Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro
 
Great wealth is in the house of the righteous, But trouble is in the income of the wicked. Proverbs 15:6

There are those who take verses like this and use them to promise riches and possessions to those who walk with God.  They are also used to speak judgment and condemnation on those who are poor and needy.  If that were the case, then Jesus should have been the richest man who ever walked on the earth.  Yet Jesus Himself said that He had no place to lay His head - and He was ultimately betrayed by a disciple who saw that Jesus' kingdom was not going to be of this world - or at least consisting of this world's goods.  There is a prosperity that comes from Godly circumspect religion though.  It comes from being wise with money - and from knowing the blessing of God in financial endeavors.  There is great wealth in the house of many of those who use right principles in dealing with money.  Proverbs itself is filled with excellent financial counsel, which, if followed, would ensure blessing on those who heed it. 

The true wealth, though, of the righteous is in things that cannot be stored in a bank or lock box.  These things consist of forgiveness, joy, peace, and love.  They come when we choose to walk consistently in God's ways and adhere to the paths into which His Spirit guides us.  To the one who does NOT have them - they are utterly invaluable.  Many a rich, ungodly man would give his entire fortune for these things - but usually only later in life.  This wealth is even more wonderful than earthly riches because moth and rust cannot corrupt nor thieves break in and steal them.  They will last forever - and they are the true currency of heaven.  To spend a lifetime building up a treasure of this kind is to be rich indeed.  To live without them is to know nothing but poverty of spirit here and now - and damnation throughout eternity. 

The income of the wicked is often desired by those in this world.  Occasionally, as we see in Psalm 73, even the godly at times wish for a life without trouble and hardship.  They wish for a life bathed in butter and human delicacies.  This longing stops though, when we see that their income is filled with trouble.  Their riches come with problems.  First there is the trouble of keeping what you've already got when the world desires it too.  Men stay up late and rise early to protect their income - they lose sleep trying to keep what they have.  There is also trouble in getting such income.  Too often riches are gained to the damage of those who get them.  They resort to ungodly tactics and ungodly ways to garner more and more wealth for themselves.  In the end - the trouble they face is trouble from two sources.  First there is those whom they have cheated.  Leaders like Sadaam Hussein lived a life of opulent luxury most of their days - but in the end - those whom he cheated and stole from hated him fiercely.  He wound up hiding in a hole - and hanging from the end of a rope - as crowds ultimately cheered his execution.  Biblically, Haman had it all - but in the end lost it all when his greed and hatred caused him great trouble.  The last we see of the great and wealthy Haman is him escorted from the king's presence with a black bag over his head.  In the end . . . his wealth was used to construct a gallows from which he himself hung.  There is certainly trouble when those whom we have hurt and bilked come for their revenge.  But there is a great trouble awaiting the wicked rich.

Scripture speaks of a wealthy farmer who thought life consisted of his possessions.  Trying to keep a bumper crop as his crowning achievement led to God's final sentence upon him.  God considered him a fool.  He thought his life consisted only of his wealth and goods.  Yet the true riches were knowing God and being prepared to face Him on the day of judgment.  "You fool!" was the way God addressed this wicked, rich man on the eve of his death.  "Today your soul is required of you - and what is going to become of all your wealth."  The only term accurate to his situation was the term, "fool." 

Live for true riches and you will be wise.  Live for the wealth that comes from knowing, loving, and obeying God.  Nothing else matters when you leave this world and enter into eternity.  The wealth of the righteous will be stored up for them in heaven all their days.  It will never pass away.  But the troublesome income of the wicked . . . it will burn them like fire all their days.  It will be part of the everlasting trouble that will afflict their souls for all eternity. 
 
 
Blessings are on the head of the righteous, But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Proverbs 10:6

Proverbs often compares the righteous and the wicked.  Here is no exception.  This passage speaks of what covers the righteous man and what covers the wicked as well.  Whereas we read that blessings are on the righteous man's head - the wicked have something far different covering them. 

The head of the righteous receives blessings.  Why the head?  The Hebrew culture viewed the head as the most important part of a person.  Cut off the head and the body is dead.  The head is also considered the leader.  It represents what truly is leading us in our lives.  So, when we read here that the "head of the righteous" has blessings poured out upon it, we see that when what leads us - what drives us in life is geared toward righteousness (just think simply - doing what is right in God's sight - doing what pleases Him).  There is wonderful blessing when we choose God's way.  We need to know this.  When our "chooser" (yes I know that this is not a word - but it works here) functions according to God's way and God's direction - blessings ensue!  Make your choices according to his Word and according to His ways.  You will never regret it - especially in light of the fact that these choices go beyond the grave - while others only last in this life (unless you consider punishment and hell for those who reject Christ altogether).  But there is actually even more to this.  There is blessings not just in eternity - there are blessings here and now.  The way of God may be difficult at times - but it is also filled with joy and peace.  The Scriptures warn us that it is the way of the transgressor that is hard.  Remember this when you get ready to set a direction with your head - with your "chooser." 

