pregnancy. Sheโs tired all the time, and doesnโt take care of herself. Thatโs not what I wanted from marriage. I think itโs OK for me to look at porn, because Iโm not hurting anyone, and I need some kind of outlet.
My husband doesnโt give me any attention. I feel like eating because it makes me feel better. I also like to buy things I donโt need, because itโs self medicating for me.
My employer doesnโt pay enough for this terrible job. Iโm not going to kill myself working for nothing. The company has enough money. They should give me some.
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.
19ย As righteousness tendeth to life:
Make no mistake about it. Satan hates you. He will try everything in his substantial bag of tricks, to cause you to kill yourself before you can get saved, or, if you are saved, before you can lead any others to Godโs salvation. Letโs look at the short list in Satanโs suicidal bag of evil. All of these will lead to death โ eventually. Some sooner rather than later.
risky behavior (too numerous to list โ including sodomy and drug use)
alcoholย (Christians should not drink alcohol under any circumstances)
These behaviors are evil, and also appear evil to the unsaved world. They know in their hearts that it is wrong. All ungodly and fleshly desires are different forms of the sin of lust. We are to be separate and sanctified.
so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.
It is very distressing to see the continual corruption of the Laodicean church of today.ย The Word of God speaks to us on every aspect of how we should live in this sinful, fallen world โ while being in the world โ but not of it.ย This is Biblical separation โ it is sanctification.ย And by living and walking with the Lord โ our lives give testimony to His majesty and power.ย Full surrender to Him is the only meansย to true prosperity.ย
Proverbs 11:16
A gracious woman retaineth honour:
GRAโCIOUS โ Favorable; kind; benevolent; merciful; disposed to forgive offenses and impart unmerited blessings.
Thinking of truly gracious women from the Bible, we have to acknowledge Abigail. She was 1 Samuel 25:3 โ โa woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance.โ This does not mean she was a cover girl model โ but that her inner beauty expressed itself in her countenance and behavior. Despite the fact that she was married to a churlish man, she kept her honor in every situation. For this reason โ she was blessed by God. She became the bride of King David โ who is an Old Testament โtypeโ of Jesus Christ.
This same Biblical principle applies not only to Christian women โ but to the Bride of Christ as a whole. We are to appear to the world, as Abigail did. With good understanding, and a beautiful countenance. The unsaved will judge Our Holy God by how the church behaves, and how we appear. If we act with wisdom and the kind of serenity that Abigail exhibited, we will testify of our King. She was not passive, but her positive actions were done in such a way, that they earned the favor of the King.
and strong men retain riches.
Ahh โ money, money, money. That is not the kind of riches the Bible is talking about. Laodicea says God wants you to be rich. This is true โ but only half true. When Solomonโs kingdom began to crumble, it was because of his personal weakness. Your home and family are your kingdom. Resisting temptation is the kind of strength the Lord is talking about here. And the riches? Well, such riches that we can only get a glimpse now.
Romans 11:33-36
33ย O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!
34ย For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor?
35ย Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again?
36ย For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Many great and powerful men, have been brought to ruin through trusting bad advice. Conservative media outlets often express incredulous wonder at the kind of counselors the United States president keeps around himself. Any studier of sinful human nature would not need to ponder why this is. Birds of a feather DO flock together. We like to keep company with those who think like we do. If we are in darkness, we will be drawn to yet deeper darkness. If we are in the Light of Christ, we will be drawn to yet more of His light.
Proverbs 11:14
ย Where no counsel is, the people fall:
The infamous incident, wherein the nation of Israel began to divide, is prime example of the first half of todayโs Proverb. In 1 Kings 12, the son and heir of Solomon, Rehoboam, is met with representatives of the congregation. They ask him, quite politely, if he will reduce the heavy tax burden Solomon had levied. He tells them to come back in three days, at which time he will give them an answer. Rather than consulting his fatherโs old counselors, priests or prophets, he turns to his โfriends,โ who are as young and inexperienced as he is. Perhaps even more so. In following their advice, he states โ โMy father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.โ This was not received well! It is the spirit of rebellion at work.
1 Kings 12:15 states thatย ย the reason this happened was in the will of God โย ย โthe cause was from the Lord.โย ย His purposes for Israel are not license to sin.ย Donโt make the mistake of justifying the use of ungodly advice via this Scripture.ย Born again believers are never to take the mistakes made by Old Testament persons as an excuse to sin.ย โDavid did it, Adam did it, Solomon did it. . .โย There is no Biblical justification for following in the path of sinners.ย And, they were sinners all.
