CCS Sermons
Proverbs 28
We've got these different relationships. Contrast is one of the aspects of Hebrew poetry that we see a lot and especially in the book of problems. There's comparisons. There's buildings, stair-step building. Just to make a point, we're going to see a lot of contrast tonight. We saw that early on. We went through some different types of poetry. We're back to the contrast. And the contrast here is between the wicked and the righteous. The wicked. They're fleeing when no one pursues. Well, I think they're being pursued by something, a guilty conscience. There's a fear of being discovered. And so they're looking over their shoulder. They are fearful. But those who are righteous don't have a fear of having their sin revealed. Because there isn't a sin to be revealed. Their focus on God is being called righteous shows they have a relationship with God. They're not being called good. They're being called righteous. And that means that they are focused on God. They know God's will. They know God's word. They're seeking to please God. We should be in then camp. So we should be bold as lions. I mean, these wicked. This is a good demonstration of Romans 2.15, which tells us that in that case, Paul was talking about the Gentiles having the work of the law written in their hearts. Their consciences bearing witness. Their thoughts accusing or else excusing them. And clearly here in verse one, we've got a group of people and their thoughts are accusing them. Let's be righteous. Let's look to Jesus. Verse two, "Because of the transgressions of a land, many are its princes. But by a man of understanding and knowledge, right will be prolonged. Because of the transgression of a land, many of its princes, we've got bureaucrats. We've got government agencies. We've got all of these government officials. Because of sin. There's more sin. And so, well, the government, they think the solution is more princes. We need to be people of understanding. We need to recognize that if we want right for long, we need to have those of understanding and knowledge. As princes, as those in leadership and power. And so, it's a good reminder. Pray for your leaders. Government, church, organizations, kids, you praying for your parents? I'm looking at you. So, pray for understanding leaders then. Verse three tells us, "A poor man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves no food." And the point, if you've got a crop and it's coming up and it's spring and the shoots are just coming out of the ground and they're tender, if you get a pounding rain, all of a sudden you get one of those Texas thunderstorms and you get five inches in a day, that's going to wipe out the crop. It's going to drown it. It's going to wash it away. It's going to break the stems, the shoots. And this is what it's talking about. Man, rain should be a good thing. But in this case, it's being destructive. These comparatively poor are oppressing the real poor. I think of Jesus as parable, of the two debtors in Matthew 18. Both of them were in debt. One's forgiven. What does he do? He oppresses another poor man. The result there was judgment on him for oppressing. And so I've seen real poor helping other real poor. They don't make the news. And again, one of these verses about the poor. Verse four, those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them. Even men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord will understand all. And so who's being praised by whom here? Those forsaking the law, they're thinking, man, look at this person. Also, they're breaking the law, and man, they've got a new car, and they've got all of this money, and they've got this, that. And they're being impressed by the wrong thing. And they're praising the wrong thing because they don't have the law. The word but, we've got a contrast. Those who keep the law contend with them. There's a time to contend. And here we've got, it's not just those who know the law, but those who keep the law contend with those who are forsaking the law. The law of God, especially here. God's word. And verse five, it is pointed out regarding these evil men who are forsaking the law. I'm praising the wicked and whatnot. They don't understand justice. They don't understand what it really means to be just. They're clueless regarding morals. So we've got those who keep the law, verse four, those who seek the Lord, and verse five. You know, if we're going to know God's word, and here when it talks about the law, it's referring to God's word at that time. Old Testament, it's not just using bones. And the law covered good examples, bad examples, encouragement. Those who know it and who seek it, you know, there's going to be understanding. The application for us is, I need to know God's word. Especially today, there are so many people who are clueless when it comes to God's word. So they don't understand justice. They think that, you know, hey, this person doing a wicked deed is prairie. They don't have grounding in God's word. We need to then say, I want to be one of those who is grounded. I want to be one of those who seeks the Lord here. Verse six, better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich. You know, there are worse things than being poor, better to be poor but have integrity. You know, we've got the contrast, the one who is rich but is perverse. And notice, I think the important thing is the integrity and the perverse because other scriptures we see, you know, a poor man with integrity and a rich man with integrity. And that's where we see a poor man with no