From the fruit of a man's mouth he enjoys good, But the desire of the treacherous is violence. Proverbs 13:2
How we speak will often determine the level of blessing we enjoy in our lives. Now I do not speak of the way some mention words as if by our speaking we can create blessing and curse. This is the name it claim it crowd - who think merely mentioning we might be sick will insure we are because of our unbelief and our disobedience. This doctrine is just theological wind. What the proverb is teaching us is that when it comes to how we speak - what we give is often what we get. On the good side of things, the man who speaks what is good and uses his mouth to build up and love others - will in turn enjoy that same good as it comes back to him. It is interesting that the proverb states the from the fruit of a man's mouth he enjoys good things. What is the fruit of the man's mouth - that is mentioned here? It is not just the words he speaks - but what they lead to that is the focus of this passage. We speak something or say it. Where does that lead? If we speak godless, critical, unholy words, we will most definitely receive a harvest from these words. That is what the writer of Proverbs is trying to tell us. Be careful what you speak - because there is a harvest of your words that is coming. You can enjoy good from what you speak - and you can experience bad as well. There is a contrary aspect to how we speak. We read here of the desire of the treacherous man next. There are those whose mouths are filled with treachery and violence. They speak things that should not be said. Their mouths are used to injure rather than build up and encourage. Their mouths are unkind and unloving - and the end of their words is violence. How we need to see this and realize that our words and our mouths will pave a way for us. When we use them rightly our words pave the way for good things coming back to us. But when we become treacherous, deceitful, and ungodly in our speaking - it too will come back upon us - but only in the way of violence and problems. Watch how you speak. It will determine what is coming to you in the end. Speak and act as those who know that they will be judged by God for every idle word we speak. That way you know that there is a harvest of your words that is coming - and you will receive your just dues based on the words that you chose to use - whether good or evil.
0 Comments
A good man will obtain favor from the LORD, But He will condemn a man who devises evil. Proverbs 12:2
Good and evil men . . . here we find ourselves with the biblical worldview running headlong into the worldview that sees morality as something that is relative. It is interesting to see that today we don't hear things often referred to as being good or evil. Yet that is exactly what the Scriptures speak of in today's proverb of the day. The good man is the man who is well-pleasing. There is a loaded statement if ever one was made. The question is asked - and rightfully so - pleasing to whom? Well, in this case, the well-pleasing man is the one who lives well pleasing to Jehovah. This is what is told to us in this proverb. This good man - the one who is well-pleasing - receives favor from God. Thus the one he is pleasing is God Himself. Look further into the Hebrew word "tobah" which is the word used for "good" here and you will see this clearly. The word means not just well-pleasing, but also fruitful, morally correct and proper. The idea is that good is in th eyes of God Himself - Who is the One determining the "rules" for good and evil. Ah, again we run into a wall in regard to worldview. Yes, God is the One who determines the rules - Who sets them - Who has given us His moral Law and calls us to obey and walk according to it. The man who seeks to walk according to this moral law is the one God refers to as the good man. The benefit for walking in this way is God's favor - which means pleasure, delight, acceptance. God offers to the good man His favor. Thus the good man knows that God takes pleasure in his ways - He delights in how He is living - and His lifestyle is one that God accepts. How men rebel against things like this. How can we be so arrogant as to say one lifestyle is superior to another? The world hates it when we say that a lifestyle is morally superior to others - and inversely - when a lifestyle is considered immoral. They want all lifestyles to be considered valid in their own way. What they don't understand is that in making that assertion they make it to where the only immoral lifestyle is the one that holds to any morals. In addition to this - they also place all moral judgments on shifting sands of public opinion. In effect they lower all moral choices to the level of no moral choice at all. Everything goes in their worldview - because the most immoral judgment at all is ever voicing a moral judgment. God lays the foundations for moral choices and moral judgments in this world. He does so because He is God - because He is creator - and because He is both true and just. Thus we read the second half of this proverb which says, "but He will condemn a man who devises evil." There it is again - a moral standard. God sets it - and when a man begins devising (thinking, considering, setting up) evil - God brings a moral judgment to the table. God condemns such behavior. How is evil defined? God is the One who defines it in His Word. Since He is just - He will set up what is just and good and all that does not agree with Him and what He says, is evil. Here is the crux of this proverb. The truth is that there is a moral standard in the world. God has set it. If there is no moral standard set by a being outside of this creation - then there is no moral standard. Worse that this - the actual working out of this lie is that there will be a standard - but it will be set up by men - and eventually enforced by unjust men who will have things their way. You wind up with a moral morass. Things WILL spin out of control. It is far better to have God set up what is right and wrong - and do so by a Word that He has given to reveal what that is in the world. God gives us His Law and His commandments. He does so without any respect of persons - and - in the end He alone will be the One before Whom we stand - and through Whom we will know whether we are called someone good or someone evil. The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, But the naive go on, and are punished for it. Proverbs 22:3
What should a person do when they see evil - or know that evil is in something that they are considering doing or seeing? Some say that in order for us to minister and to live in this world, we have to participate in some way in the activities of this world. Yet, when you read this Proverb, it counsels us to be careful what we watch and participate in as we live our lives. We may just do something that can cause great harm. The Proverb speaks of the prudent. He is the one who is shrewd and sensible. It describes someone who sees deeper than just surface level. He sees into things and realizes there is an affect on him when he participates or looks at something. This prudent one sees "the evil" and hides himself. Evil here means soemthing bad or evil. It refers to a wicked heart - and actions that are in no way neutral. First of all a wise man knows that there is evil - and it can be detected and considered from an objective point of view. The one who states that he can decide whether something is evil or good for him - is deceived. God has determined what is good or evil - and He is the One who lets us know these things in His Word. Our job then is to know His Word and through it to have a grid in our hearts as to what is good and what is evil. The pudent and wise one is the one who does this - then when he sees something evil - he reacts to it immediately. How does he respond? The prudent man responds to evil by hiding himself from it. There are two interesting aspects to this. First, he just simply hides himself from the evil itself. He does not participate in it - and keeps himself from it. But there is another aspect of this that is important to recognize. He also hides himself from even seeing and knowing it. In effect, he hides his "mind" from certain things. There are those who say that in order to minister to those in evil, we need to know it in some measure. Yet Proverbs tells us to hide ourselves and our minds from evil. We can confidently say that Jesus did not have to experience evil in order to minister affectively to those caught up in it. The naive though, have a problem. The problem starts with their naviette in which they don't even know the evil. They are ignorant of the Scriptures and thus are not even sure what to avoid. This is something important for us to grasp. Knowing evil through experiencing it is not wise - but knowing what is evil from that which is written in Scripture is very wise. It lets us know what to avoid and in what we should participate. The naive go on when they see evil - and they pay for it. Here is an interesting thing to consider. The Proverb here says that when the naive proceed into evil they are punished for it. The word used here is "anash" and it means to fine or to penalize someone with a fine. It can mean an actual financial fine someone pays out - or it can mean a condemnation that rests on the wicked for their punishment. I don't think it is too far off to say that in some cases both of these are true. There is a fine we pay when we do not avoid evil. Some evil lifestyles are very socially and financially destructive. When we participate in them, we pay the price - literally and physically. There is also a spiritual cost when we ignore the Lord and walk into evil. There is a break in our fellowship - a polluting of our minds - and even at times a bondage that can begin that will punish us for days, weeks, months, and even years to come. The prudent man avoids all this - because he watches and considers all his actions - and weighs what they will cost him - now - and far into the future! The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3
