The Life and Times of the Drunken Fooll, part 2 - A Little Truth Helps a Lot! - Proverbs 23:31-324/25/2011 Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly; At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper.
Proverbs 23:31-32 As we continue our look at the dangers of alcohol abuse we are warned that wine will look good when we see it. There is a certain asthetic beauty to a beautiful glass with wine in it. We see its color and note that it sparkles in the cup. The alcohol industry does everything that it can to enhance the look of their product. Beer is sold to us with people pouring it into a glass where we watch the foam grow along with the beer itself in the glass. Everything is done to make sure that we are enamoured with the sight of this drink. Consider as well that every commercial that seeks to sell these things is filled with skinny people who all look amazingly good - and voila - they are all drinking what we are supposed to be buying as well. The secret message to us is that we can look that good too if we drink their beer, wine, or whiskey. But, the proverb warns us that there is a different experience awaiting us when we actually drink this stuff in abundance. We are told the truth here - that alcohol bites like a serpent and stings like a viper. What we are being alerted to is the effect of the alcohol on our system as we become more and more inebriated with it. We will find ourselves experiencing a type of poisoning of our system. Just like a snake and a viper bite will affect our vision and our ability to speak and walk - so also does the imbibing of alcohol. We will find ourselves strangely affected as this stuff hits our bloodstream and begins inhibiting our brain and physical functions. I find it somewhat disingenuous that we hear over and over again that alcohol can actually enhance our health. But what we are NOT told is how alcohol can poison our system and destroy our bodies. The amount of alcoholic drink we can have to make us healthier (and this is not in every case) is rather small - a small glass of wine often being used as the example. The problem is that in our party society we are not drinking for our health - we are drinking to party - to lower our inhibitions and help us do things we normally would not do. But the problems come not just to our mental state - but there are damages that happen to our brain, our kidneys, and our liver when we poison ourselves with too much alcohol. As I've said earlier, I was a weekend drunk before I was saved. That also means that I have had the unfortunate situation of not only being drunk - but also of having a hangover and of being very sick when I poisoned myself wth alcoholic drinks. To describe what happens when you do this is difficult because it is hard for some to grasp what it might feel like to have multimple sledge hammers converging on the sides of your head while having a stomach ache and a feeling like you are going to throw up. It is difficult to describe how someone's whisper can sound like someone shouting in your ears. Yet these things are signs that you are poisoning yourself with the venom of alcohol abuse. Oh, before I leave this aspect of our current proverb I would like to regale you with what it looks like when someone abuses alcohol for a lifetime. They die of something called scirosis of the liver. I was able to lead a man to Christ who had been a drunk his entire life. He was in his late 40's but looked like he was around 70. He came to Christ just as he was learning of his condition. His alcohol abuse had effectively destroyed his liver, which was in the process of shutting down. He told me to use his situation to warn others to stay away from alcohol and drunkenness. His body began to turn yellow as it also swelled to about twice its normal size. As his liver shut down he was blinded by the impurities that were in his blood. They also began to kill all the other organs in his body. It was not a pretty death that he died. That was the lifetime effect of someone who literally drank themselves to death. The Word of God is trying to warn us of the dangers of alcohol. If we are wise we will approach alcoholic drinks in a similar way that we would approach drinking Draino or some other kind of known poison. Just because alcohol will poison us slower than these things is no reason to treat it any less cautiously. We live in a culture that glories in its alcohol abuse - and does not let us know the backside of this lifestyle. I've always wanted to cut one commercial for a Super Bowl that would present alcohol truthfully. It would involve people who are not pretty - drinking alone or even at a party. We would watch as they drink themselves into a foolish stupor - but the commecial would continue to follow them as they began throwing up uncontrollably. Then the commercial would end with them waking up the next morning as the sound track would distort with the sound of people talking to them - yet sounding like a bullhorn being used to deafen them. The tag line on the commercial would be something like this, "People who tell you to drink promise a good time." At this point the commercial would review the people throwing up uncontrollably and say, "Does this look like a good time?" A quick shot of someone dying of liver disease in all its horror would come next with the final statement, "Yeah, good times." That would at least begin to balance the scales just a little with wisdom when it comes to drinking alcoholic drinks and the truth. Will it ever happen? What do you think?