integrity who's perverse and a rich man who's perverse. So let's not, you know, get lost in the rich versus poor. Let's get focused on the integrity and say, man, no matter what my situation is, I need to be a man or woman of integrity. Verse seven, whoever keeps the law is a discerning son but a companion of gluttons, shames his father. You know, God's Word is brought up again, you know, keeping God's Word is brought up again. And it's a matter of discernment. Obedience to God's will is discernment. And so we need to look at God's will. We need to look at God's Word. We need to think through what are the implications here? We need to look at situations going on around us and think through what's going on. Let me not, you know, have a knee-jerk reaction. Let me discern. But in order to be discerning, we've got to be in God's Word. If we don't have God's Word grounding us, we're like foam on the sea, we're like jello, where we have no backbone. And again, the contrast to the one who is discerning is the companion of gluttons, you know, that they're partying, they're wasteful, and they're shaming the father. Let's not shame our father. Verse 8, "One who increases his possessions by usury and extortion gathers it for him who will pity the poor. You know, those who are taking advantage of others, you know, they're gathering it for him who pitties the poor, and it's kind of like, well, who was that? And we don't see that happening fast enough. And I'll tell you, there's a lot of things where we just need to be patient when it comes to God and God's doing in God's Word, because the ultimate pittier of the poor is God. You know, and he's just saying, you know, these extortioners, they're going to reap what they sow. He's gluttons in 7, they're going to reap what they sow. These evil men, verse 5, they're going to reap what they sow. Verse 9, "One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." Wow. Prayer being an abomination. I mean, a lot of people that doesn't compute, they think, well, God listens to all prayers. Well, he knows all of those prayers, but some of them he considers to be an abomination. So what's the context here? First of all, note, one who turns away his ear from hearing the law. This isn't a person who just doesn't know the law. They have made a choice to turn away from God's Word and God's will. And if somebody is actively choosing to turn away from God's will, how can they pray and God's will? I mean, Jesus, you know, when he gave his disciples that model prayer, thy will be done as part of that prayer. A lot of people don't know God's will and they're praying for things and to a God that they have no relationship with and they're not praying and God's will. If they were, and one of those prayers is, Lord, I surrender, you know, I can't do this on my own. I need you. That's God's will. That's the prayer in God's will. But there are plenty of other, you know, prayers and so we need to think through. I need to say, search me, oh God, and know my heart. See if there is any wicked way in me. We need to, Psalm 66, 18, you know, David, David even said, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. We can set up a block in our prayers by saying maybe the right words, but our heart is thinking the opposite, going through the motions, faking it. Isaiah 59, too, your iniquities have separated you from God and your sins have hidden its face from you so that he will not hear. Our sins will, in fact, our prayers, if we're content with our sins and thinking that we can just fake it and pray and I mean, and this isn't just an Old Testament thing. You know, Peter warned husbands, husbands, likewise, dwell with your wives with understanding, we've been honored as to the weaker vessel and as being heirs together for the grace of life that your prayers will not be hindered. If we're not in God's will, if we've turned our ear away from hearing the law, it will hinder our prayers. Of course, I'll share one other verse to kind of back this up because this is, you know, you read it initially and it's kind of shocking, a prayer being an abomination. But you know that commentary on the book of Proverbs that we call James, he even said, you ask and do not receive because you ask a miss so that you can spend it on your pleasures. If you're asking something to spend on your pleasures, you don't know God's will. You've turned your ear away from hearing the law. To me, this is the most challenging verse in this chapter and so I've spent some extra time on it, but we're all called to pray. We have a privilege of praying and so, as the disciples did to Jesus, we need to go and say, teach us to pray. Holy Spirit, help me pray, search me and know my heart, Lord, thy will be done, not my will but thine, because abomination is a pretty powerful word. Verse 10, "Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, he himself will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit good." There are wicked people who see it as a sport to get Christians to stumble, to get Christians to trip up, to try and expose Christians to porn sites, to try and get Christians to not go to church, you know, purposely, you know, planning something on a Sunday morning. They've got, they're setting the trap and it's going to be for themselves. And this is also something that I've discovered going verse by verse through it. It's a lot of talk about, you know, setting up traps, setting up snares, you know, that those who think sin is a joke are going to find themselves caught. Verse 11 tells us the rich man is wise in his own eyes, but