The second part of this proverb is a little more difficult to understand because it involves a hebraism - a saying that makes perfect sense to a Jewish person - but does not exactly transfer with words alone.  It is like us saying, "a stitch in time saves nine."  That won't make sense to most people unless they know something about sewing.  This hebraism says, "the mouth of the wicked conceals violence."  The meaning here has the idea of covering something or someone.  The words of the wicked - what comes out of his mouth - is both covered in violence - and due to what he says makes it inevitable that he himself will be covered in violence as well.  The simplest way to grasp what this means is when someone speaks violently to another with their words.  Not only are they speaking violence - but whan the other person responds, they are pretty much going to guarantee violence as a return for their violent words.

The wicked, due to their ungodly choices and ways, are using violent words - and in the process are guaranteeing a culture of violence that will surround them.  Take a look at our society for a moment or two.  I'll use two examples to explain this.  First is the abortion industry.  They use extreme violence to end the life of an innocent child.  They choose to execute the baby - who has done nothing wrong.  Those in the industry say that they are preventing child abuse by those who don't want an unexpected child (Interesting to me that they don't get that sex produces pregnancy - which by the way - makes a child - guess what they were expecting was sex without consequences and without the biological process of reproduction being a result - hmmm).  The fact though is that since we've begun throwing away children in this way - child abuse has risen exponentially.  Kind of looks like the violence with which they cover themselves with their words and actions - is now covering them too - just like God said.  The second example is the way that violence is glorified by our culture.  We see it everywhere.  The most obvious example is in television, movies, and the video game culture.  We are encouraged to deal with our problems with violence.  We've actually gotten to the point where we see violence and violent acts as a form of entertainment.  There seems to be no limit to how graphic and how grotesque we will get when it comes to these things.  The result of our violence?  We have watched an explosion of violence consume our culture and our relationships in society - just like God said.

Wisdom tells us very plainly here that what abounds in our words and with our choices is what is coming back upon us.  It is almost like God is saying here in the Old Testament what He says in the New Testament.  What a man sows, that he will also reap.  Sow righteousness - sow doing what is right in God's eyes - you receive blessings here - and even greater blessings in eternity.  Sow violence now - you will reap an ever increasing harvest of violence as well.  May God give us true wisdom that does not embrace the fullness of our culture - but the harvest of righteousness and blessing that comes from choosing His way at every turn.
 
 
The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor and life. Proverbs 22:4

What brings a person riches and honor?  That is widely debated in our world today.  There are those who act with pride and isolence - who step on whoever they need to step on to get to the top.  They use questionable tactics and ungodly ways to gather their riches and they demand honor from their subordinates.  The problem is that once they leave this life - they leave their so-called honor and riches behind - and enter into eternal poverty.  The other problem is that while in this life honor is not afforded to them except by threats - and their riches are in danger of someone just like them - who would gladly take them away and toss them on the trash heap of those who were formerly rich and famous.

God gives us wisdom as to the place of lasting riches, honor - and most of all life.  These three must come in their trio-form for a person to truly be rich and truly be honored.  For what honor is there in hell?  What riches await those burning in flame and eaten by worms?  Without life in eternity our earthly honor will mock us as the ages pile upon the ages.  Without life our riches will slip through our hands like one trying to grasp and hold oil. 

The way to these things is through humility.  We read in the Word that God resists the proud.  That the Lord hates the proud look and the arrogant heart.  Temporary riches and deceptive honor may come without humility - but the real thing demands it.  The wise man realizes that at the top of all things is God - and the true "way to the top" comes as we humble ourselves before Him.  History is littered with those who thought they could become the big cheese - yet in the end - only smelled like it.  When we humble ourselves before God - we place ourselves in the path of blessing.  The truly wise man embraces humility and his own weaknesses.  He even glories in them because he knows that as he sees himself weak - then God becomes strong in his life - his choices - and his actions.