A godly counselor, willย alwaysย lead you to Living Water.ย If you tire of their reading relevant Scriptures to you, then you are not really wanting godly counsel.ย You more than likely want affirmation, as Rehoboam did.ย The desire to be accepted, colors all of our decisions.ย If you really want godly advice,ย reallyย โ then seek the counsel of theย agedย men and women in your church family.
but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
This song, has a lot of โbounce,โ but it is not syncopated. The tempo is even, at a quick march beat, known as a โquick-step.โ A real โfoot stomper!โ The offering for today was inspired by Terry Dawsonโs testimony, wherein he was saved at โan old fashioned tent meeting.โ The words to this hymn are outstanding โ especially verses 3 and 4!
The Complete 1922 Lyrics to the song: The Old Fashioned Meeting, By Herbert Buffman
Verse 1: Oh how well I remember in the old fashioned days, When some old fashioned people had some old fashioned ways In the old fashioned meetings, as they tarried there In the old fashioned manner, how God answered their prayer.
Chorus: โTwas an old fashiomed meeting, In an old fashioned place Where some old fashioned people, had some old fashion grace As an old fashioned sinner, I began to pray, And God heard me and answered in the old fashioned way
Verse 2: There was singing, such singing, of those old fashioned airs! There was power, such power, in those old fashioned prayers An old fashioned conviction made the sinner pray And the Lord heard and saved him in the old fashioned way.
Repeat Chorus:
Verse 3: Well, They say it is better, โ Things have changed, donโt you know!โ And the people in general seem to think it is so And they call me old fashioned when I dare to say That I like it far better in the old fashioned way.
Repeat Chorus:
Verse 4: If the Lord never changes, as the fashion of men, If Heโs always the same, why, He is old fashioned then! As an old fashioned sinner saved through old time grace, Oh, Iโm sure He will take me to an old fashioned place.
Repeat Chorus:
Short Name: Herbert Buffum
Full Name: Buffum, Herbert, 1879-1939
Birth Year: 1879
Death Year: 1939
Born: November 13, 1879, Laยญfayยญette, Ilยญliยญnois. Died: Ocยญtoยญber 9, 1939, Los Anยญgeยญles, Calยญiยญforยญnia. Buried: Valยญhalยญla Meยญmorยญiยญal Park, Los Anยญgeยญles, Calยญiยญforยญnia. His epยญiยญtaph reads โI have fought a good fight.โ
Afยญter movยญing with his famยญiยญly to Calยญiยญforยญnia and beยญing conยญvertยญed to Christ at age 18, Bufยญfum felt a call to the minยญisยญtry. He held minยญisยญterยญiยญal creยญdenยญtials with the Church of the Nazarene, and was a Hoยญliยญness/Penยญteยญcostยญal evanยญgelยญist. He was alยญso a prolific song writยญer, with maยญny songs inยญspired by perยญsonยญal exยญperยญiยญence; He had 10,000 Songs to his credยญit, 1,000 acยญtuยญalยญly pubยญlished. Ripleyโs โBelieve It Or Notโ claimed He once wrote 12 songs in an hour. Though a talยญentยญed muยญsiยญcian, Bufยญfum reยญceived no muยญsicยญal trainยญing. He sold most of his songs for five dollars or less. When he died, the Los Anยญgeยญles Times called him โthe king of Gosยญpel song writยญers. http://www.hymnary.org/text/o_how_well_i_remember
Thus saithย theย Lord, Stand ye inย theย ways, and see, and ask forย theย oldย paths, where isย theย good way, and walkย therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.
Such a sad, sad reality for the Laodicean church age. The Body of Christ is teeming with hypocrisy. You would be very hard pressed โ no โ letโs go further and say it would be impossible to find a New Testament church that was free of gossip . . .
Proverbs 11:9
An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour:
This picture shows girls gabbing, but we all know that men are just as guilty of gossiping. What is most troubling about this activity, is the lack of church discipline for such a serious offense. Damage done by gossip is tangible and far-reaching.
Do you realize โ ladies and gentlemen โ that when you are disparaging your spouse to others in your church family, that you are guilty of this kind of hypocrisy? That when you confide everything that your teenager does to your neighbor, coworkers, โfriendsโ at Bible study โ you are gossiping? Yes โ Christians gossip about their families. Parents say terrible things about their spouses to their own children! And if your family is not your neighbor โ I donโt know who is! How utterly shameful.
WE ALL NEED TO BE VIGILANT ABOUT EVERY WORD
THAT COMES OUT OF OUR MOUTHS.
but through knowledge shall the just beย delivered.
Never fear beloveds. If you are being maligned by family members, church family, coworkers, neighbors . . .the truth will prevail if you are a child of God. His Truth is eternal, and completely just. As a child of God, you are covered by His righteousness, and are justified by your faith in His finished work on the cross. You will be delivered in truth, and justice.
