Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro

Leading with Blood-stained Hands - Proverbs 28:17

10/25/2012

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A man who is laden with the guilt of human blood will be a fugitive until death; let no one support him. Proverbs 28:17

This proverb is stated in the context of God's wisdom about leaders and kings. Therefore most likely it refers to those leaders who have gained and maintained their power through the shedding of much human blood. The key to seeing this is the admonition that such a man is not to be "supported." The idea behind this admonition is that one would throw their support behind such a man as their leader, which in their day would mean the king.

Ahab was a man who had shed much human blood. His power was maintained through intimidation and violent suppression of anyone who opposed him. He even allowed his wife, Jezebel, to act on his behalf to kill a man simply because he wanted his vegetable garden. When this happened, God sent Elijah to him because God had had enough of Ahab's wickedness and bloodshed. The Lord had Elijah tell both Ahab and Jezebel that they were going to come to violent deaths themselves. This is why we do not want to support violent men. The frightening aspect of God's judgment upon this wicked couple is that not only did they die - but their entire group of advisors were killed as well.

Another king who shed much innocent human blood was king Manasseh. His 40 year reign was marked by more bloodshed than anyone before him. Toward the end of his reign God sent a conquering nation against him and had him watch as his army was destroyed and he was taken into captivity. It was in a dungeon that he realized that Jehovah was God. He turned to God in repentance and brokenness - and God in his marvelous mercy forgave and redeemed this wicked king. God's favor came to him as he was returned to Judah as king. It was after this time that he removed all the wicked false gods from the land and returned to seek The Lord with all his heart.

When I review this I wonder, how could God support Manasseh after all the blood he spilled? The answer to such a question is found hundreds of years later in what Jesus Christ did by going to the cross. The fact of the matter is that Manasseh did not get away with anything. His sins (and ours as well) fell upon Jesus at the cross. They were paid in full in His death and resurrection. The only reason God supported Manasseh after he repented was because the penalty for his sin fell on God's Son instead. Thus what we have in Manasseh is an example of God's mercy and grace in the extreme.

There was another man laden with innocent blood who stands as the New Testament extreme of God's grace in Jesus Christ. His name is Saul - who later was renamed Paul. The apostle whom God used to write the majority of the New Testament - was another who deserved no support because he was laden with the guilt of human blood. Yet God showed him mercy.

Why would God show such grace to two of the most notorious men in the Bible laden with human blood. Paul answers that question in 1 Timothy 1:16 when he said, "Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life." God gave grace to these two men - one in the Old Testament and another in the New - as an example of his pefect patience and His incredible mercy and grace. If God can show grace to these men - we should take great comfort knowing that He can save us too!

So what do we learn from today's proverb? We learn that a man laden with the blood of men should not be our leader. We should beware when a man wants to rise to power on the blood of others. But we should also remember two, laden with human blood, who teach us of the depths of God's mercy and grace. We should remember that such amazing love is available to all who respond to the gospel of God's grace in Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. There is hope for all - even those laden with the blood of the human race. Hallelujah!
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Why the Godless Hate the Godly . . . Proverbs 29:10

12/29/2010

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Men of bloodshed hate the blameless, But the upright are concerned for his life. Proverbs 29:10

In a sinful and fallen world there is something that provokes the wicked when they see a man of true integrity.  Today's proverb tells us about "men of bloodshed," and how they hate men of integrity. 

Men of bloodshed are those who have shed the blood of humans - they are either very violent men - or most often men who have murdered.  When we think of murderers though, we need to see them in two ways.  There are those who have crossed the line of literally taking someone's life by murdering them.  But there is a second type of which the Scriptures speak that encompasses far more people than one would think.  In Matthew 5 Jesus said these words, "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER ' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.  (Matthew 5:21-22)

This statement of Jesus shows us that pretty much everyone in the world is guilty of murder.  If we've been angry with a brother or sister - called someone a derogatory name - we are guilty of murder before God.  We are  guilty enough to go into the fiery hell itself.  This is where murder begins, in the mind.  It is what God told Cain before he murdered Abel.  God said to him, "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?  And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."  (Genesis 4:7)  Cain's murder of his brother Abel began as a thought - an angry, evil thought - which soon hatched into a heinous, murderous action.  Sin always begins in the mind - and if we do not master it there - it will yield its wicked fruit in our actions. 

Murderous men hate men of character and godliness.  The word hate here is the Hebrew word "sane" which means to hate, to consider another an enemy - to dislike, be hostile to, or to loathe another.  It is the direct antonym of the Hebrew word "anab" which means to love.  John wrote of this very incident between Cain and Abel.  He said, "For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous." (1 John 3:11-12)

This passage in 1 John tells us exactly what our proverb today is trying to tell us.  The murderer hates the godly man.  It should be noted that the word "blameless" does not mean without sin.  It speaks of a person of integrity who desires to live a godly, moral life according to God's Word and God's precepts.  This world does not love such a man - and the more ungodly they are - the more they hate him.  We see this growing every day in our society.  Just look at how Christians are portrayed in our world today - especially in the media.  The hatred of the media elite and the ungodly in positions of power there drips off our television and movie screens.  It is difficult, unless you are watching a movie produced by a Christian, to find positive Christian characters.  This is because when a man's deeds are evil - he hates the people who pursue righteousness. 