God also speaks through this proverb to tell us that the other twin of riches, honor, and life is the fear of the Lord.  This is a respect and intrinsic honor shown to God, His Word, and His judgment on all matters.  We are told at the very beginning of Proverbs that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  Without a proper fear of God - we will degenerate into a pride and self-assuredness that will lead us astray from wisdom.  This fear of God often begins with a terror initially as we grasp Who God is - and where we stand before Him.  Imagine the moment Paul grasped the true fear of the Lord.  He had settled into a self-assured sense of his own right-ness in his religious views and stands.  This had led him to the point of persecuting Christians to the death - and imprisoning others.  On his way to Damascus to continue his unholy war on the church - Jesus Christ manifest His ultimate power and knocked Paul off his horse and blinded his eyes with light.  Imagine the fear that must have gripped Paul when he heard that the answer to "Who are you Lord?" was, "I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting."  The fear of God had to almost paralyze this man who lay on the road.  But that moment of terror was also the beginning of wisdom for Paul.  It led him away from a religion of effort and self-righteousness - to the true wisdom of God's grace in the gospel. 

There are many voices telling us how to be rich, honored, and truly alive in this world.  Unless they are telling us that the way to these things is through the path of humility and the fear of God . . . they are wrong.  God will resist those who take other messages than this one.  But for those who embrace humility and the fear of the Lord - there is a wealth, an honor, and life that can never be taken from them.  Truly theirs is the wise way of achieving them - and holding to them forever.
 
 
The LORD has made everything for His own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil. Proverbs 16:4

Well, here is a proverb that many would rather leave alone.  But the good thing about disciplining yourself to walk through the Scriptures is that you have to deal with verses like this one.  So . . . let's take a few moments to consider this little bit of wisdom.

The first thing we run into is the fact that God made all things.  The simplest sense of the Hebrew word "made" is that God is the maker of all things.  This comes as a shock to those who hold to evolutionary theory.  Yet even their theory does not explain where all things came from - because their theory never explains why matter itself existed.  Their theory, whether they realize it or not, has far more to do with their own pride and unwillingness to submit to a god - any god, than it has to do with valid science.  The proverb gives the reason why this is so.

God has made everything for His purpose!  The evolutionist and the atheist chaffe at this statement.  They reject God so it is only consistent with their beliefs that they also reject His purposes.  Yet, God HAS made everything for His purpose.  This world - even as it rebels against God - is fulfilling His ultimate purpose.  Oh how angry this makes them.  Yet we see at the close of this proverb the most brazen statement yet.  Even the wicked are fulfilling God's ultimate purposes when the day of evil comes.  This presents to some a very real problem with God.

God makes the wicked for the day of evil?  That is what this passage says.  So the question arises, "Does God make wicked people - is He responsible for wickedness?"  The answer to this question is a resounding NO.  God is incapable of doing wickedness or evil.  He will not - in fact, He cannot sin.  Thus this speaks of those who have descended from Adam - who were made after his image and likeness.  It refers to God working in spite of the fall of man to accomplish His eternal counsel and plans.  He does so in spite of man's wickedness.  He is not responsible for it - but He will indeed judge it.  Thus even the wicked God works into His purposes.  

But what is His purpose for them?  That is a sobering reality as we see it revealed in Scripture.  God's ultimate purposes for those who sin - and then who reject His grace in Jesus Christ - is that they are reserved for the day of evil.  This "day of evil" could be just an ordinary day when the just desserts of wickedness are served.  But when we consider this view we run into problems because even with the righteous there are days when "bad" things happen to them.  This day of evil I believe refers ultimately to the day when God's judgment falls upon them.  They rejected God all their lives.  They rejected Him with their sinful choices and desires.  When God offers forgiveness and grace they reject Him again.  They continue rejecting Christ until the day of their death - thus culminating a lifelong wickedness.  What remains for them is the day of evil.  The day when God brings the ultimate punishment and "bad day" that will last forever. 

This my dear friend is wisdom.  Wisdom is acknowledging God as Creator of all that there is.  Wisdom is then realizing that everything He made - though originally made good - is truly messed up due to sin.  Wisdom is seeing that sin is not just some ethereal concept - it is a choice.  Wisdom is seeing that sin is personal - you've committed it every day of your life by disobeying God's laws and commandments.  Wisdom is then realizing God's ultimate purpose by embracing Jesus Christ as His way of paying for sin and providing salvation.  Wisdom is receiving the conviction of the Holy Spirit and rejoicing when you are granted repentance and faith!  Wisdom is then turning from your sins and trusting Jesus Christ to pay for them with His work on the cross and resurrection!  Wisdom is then living for God's purposes all the remaining days of your life - embracing His glory as your ultimate pursuit! 

Interesting isn't it - how a proverb that seems like a can of worms can wind up being a gracious gift from God?  If we will only learn the wisdom of seeing God as the Ultimate - then living for His ultimate purpose and plan. That will be the day when we truly embrace what is wise!
 