1 Peter 4:16-19
16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
Perhaps not many view the Proverbs and Psalms as being prophetic.ย After so many decades of Bible study, I see Prophecy in almost every line of the Bible.ย As is understood, the Lord reveals things to us in stages.ย Most often, Old Testament events and poetry, describe an actual event such as Passover โ which is a picture of something far more dramatic in the future.ย Such is the case with this Proverb.ย At face value, it does not seem to reveal much to the casual reader โ but we are here to see what it really says.
Proverbs 11:8
The righteous is delivered out of trouble,
Only those who are truly born-again of the Holy Spirit of God, will be delivered โ because only the truly born-again โ are considered righteous. When we repent, and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we obtain His righteousness โ which guarantees our deliverance. None of the troubles, trials and tribulations of this present life and time, can compare to the Great Tribulation, and the judgments that will befall everyone on earth at that time.
Please do not allow the recent crop ofย preteristsย to worm their way into your faith in the deliverance promised to you by God in His Holy Book.ย It is described over and over again โ even in this short Proverb.ย Every Word of the King James Bible is true โ and you can trust it implicitly.ย Read it literally, and with faith.
and the wicked cometh in his stead.
Thatโs right. As soon as the church is taken up โ The Wicked One will swoop in. Just as a vacuum needs to be filled โ this will happen in such a way โ that it will not be readily apparent to those who are not alert. Since mankind always seeks to worship something or someone they can see, it will happen all too easily. The Holy Spirit that is indwelling believers here on earth, will leave along with the righteous that are being delivered. Once this happens, the only thing that was restraining the power of anti-christ will be gone! It will happen, but, we will NOT BE HERE TO SEE IT!
2 Thessalonians 2:6-8
6ย And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7ย For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only He who now letteth will let, until He be taken out of the way.
8ย And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.
A great many articles are written about the underground bunkers of the elites and super-rich. These fortresses amount to vast underground cities, with every comfort known to man. Even the not-so-rich, have succumbed to the notion, that they can โride-outโ Armageddon. Bible believers should know, that those who are truly born again โ will not need to โhide out,โ because they wonโt be here. Not only that โ but it would be impossible to do so. This is not to say that you should not be prepared for natural disasters, and not so natural ones like losing your job. What is being discussed here is the Day of Wrath.
Revelation 6:16-17
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Zephaniah 1:18
Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lordโs wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
butย righteousnessย delivereth from death.
It is of utmost importance to understand, that you have no righteousness of your own. ZERO. When you are born again โ you can possess His righteousness, and it is overflowing and enough! The good works and deeds you do after being saved, will gain you rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ. And that is a wonderful thing to work for.
Philippians 3:9
And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
Revelation 16:7
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments.
James 5:1-8
5 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
: the quality or state of being complete or undivided :completeness
Proverbs 11:3
ย The integrity of the upright shall guide them:
It is sad, but true. Not many find their way onto the narrow path. Blinded by the god of this world, sheeple are drawn to darkness, and in turn, the darkness envelopes them and ultimately destroys them. They believe they have enlightenment, but the light that is guiding them, is the false light of the evil one, the deceiver. He leads the lost to eternal destruction.
While we are still in our flesh, we are incapable of possessing true integrity of ourselves. When we are born again, of the Holy Spirit, we can possess His integrity in our new natures โ the only true and completely sound integrity that there is to be had, despite what secular humanists preach. For the new nature in Christ is incorruptible, and when we surrender our bodies and souls to Him, we can live righteously through His power. We can be whole, sound, and complete in Him.
We must daily repent and confess our sins, so that we can stay in close fellowship with Him, and live uprightly. May we be beacons of the true light of Christ โ and outshine the perverted, false light of the destroyer!
but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.
If you feed your new nature with the Word of God, more than you feed the old nature, with the world, the flesh, and the devil โ you will gain more and more of His integrity, and find greater strength to resist all the wiles of the devil. Let Jesus Christ dominate your thoughts, and the devil will not be able to get a foothold.
A brother in Christ from the Philippines, once related to me, how rice was sold in the poor village he was raised in. The rice merchant would first measure the rice into a large scoop โ hold it up for the buyer to be reassured they were receiving full measure โ and then, as he was lowering the scoop to pour the rice into their bag, he would subtly pour a small amount of the rice back into the large bin. This slight shaving resulted in more profit for him, since he did it to everyone.
SINCE MANKIND IS INHERENTLY EVIL< THIS STORY SHOULD NOT SURPRISE US. BUT< IT SHOULD SADDEN US.
We must admit, that we all โshave off,โ here and there in our dealings with our fellow man, and with respect to honoring the Lord. Do we give โfull measure?โ Or, do we hold back somewhat? Just a little here and there? Does He have our whole heart? Or have we kept back a portion for the world? Do we cut corners in our worship and service?