the poor who has understanding searches him out. Being wise in your own eyes, we've seen elsewhere, you know, Proverbs 26 brought it up. If you're wise in God's eyes, that's a good thing, to say God, I want your wisdom, I want your leading, I lack wisdom, and so Lord I'm praying, I'm asking for it. But if we think, man, I'm pretty hot stuff, I don't need God, I don't need the Bible. I've got it all together, and you're wise in your own eyes, you're setting yourself up for a fall. And in contrast, the poor who has understanding searches him out, recognizes it, you know. And here, again, the important part is not that they're poor, but they have understanding, just like up there in verse six, you know, that they were walking in integrity. That's the key thing here, to have the understanding, to say, man, that rich guy might look impressive on the outside, but he's miserable on the inside, he's faking it, he's probably, you know, taking all kinds of drugs to make himself happy and in between his therapy appointments. I mean, it's just having the understanding to look and say, he's not really happy. The riches are not worth it. And you know our Savior came as a poor man with understanding, didn't he? Twelve tells us when the righteous rejoice, there is great glory, but when the wicked arise, men hide themselves. You know, when we get to rejoice, hallelujah, you know, there is glory, but when the wicked are taking power, whatever the situation is, you know, it may be time to hide. And this is one of those things, you know, some people might react differently. You know, there was a time where David, you know, he hid from Saul, and it's kind of like I got to get out of here. Joseph took Jesus to Egypt. There was a time when the wicked arose there and it was, the angel said, "Leave." And it doesn't say when the righteous, or when the wicked arise, the righteous hide themselves. Now, even the wicked don't want to be ruled by other wicked men, thirteen. He who covers his sin will not prosper. But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Here's a question, let's see if we're all awake. What was the first cover-up of sin? You can be out of your answer, if you know it. In the garden, in the garden, if you were in my junior high class, I'd throw a candy bar. It'd be a little snicker though. The first cover-up, you know, our first parents, Adam and Eve, in the garden. And clearly, this is true. Once they tried to cover that sin, once they sinned, once they ate that fruit, they did not prosper. But whoever confesses and forsakes, you've got to do both, confess and forsake, will have mercy. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We confess, we give up the sin, we repent, we turn around. There will be mercy. Covering up sin just doesn't cut it, because God can see it. God knew where Adam and Eve were. Adam knows what goes on at two o'clock in the morning, you know, when the teenager claims or playing video games, but they're doing something else. And what are some ways that we cover sin? How do we cover up sin? I mean, we don't use big leaves, we don't hide when God's walking in the garden. We try to justify it, don't we? That's a big cover up, while everybody's doing it, it wasn't a big sin. We lie about it, maybe time. Time's a big cover up, we think, you know, if the enough time is between the sin and when it's discovered, you know, the statutes of limitation, you know, I can cry and sometimes crying seems to work temporarily. Ceremonies, you know, do some kind of ceremony, we think, okay, that deals with the sin. Being definitions, isn't that what we're seeing in our society today? Oh, it's not a sin because I've changed the definition, just to the disease. None of the cover-ups work. Confess and forsake, 1 John 1, 9, 14 tells us, "Happy is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity. Always, happy is the man who is always reverent, always is not only Sunday mornings, or when we are inside of church building, and once we get out of the church building, we don't have to be reverent." If you want joy in your life and having a proper relationship with God, having a proper view of who God is and what he's done and what he's doing in our lives, you know, that gives us joy. That word reverent, some people will say, "Oh, that word reverent is not a happy word." This is anti-happy, and that's why Christians look like they suck lemons all the time. The fear of the Lord brings joy. If we have a proper view of who God is and what he's done, joy is the result. Oh, how happy, oh, how blessed. But look at the person who hardens the heart, it doesn't say they might fall into calamity, they will. Again, it's a timing thing. In Solomon's Day, they had a lot more patience for things happening that took time. Our culture, you know, the drive-through is a fast enough for us many times. We want immediate gratification. We just have to trust when God says, you know, they will fall into calamity, they will reap what they sow, that it's going to happen. Soften my heart, Lord, soften my heart. Verse 15, "Like a roaring lion and a charging bear is a wicked ruler over poor people." Man, wicked rulers, bureaucrats, politicians, whatnot, they don't care about the people. A lot of them don't care about the people. Like a roaring lion, you know, making all this noise, like a charging bear, you know, the fear, if you had a bear charging at you, you know, it's terrifying. Trying to think of something that John Corsey said, I was listening, I said, verse 15, you know, these wicked rulers are like a roaring lion and a