Fools mock at sin, But among the upright there is good will. Proverbs 14:9

How a person views and deals with sin determines whether they are wise or they are foolish.  Here we have Solomon teaching us the important lesson that how a man views the whole concept and reality of sin is vitally important.  If we miss this - and decide how a person sees sin is not really important to us - we will find ourselves in the company of those who are fools.  We will find ourselves allowing those who think sin does not even exist - be those who counsel us as to how we should have a sound mind. 

 The fact that we are bypassing this issue - especially when it comes to our worldview - is wreaking havoc on the church.  Let me explain for a moment, because this issue is absolutely vital to us today.  How a man views sin will ultimately either bless or corrupt everything he does.  Most philosophies actually reject the idea of sin.  They see our problem as a lack of education - or a lack of opportunity for people.  Some even see the problem as believing that there is truth upon which we define and state whether actions and choices are sinful or not.  They reject the very idea of sin - and consider guilt as a root problem for all people.  The way they deal with this is to make truth an issue of individuality.  Your truth is your truth - and you are free to live however you want based on what you consider to be true.  Thus, if your truth states that there is no sin - that guilt is a bad thing - then that is true for you.  This denial of sin goes further because it asserts that no one has the right to call your truth falsehood.  You can imagine the problems this makes for a society in which everyone is a free agent, determining what is right or wrong for themselves.  Actually it is not much different from the book of Judges where there was no God and every man did what was right in his own eyes.  In this kind of society rules are constantly shifting like blowing sand.  The end of this is a state in which a growing ungodliness and lawlessness begins to take root.  By the way - this eventually leads to a culture of corruption and violence that is out of control.  The people begin calling for someone to rise up and restore order - which in turn gives rise to a dictator who then re-establishes "order" according to "his rules."  If you would like to know when this has happened in history, take a look at the Weimar Republic - which gave rise to Hitler's Germany.  It has also happened in numerous examples of dictatorships of every stripe. 

Mankind is best ruled by God's law established in their hearts by the work of His grace.  But until men come to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ - it is so necessary for a Law to be established because of the wickedness of man's fallen heart.  Here we see why it is so important to define sin - and define it according to God's Word.  If God has revealed Himself in the Bible, then we know how to define righteousness - truth - and what is and what is not sin.  This becomes the bedrock of laws that are established in a nation.  But the best thing - which our founders realized - is that men's hearts be ruled according to God's law.  Our founders knew this - and thus were pinning their hopes on a heart initially ruled by God's 10 commandments.  This set of God's laws would restrain so much sin and ungodly behavior - that then a society could be ruled by fewer laws.  But where there is no law - there is no sin.  Since our nation has rejected the 10 commandments as an illegal document by which to rule our nation, then we are left to the shifting sands of public opinion and man's evil heart to govern us.  Is it any wonder that our laws continue to degrade - allowing just about any conduct to be considered legal - but not just legal - acceptable.  In the end the Bible tells us where this will go - as men call good evil and evil good.  Watch closely, dear saints, as more and more Biblical positions will be considered illegal by those who mock at sin.  But there is even a greater evil that is foisted upon us by mocking at sin.

When sin is mocked - when the whole idea of guilt is abandoned - then there is no real reason for a Savior.  The second half of this proverb states that among the upright there is "good will."  The word used here for "good will" means "the favor of God."  When the concept of sin is rejected by the philosophies of this present world - then there is no need for any kind of redemption from it.  If we are not guilty of anything before God, then it seems pretty arrogant of God to call for the death of His only Son to pay for . . . "nothing."  Follow where your philosophy ultimately leads you.  If you mock at and deny guilt and sin - and this is where it leads.  That is why we have modern day preachers in the church calling the death of Christ, "divine child abuse." 

Without sin and guilt - there is actually no wrong behavior.  But a corollary to this doctrine is that without wrong behavior - neither is there any real "upright" behavior either.  All things become neutral - and the matter of individual hearts.  You have no business in that society stating your view on anything.  To do so is to risk the danger of being called "judgmental."  The problem is that there IS WRONG BEHAVIOR!  We all know it in our conscience.  The only way to rid ourselves of this is to sear our conscience as with a hot iron. 

The fact is that there is sin - whether men mock it or not.  There is a guilt that comes with breaking God's Law.  That guilt and that offense is real - and it poses a serious problem.  According to God's Word, sin and guilt require accountability and punishment.  There is an earthly punishment meted out by men in the governmental sphere (Romans 13) - but the real problem is the divine retribution for rebellion and sin.  The good will - i.e. grace - that the upright know is one given not by works, but by grace through faith.  God has provided the way through Jesus Christ - His death, burial, and resurrection.  That is given as a gift to those who respond when God grants knowledge and conviction of sin, repentance, and faith to the sinner through the gospel.  When we look at the amazing thing God has done for us - and His infinite mercy in granting it to us - we have to come to the same conclusion that our proverb states to us today.  Only a fool would disdain this grace . . . only a fool would disregard the wonderful work of God's conviction by the Spirit . . . and mock sin.  By doing so, he also mocks the grace that is freely given to those made upright by it.  He mocks the gospel.

A soothing tongue is a tree of life, But perversion in it crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:4

How we speak to others can either offer them a healing balm or a crushing blow.  As we've read in Proverbs, the tongue has amazing power as it speaks words.  That is also the case here - where we once again have a choice to make - this time with the words that we speak. 