DON’T SHVE OFF OR CUT CORNERS IN YOUR WORSHIP AND WITNESSING, FOR HE HAS GIVEN US THIS PROMISE –
Luke 6:38
ย Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.
For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
The fear of theย Lordย prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.ย
Proverbs 10:27
While the Word of God does not guarantee a long earthly life to truly born again believers, it does follow reason that those who fear Him, and forsake sinful lifestyles will have better health and greater joy in life. While we are in our flesh โ we long to be with Him, and having the knowledge of His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence will prevent us from taking a detour into the dark side.
Living the Holy Spirit filled life is a matter of surrendering our wills to His will. It is a matter of getting rid of our household gods and fleshly desires, and allowing the Holy Spirit to completely fill us. And while it seems that the wicked are holding sway at this moment in time โ remember โ that to God โ there is no time! Time only exists here on earth โ it is not a part of the heavenly realm.
The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.ย
Proverbs 10:28
Yes โ we must fear our Creator โ but we must also hope in Him. One need only see the hard, brittle, look in the eyes of the abrasive atheists when they are attacking the Bible and Bible believers. It is a cold, dead expression โ void of hope. And if the eyes truly are the window to the soul โ what does that tell us? There is death where there is no hope โ spiritual death. And then in the not so far off future โ eternal death in the Lake of Fire.
We can be truly glad of heart, and take joy in the fact that our futures are already secure, and written down in the Lambโs Book of Life. There is no reason to fret over evil doers โ because their future is already determined if they remain unrepentant. What a terrible thought.
The next time you hear news of murders, corruptions, and all the sundry evils that satan has in his arsenal, it would be wise to think where your hope is.ย It is not here! not in America, not in anything other than our blessed savior โ Jesus Christ.ย
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even aย vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
[Forgive me. I so wanted to post a video with the classic hymn – “On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand,” but was unable to find one without a sensuous back-beat.]
If you will only let God guide you, And hope in Him through all your ways, Whatever comes, Heโll stand beside you, To bear you through the evil days; Who trusts in Godโs unchanging love Builds on the Rock that cannot move.
Only be still, and wait His leisure In cheerful hope, with heart content To take whatever the Fatherโs pleasure And all discerning love have sent; Nor doubt our inmost wants are known To Him Who chose us for His own.
Sing, pray, and swerve not from His ways, But do your part in conscience true; Trust His rich promises of grace, So shall they be fulfilled in you; God hears the call of those in need, The souls that trust in Him indeed.
Winkworthโs original translation:
If thou but suffer God to guide thee And hope in Him through all thy ways, Heโll give thee strength, whateโer betide thee, And bear thee through the evil days. Who trust in Godโs unchanging love Builds on the rock that naught can move.
What can these anxious cares avail thee These never ceasing moans and sighs? What can it help if thou bewail thee Oโer each dark moment as it flies? Our cross and trials do but press The heavier for our bitterness.
Be patient and await His leisure In cheerful hope, with heart content To take whatever thy Fatherโs pleasure And His discerning love hath sent, Nor doubt our inmost want are known To Him who chose us for His own.
God knows full well when time of gladness Shall be the needful thing for thee. When He has tried thy soul with sadness And from all guile has found thee free, He comes to thee all unaware And makes thee own His loving care.
Nor think amid the fiery trial That God hath cast thee off unheard, That he whose hopes meet no denial Must surely be of God preferred. Time passes and much change doth bring And set a bound to everything.
All are alike before the Highest: โTis easy for our God, We know, To raise thee up, though low thou liest, To make the rich man poor and low. True wonders still by Him are wrought Who setteth up and brings to naught.
Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving, Perform thy duties faithfully, And trust His Word: though undeserving, Thou yet shalt find it true for thee. God never yet forsook in need The soul that trusted Him indeed.
Words:Georg Neuยญmark, 1641 (Wer nur den lieยญben Gott lรคsst walยญten); first pubยญlished in his Fortยญgeยญpflantzยญer muยญsikยญalยญisch-poยญetยญischยญer Lustยญwald (Jeยญna, Gerยญmaยญny: 1657). Caยญtherยญine Winkยญworth transยญlatยญed the words from Gerยญman to Engยญlish in 1855, and pubยญlished them in the Choยญrale Book for Engยญland, 1863.
Music: Neumark, Georg Neuยญmark, 1641 (MIยญDI, score). The tune is said to have been used for 400 difยญferยญent hymns.
Things appeared desperate for Georg Neumark. Walking cross country in the early Autumn of 1641 to begin his studies at the University of Konigsberg, the young German scholar was robbed of virtually everything he owned. With no money left to pay for food or classes, George had to drop out of college and look for work. He was hungry, poorly clothed, forced to take whatever shelter he could find as the cold weather came on.