As a pastor, I have the fun task of informing people that God sees and hears everything. This is usually after someone learns that I am a pastor - and immediately apologizes for saying something crass or ungodly. I appreciate their graciousness in apologizing, but I also want to inform them that God hears and knows everything. There are some who do not believe this - but kind of believe that I'm mic-ed by God for surveilance of anyone near me. Soooo . . . when they speak within the range of my mic - God hears them - but when I'm out of range - well, everything is go for ungodly behavior. Proverbs lets us know - the eyes of Jehovah are in every place. God has an attribute called "omnipresence" which means that God is everywhere at all times. That is one reason God sees all things. There is a second attribute of God called "omniscience" which means that God knows all things at all times. Therefore we see that God not only sees all things - He knows what is said - the motives behind what is said - and He even knows what was not said but merely thought. This is information that is unnerving to say the least to those who are walking contrary to God's ways. I think it is one reason why some are so adamantly atheistic in their views of God. They cannot tolerate a God who konws all things they have done - and more importantly, One to whom they are accountable for these things as well. Therfore they just choose to deny Him instead. Of course this is as ridiculous as someone who denys the sun exists - yet still receives the light and warmth of the sun - even though he denies its existance. God does see - in every place - and He watches the evil and the good that is going on everywhere at all times. There is nothing He does NOT see or know. To be perfectly honest - this is unnerving to me! It is unnerving because there are times even I don't live like God sees and knows everything. It is unnerving because God does see all I do - and knows every motive that I have and every thought that passes through my head. If I did not know of the blood of Jesus and the grace of God - I might find myself mentally unstable due to this knowledge - but peace reigns in my heart because I do know such things. What a respect and fear of God comes to us when we grasp the attributes of God. It is a good thing to know this - because the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. It is when we grasp such things that we realize that a life lived for our own desires and lusts is a foolish life indeed. It moves us to wisdom because we grasp that life is to be FOR God - for His purposes and plans. It moves us to wisdom because such a knowledge leads us to a life lived THROUGH God Who alone is capable of giving us what we need to live a life acceptable to Him. So, next time you are tempted to trust self - live according to self - please self - and think that no one but you matters . . . think again. The eyes of God are in every place - seeing the good and the evil. And . . . He is the One with Whom we will have to deal in the day of judgment. "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate. Proverbs 8:13
Hate . . . most people believe that Christians should not hate at all. They believe that hate is a bad thing. Yet here in Proverbs, the book of wisdom from God, we have a command to hate! Let's take a look and see how God calls us to be a hater . . . of sin and evil. "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil . . . here is where it all starts. It starts with a respect and honor for God Himself. We will never be wise until we understand that God is great - greater than all others and penultimate! That respect, honor, and yes fear will move us toward wisdom - because what is penultimate in our lives is what will eventually govern us. That honor and respect also means that we will hate evil. Hate . . . This Hebrew word means to hate, to despise, to dislike something or someone and thus to be hostile toward it and loathe it. The statement, God doesn't hate anyone is not theologically sound. According to Psalm 11:5, God hates those who love violence. We learn in Hosea 9:15 and Amos 6:8 that God detests and hates those who turn to evil and choose it instead of Him. Psalm 5:5 makes is clear that God hates all those who love evil. Rather than try to do an exhaustive study on this - let's realize at this point that God hates certain things - and yes - He hates certain people. Here is the fact of this passage - if we honor and respect God - we will hate evil. We will loathe and despise it with everything within us. The proverb goes on to say, we hate several things specifically. Pride . . . we hate pride. Pride has an interesting root word that instructs us greatly. The root word means to rise up, to lift up, and thus to exalt. There is only One Who sould be lifted up and raised up and exalted. God is that One and His interests and desires should always reign supreme in our lives. Problem is that they don't - and we lift ourselves up and exalt ourselves as the authority in our lives. We decide we know best - and we are adequate for life and for everything. This is the root of pride - when we choose to exalt self above God. This we should HATE! Arrogance . . . this is pride in action. Pride indicates the attitude that a person has that is independent of God - the one who thinks they can live apart from Him. Arrogance is when a person acts upon that pride and lives in a way that no longer exalts and honors God. We act arrogantly when we lift up our own thinking and reasoning above that of God. That kind of action we should HATE! The Evil Way . . . the word way is the often used word "derek" and it again refers to a lifestyle - a way a person walks and lives their lives. Note here we've moved from the attitude of pride - to the acting out of that pride in arrogance - and now we see the fruition of many acts of arrogance in an evil lifestyle and way of living. When we choose not to honor or lift up God, but rather lift up ourselves over and over again - we develop an entire lifestyle. God hates a lifestyle that ignores and dishonors Him - and we should HATE it too. The Perverted Mouth . . . This is a mouth that deviates and distorts the Lord's ways and turns from Him. It is corrupt and deceptive speech - a distortion of what is straight and right. When a prideful lifestyle and arrogant actions prevail in our lives - we will then justify them by speaking what is perverted. We will justify our lives - and as we do - we will distort God's ways - and deviate from them in what we say. Romans 1 says that the wicked not only live the way they do - knowing it is not God's way - but they also heartily encourage others to do the same thing. God does hate certain things - and He lists them here for us to learn and to avoid. The wise man learns these things - and realizes that one of the most foolish things in life to do is to anger and enrage the living God and embrace what He hates. Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:26-27
Wondering in advance is one of the practices of those who are wise. It helps us to consider what is ahead of us when we make certain decisions. As we see the future laid out before us - and we see the consequences of our actions, both good and bad, suddenly choices that we have to make are much easier to make. Watch means to weight out or to ponder. The idea here is that someone is pondering evil and then choosing to avoid it. It means to seriously think about the path your feet are going to take - and choose to take them in a direction pleasing to the Lord. Sometimes we don't think enough about the path of our feet. We just act and go along with our lives. We don't take the time to think about where we're going - what we're doing - and where it is going to lead when things reach a conclusion. We are told that if we will do this we will have all our ways established. Ways is "derek" which again is the Hebrew word that refers to our lifestyle - the way we're going in life. To have that way or that lifestyle established means to have it firm and fixed. It means our lifestyle is one that is upright and good. We will have a life that matters and just as important - one that will be steadfast in what pleases and honors the Lord. There is also a sense in which we are being told our lives will last - whereas the worldling and the wicked man will only be temporary. When we look at the way of our feet, we need to know not to turn to the right or the left. This is assuming that our feet are on God's paths and ways and not our own. When we turn to the right or the left, we are choosing to depart from God's paths and walk in our own, the world's ways, or those of the devil. Which ever of these three are true, we will find ourselves in a way that is wrong - and ultimately a way that will hurt and cost us. The only turn we should make in life is one away from evil. The word "turn" here is a Hebrew word that means to go away from something, to desert it, to quit, to keep far away. When we see evil we need to remove ourselves from it - depart - honesly - RUN! To hang around evil is to court its greater influence in our lives. When we see evil we should hide ourselves from it. The longer we remain in the presence of evil, the more likely we are to participate in it. Thus the wise man runs from evil. Think about where you're going. It is important to do this - to consider our lives and examine them from time to time. It is too easy to begin to wander from the ways of God - too easy to take a path that leads us away from the Lord. That is why this Proverb helps us so much - it encourages us to think through where our journey reaches its destination. We think about the end of things. When we do this - we will see the wisdom of turning away from evil and keeping clear of the wicked one and his ways. To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things; 13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil; 15 Whose paths are crooked, And who are devious in their ways; Proverbs 2:12-15
Why is wisdom needed? Well for many in the modern mindset, maybe it isn't. They contend that the basic nature of man is good. Yet the very reason for wisdom is the fact that evil exists. But we are not being told about evil in theory - we are being told here that evil men exist. The battle with evil in theory is one only in our minds - but a battle with evil that actually involves evil men - that is another story altogether. The first thing we learn is that there is a "way of evil" that exists in our world. We are facing those who have developed lifestyles that embrace evil. The facts are in - and those facts clearly delineate for us that man is fallen. The facts also indicate that being fallen, man has developed a whole way of life that is contrary to the will of God. If we are not