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Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine. Proverbs 23:29-30
We are about to read one of the most amazing sections of Proverbs that there is. These next seven verses are one of the most poignent commentaries on alcohol and drinking that there is in Scripture. It is also one of the most plain statements against getting drunk. I am not one who states that the Biblical view is complete abstinence from alcohol - simply because Scripture itself does not state that. The Bible teaches us to steer clear from getting drunk. It also warns against lingering long over wine - and I would also argue that the Bible militates against the whole "party culture" that exists in our society today. My own personal stance is complete abstinence from alcohol. The reason for this is because I've led at least two men to Christ who were alcoholics. If I were to drink - and they were to follow my example - there is good reason to be concerned that they would be ruined by my abuse of my freedom in Christ. Therefore, rather than make my brothers stumble, I will renounce my freedom to have anything to do with alcohol. This passage though is about abuse of alcohol. It asks a series of questions that are all rhetorical in nature. They are this way because they have to do with the consequences of alcohol in someone's life who is abusing it. Who has woe? The answer is the alcohol abuser. Woe means to have a horrific distress. Take a close look at the drunkard and you will find plenty of woe and sorrow in his life. There are so many ways that this happens - through broken relationships - through wasted lives - through the regret and horror of the aftermath of a drunken driving accident or arrest. There is so much sorrow from the immediate consequences - as well as the long term ones that come out of drinking and drunkenness. But too often men want to make it look as if these are rare consequences rather than the norm of alcohol abuse. The next set of two questions here deal with the issue of contentions and complaining. Unfortunately, before I came to Christ, I was often in parties where the abuse of alcohol was frequent. I can tell you from experience that the contentions and complaining are very much true. Guys would break out into fights and would have major altercations when they were drunk. I remember one friend who not only had a fight, but was beaten bloody and shot before the night was over. He survived, but the gunshot wound is still in his body to this day as a monument to his stupidity and drunken lack of sense. The complaining usually comes from those who have to deal with the drunk. Their wives complain of their actions. Their children complain of their actions. Their employer complains of their alcohol abuse. They all feel the effects of the lack of self-control - and in some cases the anger that comes with a drunk stumbling into the home. It is a sad but true fact that many men return home to beat their wives and children in their drunken state. Their complaining is testimony to a man who has lost all self-control and who is slowly ruining his life. The next couplet here has to do with questions about wounds and redness of eyes. The wounds come from stumbling around drunk - running into things and injuring oneself. They may come from fights and their aftermath. The redness of eyes comes in the morning when the drunk gets up and faces the difficulty of recovering from the previous evening's activities. Not only is there redness of eyes - but there is also a pounding headache - and at times a stomach that is sick from the alcohol of the previous night. These things are all said of those who "linger long over wine." This speaks of someone who drinks - and stays at a place where they serve them. These are the men who stay at bars well into the night. They may start at happy hour and not finish his drinking until after midnight. The drunk may have 5 to 10 drinks as he pours out the problems he has with the bar tender. He lingers long over a beer or a hard drink - and has another when he is done. The passage here also says that there are those who go to taste "mixed wine." Mixed wine refers to ways that men would mix wine with other things to make it better - and often to make it more intoxicating. It would in some ways refer to the way that men mix drinks in bars today. We are going to get a pretty good picture of the drunk over the next several days. We are going to see his actions as well as the consequences of them. We are going to hear warnings against the things that he does. We will hear warnings about alcohol and the way that it can lure someone into its trap. We will hear about how alcohol promises one thing, yet delivers something quite different. We will also see that when we give ourselves over to this habit and this abuse, we will find that it is a trap that shuts over us and does much to bring great destruction in our lives. The wise man knows that wine and strong drink are deadly and deceptive. That is why he stays away from them. The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied with his. Proverbs 14:14