He went back to Magdeburg but could find no work there. However, he made friends easily, and they pointed him to different cities. But he had no more success in the next three cities he tried: Luneburg, Winsen or Hamburg. He passed on to Keil. The chief pastor of Keil, Nicolaus Becker took an interest in Georg. Like Georg, he was from Thuringia. However, he could find him no immediate work. It was now December. What was Georg to do?
At this darkest moment, a miracle happened. A tutor in a prominent family fell into disgrace and fled. Nicolaus Becker recommended Georg for the position and he was hired. Georgโs response was to burst into a hymn of praise, โon that very day.โ
If thou but suffer God to guide thee And hope in Him through all thy ways, Heโll give thee strength, whateโer betide thee, And bear thee through the evil daysโฆ. Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving, Perform thy duties faithfully, And trust His Word: though undeserving, Thou yet shalt find it true for thee. God never yet forsook in need The soul that trusted Him indeed.
We remember George Neumark mainly because of that one hymn and the tune he composed for it. For two years he worked and saved his money, finally getting together enough to enter University. In 1646 he again lost everything he owned, this time to a fire.
However, he was able to complete his studies and return to his homeland. There Duke Wilhelm II of Sachse-Weimar recognized his merits and gave him a trusted position.
Georg went blind shortly before he died, but the court allowed him to keep his jobs with their badly-needed income right to the end. He died on this day, July 18, 1681, having turned 60 shortly before. He had performed his part faithfully and God did not forsake him, bearing him through the evil days.
Bibliography:
Covert, William Chalmers and Laufer, Calvin Weiss, editors. Handbook to the Hymnal. (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Christian Education, 1936).
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
How many of us think, that if we only had enough money in the bank, or enough food in storage, or enough gold coins, or enough whatever โ that we would be safe from impending doom?ย
Or conversely, how many of us rely on our poverty to sustain us?ย Believing that some entity or other will always be there to pick us up after we fall, or feed, clothe, shelter, and educate us merely because we exist?ย Assuming no harm can befall us because โtheyโ will help?ย
Proverbs 10:15
ย The rich manโs wealth is his strong city:
This image applies to both aspects of the Proverb โ because within a city or any metropolitan area like that โ both the wealthy and the poor live within yards of each other. Artificial insulation deceives the dwellers into thinking that all is well. The wealthy thinks his high tower protects him, and the poor thinks the system will protect him. And it doesnโt only apply to cities โ think of the wealthy plantations in the South before the Civil War. They were micro-complexes of supra-independence. But many of them were razed and burned to the ground โ lock, stock, and barrel.
the destruction of the poor is their poverty.
Do people trust in poverty? Absolutely! It is the same assumption that the wealthy make โ trusting in the world. Content to let others care for them โ the poor will end in destruction says the Proverb.
Not everyone who is poor or wealthy must end this way. It is a matter of where we put our trust. Trusting in ourselves, in money, in โprepping,โ in the government, in family, in religion, in education, in the media, in anyone or anything other than Jesus Christ โ is folly and destruction for both the rich and the poor.
Psalm 118:8-9
8 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.
Please look at verse 8 above โ putting confidence in man โ includes yourself! V. 9 โ putting confidence in princes is the same as putting confidence in politicians.
Psalm 9:9-10
9 The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
10 And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.
There is an entire industry devoted to โprepping,โ or the storing up of food and provisions in cases of extreme emergency.ย But there is something else we need to think about storing up.ย And it is something that is mentioned frequently in the Word of God โ while โpreppingโ is not.ย Indeed โ it would not be an exaggeration to state that โpreppingโ has become a religion to many people!
Another way to describe storing up โ is laying up.
Proverbs 10:14
ย Wise men lay up knowledge:ย
It has been stressed repeatedly throughout these Friday Proverb studies โ that the only thing truly worth knowing about โ is Godโs Word. It is the foundation and cornerstone of all knowledge and wisdom. There is nothing โ NOTHING โ more important to our earthly sojourn โ than to โlay upโ knowledge of His Book! If you donโt โ you fall into the โbutโ category of this Proverb-
but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
The fact is โ If we posted all the fools featured on television in just one dayย โ from all the different sources such as news and talk shows โ wordpress would probably crash!ย
Thinking before speaking is a sign of wisdom. Laying up knowledge before speaking is another sign of wisdom. Far too many open their mouths to opine on things they know nothing about. By prefacing their opinion with an โI think,โ they believe they are qualified to hold forth, often having no more understanding of what they are talking about than a child would. Moreover โ they resist any efforts by others to teach them what they do not understand! That is willfully ignorant! And my friends โ Christians are guilty of this too. . .