careful and wise - we will find ourselves following that path - that way of evil. According to Solomon, we need to be delivered from the way of evil. Maybe this is why we hear John telling us, "Do not love the world or the things of the world, if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him." The way we are drawn into this way of evil is by men who speak perverse things. This perverse speech involves saying things that distort and deviate from what God has said and what God wants. It is deceptive, corrupt speaking that either denies the Word or twists it until it suits our fallen appetites. That's why we need wisdom and discretion - the ability to distinguish between things godly and ungodly. We need to know when an "evil man" is trying to deceive us and lead us astray. The evil man leaves the paths of uprightness to walk in their darkness. Here it is again - the fact that there is an entire walk and path that is ungodly. But we also learn that there is a corresponding walk that is upright and godly. The evil man leaves God's ways and chooses those that are dark instead. We learn again from John that the ungodly hate the light and do not come to the light. That is the way of the evil man. That is also why we need wisdom and understanding - to remind us that fellowship with the evil man means fellowship with darkness. It seems that God is trying to get us to see that there is a light/darkness - good/evil - godly/ungodly situation in life. Worldly wisdom equates the best of thinking and acting to mankind. That is why they are shocked with evil rears its head. They want to think the best of man - when the truth is man IS capable of the worst atrocities. Proverbs tells us that there are those men who "delight in doing evil and rejoice in perversity." We almost shrink from these statements - yet that is what is said here. If there has been a "fall" of mankind into sin that has corrupted them utterly - then it really isn't that much of a stretch that man rejoices in evil and perversity. To fallen man - evil is good and good is evil. Isn't that what we see today? In our world evil is called good and good evil. They consider the things of God strange and His commandments as burdensome. They see freedom as bondage and their current state of bondage as freedom. Delight in doing evil then becomes the norm - and it should not be all that strange to see those devoting entire programs on television and articles in writing to rejoice in how they pervert the straight paths of God. Look at the sexual revolution of the 60's as an example. The morals of the past were thrown off (possibly the biggest lie of that period was to deny that such things had always been happening - just that they were done far more secretly). But I think that the shock was not that morals were cast aside, but that now those acting immorally were rejoicing openly in their perversity. The movement was not just a desire to set aside what is right - it was a rejoicing in what heretofore was considered evil. What is even more amazing to me is that several generations of this behavior has led to society adopting such actions as normal - and now even certain segments of society say we should rejoice in evil. NOW we get why we need to cry out to God for wisdom, discretion, and knowledge to escape such a fate. The final statement about the way of evil is that their direction in life becomes like their heart. Their paths (again the word for lifestyle) are crooked. Crooked is the Hebrew word 'iqqesh'. It means something that is morally, religiously, and socially perverted. This perversity comes from the source of an evil, deceitful, perverse heart. No longer are certain actions perverted - but the whole direction and path of their life runs counter to the truth of God. Their lifestyle is finally described as being devious. This is the last straw. It describes a person who has followed their perverse and wicked ways to the point where they now despise and reject God's ways. They find them abhorrent. What is worse is that they are utterly blind to their condition. What we have described for us is the natural degradation of fallen men. They may begin with the remnants of God's image within them - but as they continue in their perversity they soon scald their conscience and harden it to the point where they no longer feel any shame in their sin. By the way, this is exactly what is taught to us in Romans chapter one. We learn that man begins with denying God and being ungrateful, but ends with those who cheer on the wickedness of man - preferring their own perversity to anything God has to offer. In light of such an ignoble end - we see why Solomon impresses on his son the importance of crying out to God for wisdom and understanding. There is too much at stake here to live and let live. The fall of man guarantees that what starts as a mere snowflake will become a massive ball of snow that destroys all in its path. May such a vision of the destructive power of our core perverseness motivate us to a passionate cry for God's wisdom and a desperate search for His ways and paths. |
Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
Archives
August 2018
Copyright 2024 Calvary Chapel Jonesboro | all rights reserved |