Too often some religious words have been used in such a way that they are either now devoid of meaning - or they have become so cluttered with misunderstanding that they mean little to us now. Such is the word, "backslider" in our religious vocabulary. We've heard the term screamed shrilly at us - or have attributed the word to back woods preachers who use it to scare the faithful to the altar when revival services are in town. This is a loss for the church because this word is used as a warning to us - not with a piercing scream of a preacher trying to make a point - but with the gentle yet strong urgings of wisdom who only desires to prevent us from walking in a foolish way that will cost us far more than we are willing to pay in the end. The backslider in heart - is a phrase that speaks of someone who has turned away. The word actually comes from the Hebrew word, "sug" which means to turn away or to turn ones back. The idea with this word is that someone is turning from an accepted or expected path or commitment. They are crossing a boundary line, and in the process are being disloyal in the process. Here we also get the idea that this is not just an isolated decision - but something that has been chosen enough times to where a heart has been set in a direction. The backslider in heart is the one whose heart commitment to the Lord has turned badly in the wrong direction. He has decided to walk away from his commitment to the Lord - and now his decisions are betraying his faith. What is fascinating about this proverb is that we read that the backslider in heart, "will have his fill of his own ways. The idea here is that this person who is turning from the Lord and from His Word - is going to be filled to the point of misery with his own ways. He is not going to be happy with this development. He will be miserable. The proverb states that the good man will be satisfied with his ways. The good, godly man will find the lifestyle and the direction of his life and choices are very satisfying. But the backslider in heart is going to be full. But the fullness that he will have will be a fullness of regret, a fullness of problems, and a fullness that is very unpleasant. Imagine with me a meal that you've eaten. But what has happened at this meal is that you have eaten to the point of being miserable. As you sit and are now sickened by the mere thought of food - you groan over being full of your own over eating. That is truly a horrible feeling when it happens. What the proverb here is trying to describe is a lifestyle that is overflowing with regretable decisions that were not in accord with the Scriptures. The consequences that begin building up are awful. This man looks at them and thinks how he is full of the consequences of his own ways. What proverbs says elsewhere is that he groans at his latter end. When everything comes to roost - he finds that he is groaning under years of bad decisions - just wishing that he had done something different. For this man there is little more than regret over the choices he has made. These were choices that glorified his flesh and did not honor God. Filled to the full with these choices and the myriad of horrific consequences they have brought on - he can only sigh and steel himself for the tidal wave of problems and difficulty he is about to face. Think about this . . . that when you turn from God you are setting a course for misery. You may not see it right away - but know that your backsliding from God and from His Word are going to have a very steep price to pay. You may decieve yourself that such a price will never come, but the truth is that as you make choice after choice to ignore and even defy God - you are storing up misery for yourself. That misery IS coming. And when it comes all you will be able to do is groan under the weight of it. Filled with your own ways - you will finally learn that satisfaction comes as we embrace God and embrace the good He desires for us in our lives. "For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them. Proverbs 1:32
Never will you understand the necessity of a negative message, a message of warning - than you will when you see the latter end of someone who ignores then when they are given. That is the case here as we look at this next to last verse of chapter one of Proverbs. This verse lets us know that the unwise moral and spiritual choices of the fool cost him dearly at the end of his life. Actually, here we learn that these choices may be what ends his life. The first thing of which we are warned here is imitating the "waywardness" of the naive. To be wayward is to be one who turns away from God and His Word. The Hebrew word here is "mesubah" and it means to turn away, to be apostate, or to backslide. What it refers to is someone who is constantly fluctuating or vacillating in their views. This describes the ones who turn away from the Word. Their "open-mindedness" that describes their naive thinking will constantly change and morph as society itself does. In time, they will have one view - but change to another. This accurately describes the reason that the morals of society seem to constantly be in flux. But the part of this that is frighening is that we read here that it is these very tendencies that will kill them. Their naivete is that they can order their own lives and have no real consequences from such choices. The truth though is that by turning away from the Lord, they will face judgments and severe consequences, the most severe of them being what will happen to them after they die and face the final judgment before God. The second thing we see here is that the complacency of fools will destroy them. Complacency here is the