Is ignorance an excuse? Not for believers! We are told again and again to feed on the Word. The more we take in the deep things of God โ the more we will know when to speak and what to say, and when to hold our tongues. What should come out of our mouths, is not our thoughts โ but His thoughts. And the only way to know His thoughts โ is by laying up the Words in His Book!
James 1:19
ย Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath
James 1:26
ย If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this manโs religion is vain.
Iโm sure weโve all seen it โ one or two people actually working โ while the vast majority are standing or sitting around doing nothing. While it has always been sinful human nature to be lazy โ certainly the death of the famous Protestant Work Ethic has elevated sluggishness to a lifestyle โ perhaps even an art form.
Proverbs 10:26
ย As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes,
Bitter and burning โ that is what the sluggard is to employers and those in authority.ย And the taste of vinegar is long lasting and memorable โ as is smoke in the eyes.ย Never will the sluggard be looked on in any other way, than as a sluggard or potential sluggard.ย
So is the sluggard to them that send him.
Do we really want the world to see believers that way? Think about that word โ sluggard. Not at all a pleasant image to think about. And it is also unpleasant to recognize, that the sluggard does not only hurt himself and the image of the church โ he leaves a slime trail.
Which means that though the sluggard is being self indulgent, he really is leaving a sticky trap behind him for others to see where heโs been, where he is going, and where to follow. . .
There are so many behaviors that qualify as sluggish, in the church, it would be impossible to list them all here. We could fully embrace the Lordโs perfection, and even recognize such sins as adultery and gluttony as sluggishness. For example, the lazy spouse will seek outside relationships, or even internet pornography, rather than working on their marriage. A sluggish body will eat copious amounts of easily obtained foods, rather than prepare healthy foods to eat โ because the preparation (planning, shopping, cooking) requires effort and โ work.
We are to blame for the situations we find ourselves in. Bad decisions are one thing โ and sluggishness is its evil twin. Let us strive to put our best foot forward โ and show to the sinful, fallen world, the radiance of a Holy Spirit filled life, and reflect outwards โ the Light of the Son.
The past two Proverb studies have covered sins of the flesh. This week is another kind of sin, and it has to do with making promises about money.
Proverbs 6:1-5
King James Version (KJV)
6 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,
2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.
This has to do with making promises to others in terms of financial debt. Either involving yourself in a venture on behalf of your own interest, or someone else (like a family member or friend as in co-signing) is against The LORDโs perfect will. Even personal mortgages are immoral in this respect โ because you are purchasing something that you may not be able to repay. By signing a contract such as that you have โ โstricken hands with a strangerโ (a bank or lending institution.) As every person is aware of in this country and around the word โ banks do not think twice about ejecting you from the house or car โ because technically โ you never owned them to begin with. It was always the banksโ โ unless and until you pay it in entirety.
v.2 โ you said it โ you own it!
3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend.
4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
The LORD says โ do not rest until you have cleared up the debt!
5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
The purveyors of debt are likened here to a hunter! As hunters are wont to do โ they set traps โ and foolish prey step into them.
[what is being discussed here is personal debt โ not business]
By Dave Ramsey
Myth: Debt is a tool and should be used to help create prosperity. Truth: Debt isnโt used by wealthy people nearly as much as we are led to believe.
Debt is dumb. Most normal people are just plain broke because they are in debt up to their eyeballs with no hope of help. If youโre in debt, then youโre a slave because you do not have the freedom to use your money to help change your family tree.
According to a USA Today article about debt, 78% of Baby Boomers have mortgage debt, 59% have credit card debt, and 56% have car payments. It takes a lot of will, discipline, courage and help to slay the debt monster. But it can be done. Imagine how much you could put toward retirement if you just didnโt have a stinking car payment? This is how the wealthy really build their wealth. Debt is dumb. Welcome to the real world!
Consider the Risk
My contention is that debt brings on enough risk to offset any advantage that could be gained through leverage of debt. Given timeโa lifetimeโrisk will destroy the perceived returns purported by the myth-sayers. I once was a myth-sayer myself and could repeat the myths very convincingly. I was especially good with the โdebt is a toolโ myth. I even sold rental property that was losing money to investors by showing them, with very sophisticated internal rates of return, how they would actually make money!
Our last weekโs Proverb focused on the general sin of fornication. This week is a continuation of the theme โ focusing on faithfulness to the marriage bed, using wonderful prose to give us the depth of meaning.
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17ย Let them beย only thine own, and not strangersโ with thee.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
Could the Word be any more clear?
19ย Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
Proverbs 5: 15-19
Gentlemen โ is it possible you do not fully comprehend how it hurts your wife when you lust after other women? Despite the so-called womenโs movement, it is clear that men in their hearts still look at females essentially the same way. We read far too frequently of prominent pastors committing adultery. Why? What is the reason?
19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
SELFISHNESS
Both husband and wife must be willing to lay aside their self-interest โ just as Jesus โ the Bridegroom of the church did.
Philippians 2:7-8
King James Version (KJV)
7 But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
This denial of self-interest is not demeaning! It is the only way to happiness and fulfillment in marriage!
20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
The rebuke for this kind of foolishness is not a mere hand slap. . .
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He pondereth all his goings.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself,and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Proverbs 5:20-23
The philosophy of the world does NOT make happy marriages. Sadly, most Christians have accepted the conditioning that marriages are a 50/50 proposition. That quotient has never worked, and it will bring forth the struggle for โgetting our due.โ Since a married couple is one flesh โ the marital unit can not survive with two heads โ which is exactly what the 50/50 idea promotes. Selfishness is the root of all marital problems.
1 Peter 3:7
King James Version (KJV)
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
Last Friday, the wise counsel was to walk in wisdom โ that walking with the LORD and feeding on His Word is life and health โ both physical and spiritual. Today, the enticements of the flesh are shown for what they are โ death.
1My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
2That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
As the young man in the illustration demonstrates โ nothing is hidden. The person he is deceiving is unaware, but the LORD sees everything. He may think heโs not hurting anyone โ but the Proverb goes on to explain that the hurt is endless.
5Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
6Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
7Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Here Solomon is saying โ why risk it? Why throw caution to the wind for something that is so unstable? Adultery and fornication are not part of Godโs plan for us โ and every sexual disease known to man is certainly not the result of stable, Godly marriages.
8Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
9Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
10Lest strangers be filled with thyย wealth; andย thyย laboursย be in the house of a stranger;
11And thou mourn at the last, when thy
flesh and thy body are consumed,
12And say,ย How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
Giving yourย honor, wealth, and laborsย to others???ย How about everyone (including your boss, pastor, and parents) knowing about what youโve done?ย How about losing everything in a divorce settlement?ย How about another man living in your home, with your ex-wife, and raising your children?
Flesh and body consumed?ย ย Well, that could happen in a variety of ways.ย Financial ruin and divorce take a tremendous toll on oneโs health.ย Then there is the more direct type of flesh consumption-ย http://realtruth.org/articles/090303-005-health.html
14I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
Proverbs 5:1-14
If you think Iโm just directing this at men โ Iโm not. Thanks to the satanic womenโs movement โ the โladiesโ are now making significant advancement into adultery and fornication โ an area that was formerly dominated by men. And the results are just what the evil one intended: the breakdown of the family, less personal wealth for all income levels, abortion, declining birth rates, womenโs bodies being prostituted in every form of media, and general moral decay.
We can make up all kinds of excuses for the things we do. My parents neglected/abused me. My marriage is lousy. Iโm under a lot of pressure. I never really wanted to be married in the first place. This marriage isnโt what I wanted. My wife/husband doesnโt understand me. Iโm lonely. . . .
My, me, my, I, I, I, my, I . . . .ย the Word says there simply is no excuse.ย Sin, is sin, is sin.ย
James 4:4
King James Version (KJV)
ย Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is theย enemy of God.
In our last Friday Proverb, we learned that the best way to avoid wickedness is to flee from it. As the old saying goes โ โRun like the very devil is after you!โ (Because he is) It was also stressed that the wicked cannot rest or even sleep until they cause others to fall. That is a very important fact to remember when the sinful temptations are being sold to you.
20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
Again, the Proverbs are stressing that Godโs Words must be kept deep within our hearts, providing life and health to our bodies. Understand that this is more than prose. Ample (if resentful) secular evidence exists to support what is written in this Proverb. It stymies the โscientificโ community as to why church goers, and those who regularly pray and study the Bible, live longer. They continuously try to explain it away with brain scans and Freudian analysis. Arenโt we blessed not to have to worry about the why? And just addressing the logical side of the question โ it stands to reason that the truly faithful Christians avoid much of the behavior that makes people sick, as well as dangerous situations and lifestyles.
23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
From the Hebrew โkeepโ =
natsar: to watch, guard, keep
Original Word: ื ึธืฆึทืจ Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: natsar Phonetic Spelling: (naw-tsarโ)
Guarding your heart is not the same thing as โhardeningโ your heart. Keeping it with โall diligence,โ protects your heart from being damaged by sin. Leaving it exposed like a target is considered foolishness in the Proverbs. If left exposed, sin does its damage, so that even if sins are repented of, the sins that were swept away still leaves scars. And like all scar tissue โ it is hard โ and can even be seen in the eyes of the repentant sinner. How much better it is to guard your heart to begin with, and not have to suffer and bear the scars for the rest of your earthly walk.