The first thing we read of here is that there is such a thing as a healing, soothing tongue.  The word here means a tongue that offering healing, a remedy.  It refers to a restorative cure, a renewal from an illness or sickness.  More is learned when we see a comparison drawn up about this healing tongue.  It is compared to a tree of life.  There is an image that we see a lot in Scripture.  The tree of life was in the garden of eden - it is also in heaven at the end of the age.  What is most interesting is that the tree of life refers to Jesus Christ.  In the truest way - He is the tree of life.  So we have another interesting parallel.  Those who use their tongue for healing - for the restorative cure are as a tree of life. 

Our tongues are to be used to spread the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  When we do this - we are being a tree of life.  THE tree of life is Jesus Christ - and when we share the life-giving, soul-healing message of the gospel - we too are being a tree of life.  Remember that Jesus said that He was the light of the world - and He also called us to be the light of the world as we share the truth with others.  Here we have the parallel - He is the tree of life and we can be a tree of life as well, sharing the gospel which is the only source to heal and remedy man's sin.

There is another way that our tongues can be used though.  We are told that when we have perversion in our tongues a different we see different results when we speak.  Perversion refers to a distorted way of speaking - a deceitfulness which is said to come from a perversity, not just in how we speak, but in our very life and character.  This fits the biblical description of the ungodly man - whose mouth speaks out of the abundance of what fills his heart.  Perverse lifestyle equals a perverse mouth.  The problem here is that when this man speaks - it crushes the spirit.  The word for crush here is "seber" and it means to cause destruction and ruin.  It means a fracture or a breach.  When a man speaks in this perverse way - it is like a fracture in a leg or a breach in a dam.  It causes great ruin in people's lives.  Whereas the godly man's tongue brings a healing and a remedy - the perverse man's tongue only causes more damage in our already damaged world.  Think of the number of times someone spoke perversely to you - and the destruction that such talk brings.  Some might think it prudish to avoid such talk - but if you've watched the coarsening of our culture in the last 30 years - you know that such perverse speech only weakens our society.  Even worse is the perversity of those who deceive with their perverted speech.  Lies only bring destruction in the end - and the way that it crushes a spirit when the truth is learned is devastating.  Thus, the perverse man crushes people's spirits.

We've seen this several times in the book of Proverbs.  The mouth and the tongue are very powerful things.  The words we speak really do matter.  As was said at the beginning of this meditation - those words truly can make or break a person's spirit.  Be wise and use your tongue as a tree of life.  Speak healing words to others and guard your tongue so that it is not loosed in talk that will crush the spirit of those who listen.

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death. Proverbs 11:4

If you asked most people if they would rather have riches or righteousness - most likely most would answer that they would like riches.  That is due to two facts.  First it is due to the fact that mankind is lost and ignorant of their true position before God.  Second, it is due to the fact that the rich man in the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man - has not yet had his message broadcast to the world as he would have wanted.

Proverbs tells us that riches do not profit us in the day of wrath.  If riches are all that we have - we are seriously in trouble.  Note that we read here of the day of wrath.  This refers to the day that God releases His wrath on those who have rejected His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  That will be a sobering day indeed for the rich.  They have stored up their wealth when they should have used it for the glory of God and the advance of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  On that day, their riches will mean nothing.  Honored on earth among men - riches are despised in heaven - unless they have been used for the glory of God. 

Two men would love to testify to this fact.  The first is the rich man who did nothing to alleviate the pain and suffering of a poor beggar named Lazarus.  He lay at the rich man's gate, his only ministers dogs that licked his sores.  HE longed to be fed with the scraps that fell from the rich man's table.  He received nothing from him.  On the day of God's wrath - the rich man was cast into hell and Lazarus was taken into Abraham's bossom - to await the day he would be taken to heaven.  The rich man - suffering miserably - asked that someone be sent to tell his brothers of this place.  He knew that riches would not deliver in that day - only righteousness would do.  The second man who would love to testify  would be the rich farmer who thought he had it made because he had a bumper crop.  Faced with filled barns already, he wondered what to do with his wealth.  He decided to build bigger barns, fill them and then say to himself that he was set for life.  He trusted riches, not righteousness.  He lost.  The Lord called this man a fool and told him that he would die that night - and what would he do for his own soul.

Riches will not profit us in that day when we face the judgment of God.  Only righteousness will do.  Actually, only a certain kind of righteousness will do too.  That is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  That alone will stand in that awful day.  Nothing else will matter except that we've repented and turned in faith to Jesus Christ.  What He did on the cross will pay for our sins - what He did will allow us to be credited with a perfect righteousness that will cause us to be accepted before God.  Only what He did - only His righteousness will matter.  It will save us from death. 

In light of this truth - what are YOU trusting in on the day of God's wrath?  You may think it is not coming - that God is too nice to judge anyone.  The fact of Scripture is to the contrary.  God will judge - He will call us to an accounting - and He will accept only one thing on that day to make us acceptable in His sight.  Oh that we would be wise and run to the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved.  Oh that we would open our eyes and be aware of the horror of that day for those who trust anything other than the blood of Jesus shed on the cross.  It alone can deliver from death.  Any other thing will fail eternally.  Now let me ask the question . . . On the day of God's wrath what do you want to have - riches or righteousness?