Revering the Word
Proverbs 10 The blessing of honoring God, and the ruin of not.
Good morning everyone. This morning we are in Proverbs chapter 10. It's good to recall that in Proverbs we have what's called wise sayings. It's a different type of writing style and these statements, most of which were written by Solomon, make broad, good, helpful statements for wise living here on earth. They're not necessarily promises of God that it's gonna work out each and every time exactly according to this Proverbs in a wisdom kind of statement like this. They're just contrasting Solomon is in this case wise living and wicked living and in general things are gonna work out this way. However sometimes you know especially in the New Testament era too there are times when the wicked seem to prosper on earth but ultimately it's going to catch up with them and ultimately we're here only for a short time and in the end the righteous, those righteous by faith in Jesus are gonna shine and live with him forever and those whether they have wealth or not here on earth if they deny Jesus are gonna spend eternity in hell away from the Lord. So we Solomon didn't have that full understanding of the gospel and of Jesus at that time so we have to as New Testament Christians now place that understanding alongside of what we're reading today but with that backdrop let's take a look at these wise sayings of Solomon the Proverbs of Solomon a wise son makes a father glad but a foolish son is a grief to his mother you know very very true and yes may the Lord be with all of our children and may they all stay with or turn to Jesus and his wisdom and the wisdom of his word life goes so much better when that is what we do and what our children do ill-gotten gains do not profit but righteousness delivers from death you know and eventually it's gonna catch up with you when you have ill-gotten gain when you do wrong to gain that that's going to catch up with you and surely now righteousness delivers from death the righteousness people who are righteous by faith in Jesus because he he gave us his righteousness by taking our sin upon himself we truly are going to get delivered from death hallelujah the Lord will not allow the righteous to hunger but he will reject the craving of the wicked poor is he who works with a negligent hand but the hand of the diligent makes rich and there's gonna be a lot of things in Proverbs you know Solomon was was wealthy and he's going to say you know when you do things right justly and honorably and you live your life with wisdom you got a much better chance of actually living a wealthy life if you're doing if you're working hard if you're diligent and you're not doing ill-gotten gain but you're conducting yourself in a manner that's honorable you're much more likely to be blessed in in in life with your wealth and finances he who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully and you know the Bible is is filled with verses regarding hard diligent work and not allowing yourself to slumber and eventually that that'll catch up with you and you will be poor for not being diligent in your work blessings are on the head of the righteous but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence the memory of the righteous is blessed but the name of the wicked will rot the wise of heart will receive commands but a babbling fool will be ruined he who walks in integrity walks securely but he who perverts his ways will be found out and that's surely true you know it's gonna catch up with you when you're not living for Jesus that's gonna catch up with you in the end when you're living in a in a in a wicked way or sinful way that sin sin leads to destruction sin leads to consequences you know you you might get away with it for a little while but eventually it's gonna catch up with you and sin destroys live your life honorably and rightly do what God has said in commands and I'm telling you it'll work out better hallelujah he who winks the eye causes trouble oh yes there's a fellow that I could have me in name but just someone that I I knew about and someone who is in my life in the real estate days and I witnessed to him quite a bit and he did at the end come to the Lord while he was dying which I'm grateful for but he really wanted to be a success and be wealthy and for a season he was but he was not a righteous individual and he would often wink with the eye like that and he really did come to ruin on earth he lost his wealth lost relationships and ultimately lost his life smoker who ended up getting throat cancer and then and then dying of that and it's sad to hear but I do believe that he truly did repent of his sin he was even calling people to apologize for his behavior towards the end of his life and and he he prayed with me to receive Christ as a savior and it definitely seemed genuine to me and I actually did his his funeral slash celebration but it was quite interesting he had a lot of life in him but he ended up losing his life pretty fairly young you know and yeah just see some of this proverb both the positive and the negative revealed in his life a babbling fool will be ruined the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence that's been brought up a couple of times so it seems as though God desires that if there was violence and something injustice done that we would not just turn the other cheek in not proclaiming that injustice if someone else is receiving injustice or is getting violence they're receiving violence and we say nothing it seems like the wicked that's what the wicked does is it just conceals violence so we should be forthright about it and help those who have received injustice hatred stirs up strife but love covers all transgressions you know there's a a proverb that talks about how blessed is a man who overlooks in offense and hatred stirs up strife and you know that's one thing that I'm very careful of try to guard around in the church in particular is strife you don't want strife in the Christian church and sometimes it finds its way in here it says hatred stirs up strife but love covers all transgressions and I look for strife and try to what I mean by that is I try to be observant of what's going on and where that could come up and try to guide and steer and wisely move around that because it's just not healthy to have that and sometimes you know what we have to just love and forgive and blessed is the man who overlooks in offense just not be so easily offended one of the worst things you can have is being around someone who's easily offended and so quick to create strife because of their emotionalness and being easily offended that's a dangerous person to partner with so may we all be have love that covers transgressions instead of meditating on them and stirring up strife and being easily offended may we have grace like our Lord and love people sometimes can be challenging and it helps to have grace in those situations on the lips of the discerning wisdom is found but a rod is for the back of him who lacks understanding wise men store up knowledge and thankful for you listening now that you're taking the word of God seriously and you're storing up knowledge and that's wise but the mouth of the foolish ruin is at hand and I think it's so foolish so many who don't turn to God and don't turn to his word and don't have the knowledge of the scriptures and live their life really not having faith and not knowing what they could know what's available to them to know they could seek and they could find and they could have a wealth of blessing in Jesus Christ but it's foolish to not seek to not learn what is available to learn because