 
Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. 5 When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens. Proverbs 23:4-5

God is not against people becoming wealthy.  There are people in the history of the Bible who became wealthy because of God's specific blessing upon them.  So God is not "anti-wealth" as some people would suppose.  But, He is concerned with how people view money and wealth - and to be more specific how they pursue it.  That is where the real danger lies.

Don't weary yourself to gain wealth.  There is the first principle God puts before us.  The word weary means to become weary with work.  It indicates that the person is putting forth great effort and exhausting exertion to try to accomplish something.  It should probably be noted here that God is for hard work.  He wants us to work hard at the things we do.  He wants us to offer excellence and effort to our jobs and in the things we do for Him and for others.  The Lord is not encouraging laziness here.  He is saying that those who put forth exhausting labor with the ultimate goal being to become wealthy are focusing on the wrong goal.  I remember working at UPS in Seminary and watching one of my supervisors live this way.  His goal in life was to work so hard when he is young, that he could retire when he was 45 as a millionaire.  This poor guy was always at work.  He had a wife and a couple of kids - but from the way he spoke of them to us - they were just obstacles to him getting where he wanted to go.  I've watched men like this who labor so hard to become rich.  They reach their goal - but find out that the loss of their marriage and the fact that their kids have no respect for them - costs far more than the millions they have to spend in their old age. 

Proverbs tells us next that we are to cease from our consideraton of becoming wealthy.  An interesting word is used for "consideration" here.  It means to think hard about something.  The result of this thinking should be a proper discernment of it.  But according to what is being said here God is warning us against making wealth the thing we consider and think hard about in life.  There are those who constantly chase the illusive goal of being rich.  They read books about it - they listen to tapes that promise them the way to get there - they listen to radio shows that promise them that if they do what this man says - they'll be rich.  There is even a "chrisitanized" version of this thinking.  The health/wealth/prosperity teaching promises that God Himself is nothing but a divine sugar daddy.  If we treat Him right - and confess the right things - we'll be rich!  Wonder how that works for persecuted Christians behind the bamboo curtain who are in jail for their faith.  If they confess the right words and really have faith, they'll get twice the gruel that their cellmate receives? 

God wants us to have our minds fixed on other things than our own financial bottom line.  If we truly had discernment we'd know that our bank account will matter only in how we used it for God's glory.  Our "consideration" should be of the Lord Himself and what His will is for us in life.  To have a constant consideration of wealth is to waste our minds on things that are not eternal. 

There is another reason we should not be chasing wealth.  That reason is that wealth is often illusive.  In the simplest terms - take the example of the guy buying lottery tickets thinking he is going to win and get rich.  This proves two things - first, this guy is not very good at Math - and second, he is focused on the wrong things.  He thinks that money will solve his problems.  If he only took the time to study previous big winners of the lottery he'd learn that it usually causes more problems than it solves.  Then there is the person who is chasing the illusive goal of inventing something that will make him rich.  Too often the inventions don't pan out and the guy pursuing them for wealth winds up broke - and broken because of his failure to "make it to the big time." 

Wealth takes wings like an eagle -flying off into the heavens.  What a picture for us to remember!  This is true in so many ways.  What was just covered is one of the ways that wealth takes wings - but there is another that is even more important for us to remember.  Ask a rich man how much money he needs to be content.  His answer will be, "Just a little more than I have now."  That is the most deceptive part of wealth.  When we "get there" to our stated goal - we'll find it is not enough to bring peace and satisfaction to us.  So, we figure we'll set our goal a little higher - only to find that when we get there we still don't feel satisfied.  Some folks spend their entire lives chasing the eagle as it soars higher and higher into the air.  They die richer than they ever dreamed - but learning that the dream becomes a nightmare because of the lack of satisfaction in their wealth. 

One last thing needs to be said of a life spent chasing after wealth and riches.  The ultimate bummer for the rich man is when he dies.  He leaves everything behind.  There are no "rich people" in heaven or hell.  The basis of success or ultimate failure has to do with being able to stand before God in the judgment.  Jesus tells the story of the rich farmer who has a bumper crop.  He wonders what to do with his untold wealth.  He finally decides that he will tear down his barns and build bigger ones.  Then he will store his abundance and say to his soul that he has much wealth and can rest.  Jesus' words here are frightening.  He says, "You fool!  Tonight your soul is required of you - and how will mere wealth help you?"  We can be as wealthy as 10 Solomons - and still find ourselves eternally impoverished if we don't have forgiveness and salvation in Jesus Christ.  We can chase wealth into the heavens like that eagle - only to find that iin the end the descent into infinite poverty lasts not a human lifetime - it lasts for all eternity.  Here true wisdom - be rich toward God - that wealth will last beyond what can be stolen or rust away.