Hebrew word, 'salway" and it speaks of a sense of security and quietness in one's prosperity. There is no anxiety or concern. There is only an excessive easy and prosperity. They take the lack of trouble as a sign that everything is fine and there is no need to even be concerned about eternal matters. The problem for them is that there is very real trouble in their future - but their attitude toward God's Word keeps the from knowing the danger. There is a need for messages that warn and correct us. If we could guarantee that we would life perfect lives that never need correction, we could blow off these kind of things. But the fact of the Biblical worldview is that we are fallen, sinful people who are prone to rebellion and disobedience. This necessitates that we have to be warned of the consequences of unbiblical choices. We need to be reminded that there are very real, very negative results that come with walking apart from God's revealed will in His Word. Hopefully, such warnings will turn us away from ungodly choices and lifestyles. Hopefully we will hear such things and not trust in ourselves - but in God who guides us into paths of righteousness and blessing. So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices. Proverbs 1:31
We come to the close of this passage in Proverbs with two very sobering verses of warning. These verses are not being used to issue innocuous threats, but to warn of very real consequences for rejecting the wisdom and the Word of God. They were put here to help us see that a lifestyle that values its own wisdom and rejects God's is one that is filled with regret and destruction. We are warned that if we choose to spurn God's Word - and this is in regard to the negative aspects of it - we will eat the fruit of our own ways. Let me once again take just a moment to define what I mean by the negative messages of God's Word. There are those who want nothing but positive, happy, you're OK - I'm OK messages from God's Word. The problem with this view is that it completely ignores the fall of man and our inherent sinfulness and selfishness. There is no way to gloss over these things - and unless they are confronted from time to time - we will sink into the mire that they create in us individually and corporately in our lives. What we are warned of is the danger of learning too late the fruit that will come from this way. In Galatians chapter five we are told of fruit. But before this fruit is introduced to us we are also introduced to the works or workings of the flesh. "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. " We see here that when we live in the flesh, which should be seen as embracing our natural state - rejecting God's Word and wisdom and instead choosing our own way, that the consequences of our choice are pretty disgusting. These are the kind of things we see as the problems in our world. They are also the natural consequences of rejecting the fear of God and living for ourselves instead. What is described for us in verses 22-23 of Galatians chatper five is the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are the consequences of embracing the Holy Spirit of God in our lives. By the way, the Spirit is the One who teaches us God's Word - and will urge us to embrace God's wisdom and way. What I hope you see here is that there is fruit either way we go. When we embrace the Spirit of God, the Word He teaches us, and the wisdom that comes with it - we experience wonderful fruit. But if we embrace a rejection of God's wisdom - which also means we are rejecting His Word and His Spirit - there will be fruit corresponding to these choices. That fruit is not good. The other warning given to us here is that we will also be "satiated" with our own "devices." The word "devices" here is "moesah" which means counsel and intrigue. It refers to godless advice and counsel that will result in a wicked type of intrigue - one where we are seeking to escape the bad effects of following our own bad counsel. Reality though, is that the judgments of God are inescapable. When we choose moral paths there are moral consequences. These cannot be outrun or negated. What we are warned of in Proverbs is that we will be "satiated" with these consequences. The word here means to be filled to the full - to be sated. To help you grasp what this means - it refers to the feeling you get when you've had way too much to eat. It is that sick feeling that you've eaten way too much and now you just sit their miserable. The godless man has the unfortunate future of one day being sated with the moral conseqeunces of his own moral intrigue. Having decided to test God to see if rejecting Him has consequences - he learns the hard way that every consequence God says will happen - just like He said it would happen. A wise man knows that his choices have consequences. He knows that as he does things, says things, and lives a certain way - it is like he is planting a crop for his future. If he plants properly (honoring God's wisdom) the harvest he will gather will be a pleasant one. But if he chooses the reject the wisdom of God - he is only making sure that he will be satiated with the consequences of his foolish choices. Staying Positive is Not Always Staying Wise, Part 5 - When God Rejects and Why - Proverbs 1:28-304/5/2011 "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD. They would not accept my counsel, they spurned all my reproof."
Proverbs 1:28-30 There is a time when prayer will not reach God - not will it do a person any good at all. That may sound like a strange thing to say - but it is true biblically. God warns those who reject His counsel and who turn away from His reproof that there will be a time when they pray and find that no one is listening. Proverbs tells us that when our lifestyle is one that rejects God's Word and wisdom that there will be a time when due to the lack of it we will call on God and even seek Him diligently. The problem is that the reason they do this is because they want to be rescued from their bad decisions and from the consequences of their actions. Their call to God is not made out of any desire to repent and change how they are living. This kind of prayer will not receive God's answer - although it will receive His rejection. The reason God rejects these kinds of prayers is because of the state of their hearts. These are the one who hated knowledge. They are not ignorant in human terms. In fact often those who hate knowledge are brilliant in the world's eyes. They just hate the knowledge that God has to offer to them. They hate the Word of God - and they hate the things that God has to say about the true state of humanity and the true state of this world. What I refer to is the worldview that sees mankind as fallen and sinful. There are scholars who absolutely reject that worldview. They see man as basically good. In their estimation what mankind needs is not salvation from sin - but to be resuced from those who make us feel bad about ourselves and tell us that we are sinful. They believe that if mankind was just educated properly and kept from the negativity of the Biblical view of mankind. If mankind were not told that anything was sin - but that man could claim their basic god-ness once again - then mankind would prosper and climb to a whole new level of evolution. This was the view at the turn of the century as mankind pretty much rejected the biblical view of sin. The world thought it would rise to a whole new existance without war and without anything to hinder it. What we received from this new enlightened man was a century like no other in its ability to kill one another, make war, commit genocide, and perpetrate horrors upon one another in ways that seemed previously impossible. When men reject God's knowledge - they also choose against the fear of God. They do not honor or respect Him - and they also do not tremble at His Word. When men do not believe God's Word - they are destined in every negative way to fulfill it. They truly will show the work of the fall of man in ways that will astound future generations. Actually future generations, just as blind as their fathers, will say that these things happened because they didn't quite do it right - or because they need an even more God-rejecting philosophy. In so doing they fulfill what verse 30 says. They would not accept God's counsel and they spurn all His reproof. Even as they watch the truth of God come to pass and His worldview upheld again and again, they reject it. Blind guides of the blind, they reject the existance of the very pit into which they lead one another as they continue in their rebellion. Please understand that I know that such writing as this is very depressing. But it is only depressing if we continue to reject God's Word and the counsel, knowledge, understanding, and truth that comes from it. For those who accept God's counsel there is an answer to the futility of mankind and the stupidity of his ways. There is the grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a savlation that God grants us and offers to us through His Son. There is a hope that when we embrace God's ultimate worldview - we not only see our sinfulness - but we are also allowed to see our Savior as well. God graces us with forgiveness, regeneration, and His ongoing work of sanctification. We are redeemed, literally bought from the slave market of sin and given the glorious hope of heaven and fellowship with God for all eternity. There have been and will continue to be those who scorn the negative message that MUST come to mankind for there to be hope. They will say that it is the negative message itself that is the problem - and that if we would just rid ourselves of it - all would be well. But they do not understand that the so-called negative-ness of that message is absolutely necessary in order for us to get the most glorious message of the ages - God's salvation through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! You cannot have one without the other. If you reject the message that we are sinners - and choose instead to spurn God's truth and counsel - all that awaits you is deception, destruction, and ultimately death. I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, when your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. Proverbs 1:26-27
As we look at the wisdom of including negative messages in teaching - and not just trying to accentuate the positive at all times - these verses almost slap us in the face. That is because what they say to us about God seem to contradict much of what is taught about Him. They definitely do not fit the normal way that people want to think of God. Yet, these verses are part of God's revelation of Himself to us in Scripture. We would do well to read such verses - and allow ourselves to be instructed by them. God says to those who reject His counsel and His reproof that He will laugh at their calamity and mock them when their dread comes upon them. As I said at the outset of these verses, they do not seem to fit very well with the average person's view of God. Yet, these are accurate verses that describe the God that we serve. God is not a pushover, and He is not One who sits in a corner crying and grieving when He is rejected or ignored. He remains the Lord of the universe Whose power and majesty cause men to cower in fear and terror. He is also a God Who, according to the book of Psalms, is angry every day with the wicked. So it should not shock us to learn that when He is ignored and mocked by the wicked - that He too mocks at their calamity when their wicked behavior comes upon their own head. This is not the only place such language is used of God. In Psalm 2:4 we read, "He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them." We read in Psalm 37:13 that, "The Lord laughs at him, for He sees his day is coming." There will be a day when God's vengeance will fall upon the wicked in humanity. There will be a day when His perfect justice and righteousness will be dealt out with absolute purity. That is a day about which the wicked should tremble - for there will no longer be any mercy - but judgment will fall and it will be passed out with shocking accuracy. Those who think God will never act with vengeance should only have to look to the cross of Christ to know that God will judge those who are guilty of sin. The joy for those of us who know His grace is that what Jesus paid upon the cross pays for our judgment in full. God also knows that the longer one remains in rebellion - the more judgment will be coming like a storm. God warns in these verses of a dread that will come like a storm - of calamity that will come like a whirlwind. Mankind will be promising peace and good fortune to each other - yet they canont stop the hand of God that is gong to fully act in justice and judgment. Four words are used to describe what it will be like when God's judgment falls upon those who persist in their rebellion. The first word dread. This meant a terror or trembling that would come upon men as they were being prepared to come in to the very presence of the Lord. Next is calamityshich speaks of a time of disaster or trouble. Then there is distress and anguish. These two are put together. Distress speaks of a specific episode of trouble and anguish. This trouble is a kind that man cannot rescue someone from though the power of mankind. One needs God in this incident - and without Him, there will be no deliverance. How poignently this speaks of our spiritual situation before God. How perfectly represented is our sinful state before a Holy God and the corresponding reality that we need a Savior Who is far more than just a man. Man may mock now - but there will be a day when the tables are turned upon the mockers and those who now laugh at the Lord. This is not a day that I look forward to or treasure in any way. It is a day that should seriously sober every one of us and make us realize the absolute necessity of knowing that our sins are taken away because of what Jesus Christ has done for us at the cross. May God give us the wisdom to tremble before a holy God - rather than to take the position of fools who mock at Someone Whose power they cannot even begin to grasp. Staying Positive is Not Always Staying Wise, part 2 - Paying Attention to God - Proverbs 1:244/2/2011 "Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; Proverbs 1:24
We are examining the first chapter of Proverbs and seeing why it is not always the best thing to only have positive messages in the church and in our Christian lives. Here we see the reality that some do not receive what God is saying to them. They refuse to turn to God as He issues a call to them through His Word and His wisdom. Too many get bent out of shape when they hear that God has to call us for us to be saved. They pretty much freak out when they are told that on their own they would never come to God because they are dead in their sins. They do not realize that God in His mercy does call men to Himself. But the truth is that even when God calls - men reject Him. Even when He allows them to hear His counsel, His reproof, His encouragment to turn from their sin to follow Him - they reject it. That is what is made clear here in this section of Scripture. God tells us that he called - but the fool refuses that call. The idea of refusal here involves a rejection not just of the message - but also of the Messenger. God is showing great mercy and grace to men in stretching out His hand to them. Their sin should receive a stretched out hand - to discipline and bring them under God's judgment. But that is not what the Lord is trying to do here. He is wanting to instruct - to make His words known to those He calls (vs. 23). As He stretches out His hand in mercy, what does He receive? Nothing . . . no one pays any attention to what He is saying. This coincides with the truth in the New Testsament that, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). It also is a testament to Romans 3:10-12 which says, ". . . as it is written, there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one." Men, by their very nature reject God. Due to their deadness in sin, they will refuse Him and reject Him. But there is an even more amazing truth that this. It is an amazing thing to read here that men reject and refuse God. It is astounding that they do not even pay attention to what He is saying. But what is more amazing is that immediately after He is rejected God does not let judgment fall in that very moment. But God is merciful in that He responds with further mercy. But this passage is not a reminder of that mercy. It is meant to be a stark reminder of how foolish it is to reject God when He does stretch out His hand and offer counsel, reproof, and instruction. What should we learn from today's Proverb of the day? We learn that to receive God's wisdom and offer of instruction is the greatest of mercies. We learn that Jehovah God does this over and over again - offering mercy and grace that is rejected by sinful men. But the real question for us today is what are WE going to do when we are aware that God is wanting to give us His Words - and correct us from a way that is not in accordance with His will? Are we going to refuse and reject Him? Are we going to see His outstretched arms - and not even pay attention? It might benefit us greatly to read a passage from Hebrews 2 that offers a warning to us - a warning that we should pay "much closer attention" to the times where God is speaking to us. Hebrews 2:1-3 offers us this godly counsel on this matter, "For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" May we learn to listen with great passion and intensity when the Lord speaks to us - and may we not be guilty of neglecting so great a salvation when God offers not just His grace in Christ initially - but when He continues to save us from sin as He sanctifies us daily by His Word and His Spirit. "Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. Proverbs 1:23
Can a person truly walk in wisdom if all they ever want in life are positive, uplifting messages from God? There are those today who say that the church should not be negative - should not issue rebukes, corrections, and most of all should not dwell on the whole issue of sin. "Let's be positive," is their cry - and when we are, people will come back to the church! There is a fundamental problem with this view of things. It completely ignores that whole, "fall of mankind" thing. The reason Christianity cannot be "all positive, all the time" is because man is a fallen creature given to rebellion and walking in ways that are destructive and damning. At some point the honest among us are going to have to address the fundamental flaw in human nature. If men were naturally disposed to honoring and glorifying God, this would not be necessary. But the facts are that the heart is deceitful and desperately sick - that there is none who have done good, not even one - and that unless we repent we will all likewise perish. Man is not a naturally wise creature - unless you count being wise in his own eyes. Wisdom is personified in Proverbs quite often. Wisdom shouts in the streets, calls out in the square seeking to get our attention. What does she say? Her first words are not exactly positive. She calls mankind "naive ones" as well as "simple-minded." She refers to the inhabitants of this globe as "scoffers" and "fools." The reason this does not sound positive is because it isn't. The Bible is not into any kind of a positive confession type of tripe - instead it is honest about the condition of man. As a result, her first command is issued here in verse 23. Turn to my repoof. That is her first command to mankind. If we are going to be wise, it will require us to turn from our present selfish and self-centered ways and turn to the reproof of true wisdom. Wisdom will require reproof - correction - rebuke. We need to grasp that our current fleshly thinking is foolish and stupid. Wisdom will not enter our hearts unless we first unseat the poser who sits there presently. That is us. We need to lay aside human wisdom and that which parades as understanding - and choose to conform our thinking to God's ways and paths. Here is a truth that will help you gain wisdom every day. Say it to yourself several times before you leave your home for the day. "If I disagree with God's Word, I am wrong!" Wisdom calls to us and tells us that something wonderful awaits those who accept reproof. But the person who in pride refuses to admit that he is wrong - that person will remain mired in the foolishness of his own ways. What happens when we turn to God's reproof? Here is something wonderful! He pours out His Spirit upon us. Did you know that the Holy Spirit is the personification of wisdom! He wants us to turn from foolishness - so He can be poured out upon us - and so that He can teach us. Each time we turn from self and the wisdom of this world, the Holy Spirit is waiting to make known God's words to us. Here is a shocker - wisdom is found when the God's Spirit is poured out on us and we come to know the Word of God. In that moment we know wisdom. The way of wisdom is the way of correction and reproof. We cannot become wise until we embrace humility. We cannot become wise until we respect and honor God's Word above all other sources of truth. We cannot become wise unless God in His mercy pours out His Spirit and opens our minds to the truth of His words. When this happens, we'll know the truth - and see that truth corrects us and turns us to the right thinking and the right path. The path to wisdom may not start positive - but when the Spirit of God begins to reveal truth and wisdom to us - it surely ends positive. Be open to God's reproof - to His correction - knowing that when we turn to Him - an abundance of truth and righteousness will be our reward. To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things; From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; Who delight in doing evil And rejoice in the perversity of evil; 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 deliniate 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 decieve us and lead us astray. The evil man leave 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 does 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. The evil man leave 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 does 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 attrocities. 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 them 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 actin 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 soceity adopting such actions as normal - and now even certain segments of soceity 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 abhorant. 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 destrutive 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!
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