you can have a guide and forgiveness of sins and eternal life and the wisdom of God's Word it's all available to all of us if we just put seek it and that is wise men storing up knowledge but the fool he turns away the rich man's wealth is his fortress the ruin of the poor is their poverty kind of an interesting thing there because he's been contrasting like the good and the evil so is he saying the rich man's wealth is his fortress that that's good because that could be looked at negatively as well you know our fortress really needs to be on the rock the cornerstone on Jesus Christ you know but if if you have the rock and the foundation the cornerstone in Jesus Christ and God blesses you with wealth praise God but the ruin of the poor is their poverty the wages of the righteous is life it's so interesting to kind of have a New Testament understanding of some of these verses that Solomon didn't yet have you know righteous and righteousness is something that we've been given through faith in Jesus because he took our sin and it is life and it's life everlasting and praise God that he makes us righteous through faith but Solomon is more like the wages of living righteousness doing what's right is life and you know that's true too and if you've been made righteous through faith in Jesus then you should live rightly the income of the wicked punishment interesting hey sometimes even you know if you're gonna make income and you're wicked you're gonna probably use that income for you know ungodly purposes and ultimately that's gonna lead to not rewarding the end and even punishment in the end and sometimes because of sinfulness punishment here on earth he is on the path of life who he's instruction may we heed the instruction of the Lord first and foremost but he who ignores reproof goes astraying so many not turning to God's instruction go astray he who conceals hatred has lion lips and he who spreads slander is a fool and may we be wise about that and you know better many times to say nothing at all and just be silent than to say something negative when there are many words transgression is unavoidable and sometimes if you just want to keep open in your mouth and keep talking your talk yourself into trouble but he who restrains his lips is wise yes sometimes someone who just doesn't even speak seems wise because they're not speaking indeed sometimes it can be wise not to speak the tongue of the righteous is as choice silver the heart of the work wicked is worth little and you know when your mind is right in the Lord and your faith is right in the Lord then your tongue is gonna be a lot more right as well when you don't have the Lord your heart is gonna be sick and it's gonna lead to bad things both in your mouth and in your life the lips of the righteous feed many but fools die for lack of understanding and you know Hosea said my people perish for lack of knowledge and you know that's one of the things that saddens me so much is all the people in the world that just aren't seeking God and don't have the knowledge of the Bible or of what Jesus has done as a result and miss out on so much sometimes I'm sad because you know like you have people in your life and it's like I've spent my life acquiring more and more knowledge and faith in Jesus and I feel like you know what I have something to share something to help people in life with I could I could help you you know what I mean but they don't want to hear they don't want to know right so it's like they're right next to it they're right next to the Bible they're right next to me they're right next to the opportunity to grow in their faith it's all right their form to grow but they just shun it and therefore they do not it is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich so that's interesting isn't it you know sometimes there are people who look down you know they're poor people or Christian people maybe who haven't been blessed with wealth and they look down on everybody that has wealth as though you know that's negative and it can be when you don't know the Lord and when you don't give to the Lord and use it for the Lord but it's not always negative sometimes that's the blessing of God upon people so it is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich and he adds no sorrow to it doing wickedness is like a sport to a fool isn't that interesting it's entertainment to be wicked for the fool and so is wisdom to a man of understanding so it's it's a sport too I guess in a positive way entertaining it's good when it's wisdom to a man of understanding you know to do what's right is is something enjoyed having wisdom is something enjoyed by a man of understanding what the wicked fears will come upon him but the desire of the righteous will be granted and you know when you're been made righteous by Jesus and you live righteously for Jesus you're more likely to have the blessing of God come upon you when the whirlwind passes the wicked is no more but the righteous has an everlasting foundation and I see a lot of New Testament and that right even in death even you know if the tornado come and took us out we have an everlasting foundation in Jesus like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes so is the lazy one to those who send them that's really interesting I was pondering that one this morning a bit it's like if you were to send someone on a task who you don't trust that well and they're lazy it's like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes you know lazy employees are a burden praise God I don't have any the fear of the Lord prolongs life but the years of the wicked will be shortened so the fear of the Lord you know is the beginning of wisdom that talks about in Proverbs and in the Bible and the fear of the Lord prolongs life and hallelujah for that the hope of the by the way that's going to be life everlasting to the hope of the righteous is gladness but the expectation of the wicked perishes and hallelujah you know it's good and right to be found in Jesus and that brings much more gladness to our lives doesn't it the way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright he is our stronghold amen but ruined to the workers of iniquity yeah that's how they they look at it because they have rejected him and don't want to turn to him the righteous will never be shaken but the wicked will not dwell in the land and that's interesting is is he referring to future eschatol eschatological things there when he says that that you know they won't inherit the heavenly places and ages to come perhaps the mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom but the perverted tongue will be cut off man may our mouths flow wisdom oh God give us wisdom in our mouths help us Lord out of our relationship with you out of our knowledge in you may our mouth flow with righteous things and may we Lord be silent when our tongue is tempted to anything ungodly the lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable but the mouth of the wicked what is perverted you know and out of the overflow of the how heart the mouth speaks and so eventually you know what we meditate on what we think about comes out of our mouths I'm sure there's some conviction in that you know and hopefully there's some good in that too and may we continually think upon him and the joy that we have in him and the gift that we have in Jesus Christ who's forgiven us and remind ourselves the Holy Spirit that sent us and may our mouths overflow with those kinds of words may we be the righteous ones may we be living for God and avoiding what is evil because there is blessing in living for Jesus Christ God bless you all