charging bear. They are unbearable and that is not alive. So there you go, I'm not lying. Sixteen, a ruler who lacks understanding is a great oppressor, but he who hates covetousness will prolong his day. So wicked ruler, we got the wicked ruler again, we saw him in verse 15, now 16, here we see with the contrast, with the relationship, the Hebrew poetry, the oppressor is contrasted with the one who hates covetousness. The implication is, you know, that ruler, he's wicked over the poor people, verse 15, he doesn't understand, he's oppressive, man, he's covetous. He wants what others have and he's going to use his political office together. Seventeen tells us that a man burdened with bloodshed will flee into a pit, let no one help him, that seems kind of harsh, let no one help him, but it's a man burdened with bloodshed, he's a murderer, he's destroyed somebody made in the image of God and there is a curse on that person. So we don't excuse it, we don't try to get him off saying, oh they had a bad childhood, they've murdered somebody, now there's one way we could help them, go to jail and witness to him, but we're not trying to get him off the hook, you know, if someone takes a human life, we read, you know, Genesis 9, 6, that person's life will also be taken by human hands, God made man and women in his own image, 18, 18 says whoever walks blamelessly will be saved and you know, we can get, you know, eternal application out of it, but the practical issue is they're going to be saved from calamities compared to he who is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall and so again just the call to, you know, look at the contrast and say I want to walk blameless, 19 tells us, he who tells his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough, so the contrast here, first of all we've got the person tilling their land, remember again, agricultural culture, the farming was important, you know, you had to plant at the right time, you had to weed get to take care of your crops, you had to make sure that it was watered, you had to just prepare the land, it was too hard, you had to break it up and if you worked at the right time and you finished the task, there was a reward, you'd have bread, but the partier, you know, he who follows frivolity, some translations, actually it's kind of surprised the number of translations that the one who follows fantasies, get rich quick schemes or whatnot, they've got these fantasies of how they can avoid work and still have bread and we see they're going to have poverty, you cannot party instead of working and you know, one thing that came out it says he who follows frivolity and the whole big thing with social media nowadays isn't it, you know, getting followers and so, you know, you're following this TikTok person or you're following that Instagram person or you're following this whatever person, you know, since I don't have any of those, I don't know but on YouTube, I mean there's some things I follow, you know, the enduring word, I mean, boom, hit that, but if you follow these TikTok influencers, you can have poverty enough, they're going to say, oh, this is how you can get rich, this is how you can make money, it's got to work, work at it. And I step back and I look at this and I think, there's a spiritual application here too, because telling your land, you're going to have plenty of bread, if you spend time in God's word, you're going in between line by line, you're spending time in God's word, you are going to be fed, but instead of being in God's word, if you're, you know, on the phone following these cap videos or, you know, what are people watching, nobody out there wants to admit what they're watching, but instead of being in God's word, you're going to have spiritual poverty. Verse 20 tells us that a faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished, and be faithful people, be faithful to God, be faithful to your spouse, your parents, your employer, be a faithful person, because the one who hastens to be rich shows, and the hasten part is the issue here, the covetous, we've already talked about, you know, being covetous early, that was verse 16, you know, they're looking for shortcuts, they got wrong priorities, you know, again, there are verses we see if you go through all the Proverbs or some that, you know, encourage, you know, to be wise as far as investing and to, you know, chill your land to have plenty of bread and what not, but to hasten shows, you know, your priorities are upside down. To show partiality is not good, because for a piece of bread a man will transgress. Verse 21 warns us about, you know, plain favorites, you know, either showing partiality is not good, or, you know, seeking it, kissing up to the boss, and you could be easily bought off, it says, a piece of bread, you know, they'll buy you off if they can manipulate you. A man with an evil eye hastens after riches, you know, a person chasing after riches again. He does not consider that poverty will come upon him, he's got a get rich quick scheme, you know, he's not planning on being, you know, a discerning steward of what he's got, he's got this plan to get rich, and it's a Ponzi scheme, it's going to fall apart on him. 23, he who rebukes a man will find more favor afterwards than he who flatters with the tongue. That afterwards, it could be years later, you know, you could tell somebody something that they don't want to hear, maybe say, I want nothing to do with you, I want to walk away from you, get out of my life, and it may be years later that they can't come back and