24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Hmmm, letโs think about wisely holding our tongues and thinking it through before we speak in anger, spite, or in a gossiping manner. โPerverse lipsโ means that the speaker gets pleasure from evil dialogue, such as locker room talk, or โtalking dirty.โ Not only should we not do these things โ but we are instructed to put the people that do them far away from us. If we participate in the gossip, or in the locker room talk, we become as they are.
25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Further admonishment to keep our eyes where they should be โ focused on heaven โ not the world and its trappings.
26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Look where you are going, think about where you are going, determine where you are going.
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. Proverbs 4: 20-27
Do not veer from the path of righteousness. If we are like Lotโs wife, and are constantly looking longingly back, or to the side โ we do not belong to the Lord! In the words of John Bunyan –
Beware of this By-path Meadow; it is on the left-hand. O! how many are walking securely, confidently, and comfortably, in it; while every step they take endangers their destruction. The transition into it is easy; for it lies close to the right way; only you must go over a stile: that is, you must quit Christโs imputed righteousness, and trust in your inherent righteousness; and you are in By Path Meadow directly.
Pilgrimโs Progress, p. 129, John Bunyan
And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Jesus, keep me near the cross, There a precious fountain Free to all, a healing stream Flows from Calvaryโs mountain.
Refrain
In the cross, in the cross, Be my glory ever; Till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river.
Near the cross, a trembling soul, Love and mercy found me; There the bright and morning star Sheds its beams around me.
Refrain
Near the cross! O Lamb of God, Bring its scenes before me; Help me walk from day to day, With its shadows oโer me.
Refrain
Near the cross Iโll watch and wait Hoping, trusting ever, Till I reach the golden strand, Just beyond the river.
Refrain
Text: Fanny J. Crosby, 1820-1915 Music: William H. Doane, 1832-1915
โIt may seem a little old-fashioned, always to begin oneโs work with prayer, but I never undertake a hymn without first asking the good Lord to be my inspiration.โ
Galatians 6:14
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Last week we enjoyed the wonderful wisdom that King David passed down to his son, Solomon โ stressing the pursuit of wisdom above any worldly thing. Today we look at the relentless efforts of the world to corrupt us โ and the best way to not fall into its trap.
14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
There are many โpathsโ that could be considered wicked. What is being stressed here is the influence that worldly people have on us. The pressure to conform in appearance and behavior to the world comes at us through many different avenues. Television, internet, magazines, coworkers, โfriends,โ peers. . . the things we see and hear โ lead us to covet โ and in coveting we are caught.
15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
The only escape from the myriad temptations in front of our eyes is to flee from it, and completely avoid it โ no matter what it is. If you canโt look at a magazine without lusting โ either by wanting to look like someone in the magazine, or have someone or something in the magazine โ better throw out the magazine! The same goes with alcohol, pornography, gluttony, lechery. . .the list goes on and on. If you canโt sit down at a computer without looking at porn โ you have entered the path of the wicked. If you sit lusting after cheerleaders while watching a football game โ you are on the same path. If looking at Pinterest causes you to be dissatisfied rather than content โ you are in the coveting trap. If your โfriendโ encourages you to do something wrong โ flee โ flee โ flee!!!
The Proverb goes on to say, that the people that lead us to do wrong, whether it is the corrupt CEO of a gigantic, international company, or your sister-in-law bombarding you with temptation โย they all truly desire you to fail.
16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
The above verse is the source of the colloquialism โ โNo rest for the wicked!โ Certainly television commercials and programmers are relentless in their push for immorality โ but have you ever encountered someone who pressures you with their own kind of intensity? Trying to get you to do something that you know is wrong? The Word of God clearly says that they cannot rest until they have accomplished their goal! Think of the tireless, driving methods of influential musicians, authors, media, even video game designers! Or the โfriendโ that pushes you to have another drink, or coworker telling you to help yourself to whatever is in the company storage room โ because โeveryone does it.โ If you get the feeling they are trying to take you down with them โ your feeling is correct!
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
Verse 17 is saying that wickedness and violence actually sustains the evil ones, in the same way that pure food sustains us. Their very beings are gladdened by a Christianโs failure in the same way that we are made joyous by a good meal with people we love.
18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
How beautiful. The perfect day will be at the Lordโs return. If we stay on the right path, it will shine brighter and brighter in this dark world, until that glorious day!
19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. Proverbs 4: 14-19
At right is what the lost see. Nothing. The Hugh Hefnerโs, Richard Dawkins, and the neighborhood philanderer . . . the multitudinous purveyors of corruption do not see where they are going. Even when they trip and fall, they have no idea what they tripped over. They will continue to grope along in the dark.
126 It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law.
127 Therefore I love Thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.
128 Therefore I esteem all Thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.
129 Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.
130 The entrance of Thy Words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.
The Vine Vigil 