Just an aside . . . we see this proverb lived out daily in the moral and cultural battle that is raging in our own nation today.  This is especially true when we see the actions and words of the radical homosexual movement.  The more the homosexual movement gains ascendency in our laws and in the movie and television industry - the more you will see this hatred grow.  The radical homosexual movement absolutely despises biblical Christianity because the Bible is clear that homosexuality is sin.  That will pit them against us - if we choose to remain true to the Word of God and preach the true gospel.  But, our place is not to hate the homosexual - or for that matter anyone who hates us because we hold to biblical truth and morality.  Our place is to love them even if they hate us and do violence to us in their cause to legitimatize what God calls sin.  Remember what this world system did to our Lord - the ultimate blameless man of absolute integrity.  He Himself told us if they hated Him, they would hate us as well.  But we are NEVER to turn to violence to defend ourselves from such attacks.  We must remain true to the gospel and win them by the love of God - and by the grace of His eternal gospel.

The remainder of our proverb today states that the upright are concerned for the lives of the moral and those who walk in integrity.  The literal translation of this would say, "But the upright seek his soul."  We stand with the godly man of integrity - because we see that life is more than just the 70 or so years we spend on this planet.  There is an eternal soul in each man - and that is what we should be most concerned with in life.  There will come a day when the wicked will be loosed in a way that we have not seen before in our nation.  Regardless of our most recent elections, there is not a moral, godly ascendency going on in our nation.  If there was, such moral issues such as abortion, homosexual and heterosexual immorality, decency, and the moral debauchery of our nation would be put on the front burner as the real problems we face as a nation.  As it is - we continue to worship the dollar - and when it finally crashes to the ground, which it will, we will face a country that will rip itself apart because we lack basic morality.  In that day it will be difficult to stand with the "blameless man" in our nation.  In some ways it already is.  Franklin Graham has taken several biblical stands for righteousness and he is more and more being ripped apart in the public square.  We should stand with him and with other men who stand for biblical righteousness.  Even if it becomes increasingly difficult to do so - we need to be concerned with the souls and lives of such men.  For according to this proverb . . . that is wisdom.
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Godly Counsel About the Wrong Kind of Friends - Proverbs 1:15-16

12/01/2010

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My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path, For their feet run to evil And they hasten to shed blood. Proverbs 1:15-16

This is the advice given to the son who is being enticed to do evil by others.  It is the same advice given in 1 Corinthians 15 where we read that bad company corrupts good morals. The godly father wants to warn his son that he should not be naive about the condition of the human heart.  Young men need to know that they cannot trust everyone.  They will meet people they should not follow or emulate.  If they do, they will ultimately be led astray from God's ways.

Here the father says to the son that he should not walk in the way with these people who are pursuing evil.  I want you to notice the exact words the father uses in counselling his son.  He says, "Do not WALK in the way with them."  The word "way" here is the Hebrew word "derek" that we run into so much in Proverbs.  It means a way, a manner of living - and should be understood as walking as a lifestyle.  The father warns the son that to walk in the lifestyle that these young men walk in is very dangerous.  He goes further to say, "Keep your feet from their path."  Again a warning is issued that the "way" in which these people walk is not one that we should follow.  Too often we make decisions on who our friends are on the whim of our feelings when we are around them.  But wisdom tells us to look at where are friends are GOING.  Where is their lifestyle going to lead them?  That is the important question we should ask.

Let me take a moment, though, and say what the father did NOT say.  He did not say to shun them and never speak to them.  Too often this is how we instruct our children - and in so doing make them almost fear being around people who are lost.  We should stress to our children that they are not to have their best friends among those who are ungodly - but they should befriend them for the purpose of ministry to them.  If they do not, how will they hear the gospel?  The wisest thing for a father to do is to have his family come alongside him and befriend other families.  This way the entire family can reach out to another family and seek to share the gospel with them - father with the father, mother with the mother - and the children with the children. 

The father does go on to say in verse 16 - that the reason his son should not walk in their ways or paths is that their feet run to evil and the hasten to shed blood.  These folks seem to be in a hurry to do what is wrong.  The father says they "run" to evil.  There are no road blocks in their conscience - neither does it seem to be hindering them from going toward the wrong.  God's Law is meant to be a hinderance from going the wrong direction.  It is a goad and a road block to tell us that their is a bad situation - a sin that is to be avoided.  But these people are oblivious to this - and run to do evil.  The shedding of blood is also meant to be a very bad sign.  I think there is a natural aversion that God has given us to blood.  When we see it - we think that something bad has happened and that we need to not do that again.  But these people have what I would call blood-lust.  They like it when they see blood and are not averse to shedding it if it will get them what they want.  Such people should be avoided at all costs - because they are seriously bad news. 

Once again we see that a wise man is one that teaches his children about such things.  He takes the time to explain to his children that the kind of people they are befriending (not for ministry - but for their closest friendships) will ultimately direct them in a way - a lifestyle will result.  What I find sad so often as a pastor is the number of times I know that someone is being charged with being an "accessory" to a crime.  This means that they did not commit the crime itself - they were just the friend who was with the fool who did.  They didn't say anything to stop them, and now they are being prosecuted for their stupidity for having a friend who did.  That is what the wise father is trying to teach his more gullible son.  We would be wise if we taught our children the same things - and helped them avoid the kind of friendships that would lead them in a lifestyle that pursues evil.
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