say, hey, thank you, thank you for saying that, you know, you saved me from making a very life changing mistake, you, what you said convicted me, and the hound of heaven was after me because of what you said, and I would lay in bed thinking about, you know, you challenging me that I needed to repent and turn my life over to God, and years later, I finally jumped out of bed and got on my knees and prayed, and, you know, I'm happily married now, and I'm actually pastoring a church, and thank you for reviewing me. It happens, maybe years in being the afterword, but, you know, that plattery, you know, that person may have given favor immediately, man, I don't like that guy to repeat me, man, but you're saying good things about me, but eventually they're gonna think, that guy's trying to manipulate me, that guy has some ulterior motive for what he's saying, because he's saying that, you know, flattery is too much, it's not just a little frosting on the cake, it's, you know, the flowers and the doilies, and, you know, it's all of the sugar on the cake, and it's, there's more frosting on the cake than cake, and that's what flattery is. Once we realize that we're being manipulated by somebody, it's hard to trust them. In 24, we're challenged, whoever robs his father or his mother, and says, it is no transgression. The same is companion to a destroyer, you know. In the past 30 years, we've heard so much about elder abuse, you know, grown kids, adult children, taking advantage of their parents, we've heard about it, but it's not something that it's new, you know, it was happening here, Solomon's Day. Jesus even dealt with it, you know, he rebuked the Pharisees for, you know, saying, oh, what I've got here is Corbin, so I can't use it to help you mom and dad anymore, because I've said it's going to go to the temple after I'm dead, so I can't help you. And Jesus rebuked those Pharisees for stealing from their parents. It is a transgression, you know, and realize, kids, you may think, hey, I'm going to inherit this anyway some days, so why can't I have it now? Sounds like a certain prodigal son, doesn't it? I've got a lot of children, teenagers, adult children, justify stealing from their parents, thinking, well, I'm going to get it anyway, so I might as well take it now. And one other thing, so that's the warning for the children out there, but for the parents, don't ignore theft. If there's something going on in the house, you know, you think the little kid is, you know, it's just a cookie? No, it's not just a cookie, it is a habit that's got to be broken. Don't ignore theft in the house, a cookie, a dollar out of the purse, you know, they may try to act funny when they're caught and don't laugh, don't think, oh, it's cute, don't post on Facebook. Oh, my kid did the funniest thing today, you got to deal with it. Because you don't want them to be a companion to a destroyer. 25 and 26, he who is proud of heart stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will be prospered, he who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered. And what do you trust in? We've got two different trusts here, we've got the one who trusts in the Lord, we've got the one who trusts in his own heart, just like the one who was wise in his own eyes. He was trusting in his own heart and he's a fool. He just causes trouble and trust in the Lord with all your heart and always remember the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it. And so don't trust in your own heart, trust in the Lord, give the Lord your heart, walk wisely, 27 tells us he who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have many curses. Another one of these verses about the poor, God must have really been working on Solomon about the poor and we know when he died, even his advisors tried to tell his son, "Man, you've got to lower the taxes, the people are being burdened." And so God was clearly trying to make a point with Solomon regarding the poor and his old age, he didn't seem to really pay attention, but we've got to look to the Holy Spirit and not Solomon here, look and be discerning God has called us to give. Verse 28, "When the wicked arise men hide themselves, but when they perish the righteous will increase," this is like verse 12, "men hiding themselves when the wicked gain power in position." They're going to perish, so stay righteous, don't give up, don't say, "Man, I'm wasting my time trying to be good, I'm wasting my time trying to trust in the process, trying to trust the court system, trying to keep your eyes on God, because again, the righteous will increase. We, my challenge, call out to God, we need to increase. The only way we're going to be righteous is in God, and the Holy Spirit worked through us, and the Holy Spirit used God's word to challenge us and speak to us, again, to correct us, to comfort us, to equip us, to go out and impact this world and impact this church. When they perish, the righteous will increase. Let's pray. Oh, God, again, we thank you for your word. Lord, we're overloaded again. There was so much here, I just pray that your Spirit would speak to each one of us. Let nugget in this mind that we've been digging in, which nugget is for us to take, to look at the facets, to look at what you have for us. Lord, I pray that we've been equipped for this week. Lord, I pray that we've been equipped to spend more time in your word. And in prayer, Lord, we want our prayers to be according to your word. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. the Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen.