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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2020 7:21:09 GMT -6
“By me kings reign, and princes decree justice” (Proverbs 8:15 KJV).
God establishes kings, and not only according to their wisdom and their following God, but also, He will give the people what the people want. What people want is generally what they get, and usually to their detriment. How half of the country can actually vote for a candidate that has promised to keep the wholesale murder of unborn babies legal, and now to include even those that are out of the womb but still technically unborn just because the umbilical cord has not yet been born. These people advocate for the killing of babies fully come to term. They are reviving the ancient false worship of Moloch where parents threw their babies into the red hot arms of a statue.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:9-10 KJV).
God gives to man what he wants, and when the nation of Israel did not want God to reign over them; they wanted a king like the other nations, God said okay, I’ll give you one. We see this request in 1 Samuel 8:1-8.
“And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee” (1 Samuel 8:1-8 KJV).
Our presidential elections are not always for the Christian’s good. God gives a nation the kind of rulers they want. Half of our country wants to continue murdering babies, right up until the moment the mother begins labor, and they want the Sodomite agenda to have equal rights and minority status. They want to open our borders to who knows what, and they wish to embrace a globalist mentality where America no longer exists as a sovereign nation. They have moved so far left of center that it has become frightening. To them, our Constitution is nothing more than an outdated old handbill. Half of our country no longer wants godly principles and would render Christianity a hate crime if they could. They wanted a man like Barack Obama, and they got Barack Obama. This country wanted a Hillary Clinton, and only by God’s grace did we get a Donald Trump. We don’t have statesmen anymore, we have politicians.
Most Americans don’t want to stand for what’s right; they just want to live like they want to live, and they don’t want to be bothered with freedom and liberty which they consider vestiges of a racist past. They even prefer socialism even though the rest of world, under communism, is scraping for a living, digging through garbage for food—and they will come and take ours if we let them.
So, God gave Israel a king in place of Himself, and guess what they got. They got old mealy-mouthed, lying, reprobate Saul, who wouldn’t do the will of God and brought judgment upon Israel, and their enemies grew and gained strength. If it wasn’t for the fact that God intervened and anointed David, they would have lost the whole kingdom.
“By me kings reign,” and by wisdom they reign properly. And when they do reign properly, the people rejoice.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2020 7:18:25 GMT -6
“Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee” (Proverbs 9:8 KJV).
A man acquainted with wisdom will appreciate a timely rebuke. Preachers are to “reprove, rebuke” (II Timothy 4:2). Good preaching really does do that, because sinners get under preaching and preaching rebukes them and puts them under conviction about their sin—and if a man is a scorner—he hates that. There are Christians that hate preaching. Some Christians refuse to go to church, or at least some churches, because they preacher is just too harsh and doesn’t preach on love enough. He is just too interested is preaching doctrines for their taste. And the reason is because they look down, they detest, the way that preaching speaks to them.
Some will say “That preacher just rubs me the wrong way!” Well, what you do when a cat doesn’t like the way you are rubbing him? You turn the cat around. That’s what these Christians need to do as well, just turn their lives around.
But really, the whole issue comes down to personal pride. They just don’t like to be talked to like that. They don’t like some guy standing up above them, looking down on them, yelling and spitting, and sticking his finger down at them without them having the chance to offer their own rebuttals. They just want to get their two cents in. And God says, “Not in My house! You just go and sit down and shut up and listen.” And people don’t like that.
What people want is a discipling group where they can all sit around a table and offer their own opinions. They want to have dialog. Oh, they don’t mind sitting around and talking about other people’s faults, but their own are not to be addressed. They like that. “Let’s just share biblical truth. Now, you don’t share biblical truth—you preach it. Paul said, “Preach the Word!” He didn’t say to “share” it. The word “share” is only used once in the Bible, “But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock” (1 Samuel 13:20 KJV).
So why do Christian think they need to share the word? Because every screwball on television, and every Communist from here to Moscow are using it. I believe it is wise to just stay away from words that the Communists and the Liberals use. I don’t see any reason to make Christianity appealing to the world by using their terminology. I’ll tell you what, some scorners are going to hate todays devotional.
The Apostle Paul says that “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (I Corinthians 1:23 KJV). He also said, “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought” (I Corinthians 2:6 KJV). In 2:13 he said, “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” Peter said that if any man would speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. It is our job to tell people that they are lost and going to hell, not share opinions, and stick with the word “witnessing” to people. Stick with the biblical terminology.
“He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.”
“. . . rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee,” why? Well, that’s what he wants. He wants understanding, and he is willing to pay the price to get it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2020 8:56:26 GMT -6
“He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame” (Proverbs 10:4-5 KJV).
We are to wake up to righteousness. There are a number of passages in the New Testament, a constant refrain to believers to “wake up!” Seeing as how it is repeated so often, there must be a whole lot of Christians “sleeping.”
“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame” (I Corinthians 15:34 KJV).
He said, you’ve got people dying and going to hell all around you, and you are acting like you are living in the Millennium.
“Awake to righteousness,” quit your sinning, quit your fooling around, and get out there and win folks to Jesus Christ and do what you can while you still can. There are other passages which deal with this as well.
“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Romans 13:11 KJV).
“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Ephesians 5:14 KJV).
Paul is speaking to three different groups: The church at Corinth, the church at Rome, and the church at Ephesus: “Wake up!” We can assume, since Paul had to say this to so many of his churches, that most Christian people are asleep at the switch when it comes to doing the job and getting it done when they have the opportunity.
Opportunities pass us every day. We’ll never know until we get to eternity how many opportunities we had to witness, to pass out tracts, put out the Gospel, be a good influence, help somebody.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2020 7:32:28 GMT -6
“Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death” (Proverbs 11:4 KJV).
“. . . but righteousness delivereth from death,” now this does not mean that it will keep you out of the grave forever. Sooner or later your body is going to wear out like anybody else’s, but it is a fact that a Christian never dies. You read the story of Stephen who was stoned in Acts chapter seven, the Bible does not say that he died, it says that “he fell asleep.”
Once a person is saved and receives eternal life, the body goes to sleep and the soul goes to be with God: “For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you” (Philippians 1:23-24 KJV).
The teaching that our soul goes to sleep along with the body is a lie crafted in the pits of hell.
“. . . but righteousness delivereth from death,” we have it made because the Bible proclaims that we are righteous because Christ dwells within us and we are saved. It is His righteousness, and not our own. “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe” (Romans 3:21-22 KJV).
“But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us” (II Corinthians 1:9-10 KJV).
A Christian is not really worried about dying. The more we understand the Bible, the more we believe the Bible, the less we fear death. We almost long for its appearing. This world is a vale of tears and filled with trouble and trials and troubles and temptations—the next world has no trouble in it whatsoever. I don’t know about the rest, but I am getting wore out with this life, it is just one problem after another. The sooner the Lord blows the trumpet the better it will be!
I’m not talking about quitting. We need to stay in the fight and occupy till He comes, but that doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to going to heaven.
“. . . but righteousness delivereth from death,” in the Old Testament sense, when a man did right, God spared his life.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2020 7:47:04 GMT -6
“A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness” (Proverbs 12:23).
“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing,” just as we that are fathers don’t teach our children everything we know when they are seven-years-old, God imparts truth to us a little at a time when we are ready for it. At the same time, He doesn’t just unscrew the top of our heads and pour new truth into us. He expects us to search it out. The reason we see many ignorant Christians that really don’t know what they believe is because they haven’t opened their Bibles in years, except for perhaps an hour on Sunday morning, assuming their church even encourages them to carry one to services.
Human beings are pretty brutish and are true simpletons in comparison to God who knows everything and has a perfect understanding in all things. And so, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing,” but we are called kings and priests, and as such, it is our glory to search out a matter; it's our glory to pray about something for years sometimes before the Lord showed us some answers.
Did any of us grasp everything in the Bible the first time we read it through? You could read it thirty times and still be unclear of all that is therein. Perhaps, as a young person, we read Calvin and Hobbes and Moby Dick and you knew the story from beginning to end and you know the punch lines and the jokes and the ends and outs and just get it from reading them once. The Bible is not like that. It is nothing like that at all.
There are things in Proverbs that are plain and simple: “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,” what don't we understand about this verse? Yet, at the same time there are depths to Proverbs and their interpretations.
“To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings” (Proverbs 1:6).
The disciples came to the Lord one night in John 16 and He told them there is coming a time when He was not going to talk to them in proverbs, and He in fact that night he was talking so plain to them they said “Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb” (John 16:29).
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2020 8:03:28 GMT -6
“The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil” (Proverbs 13:19).
“The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul,” there is great reward in just finishing a task. That’s the reward of finishing a job, “finish what you start!” Most Americans have too short of an attention span. They are TV oriented—if it ain’t done in a half hour, they can’t handle it.
Folks, life is not a half-hour sitcom, and then you simply change the channels. It is a marathon to the finish line. The thing about TV is that it starts out as a kid at the beginning of the show, and then a half-hour later he is a grown man driving a Cadillac. Life just doesn’t work like that. Life don’t happen that fast and it doesn’t happen that easy. Success doesn’t just come over night.
It takes a long time, often a lifetime, to finish the job and to be a success. Don’t let anyone kid you about getting something for nothing, there isn’t anything sweet about that.
“. . . but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil,” they are so evil, that it is abomination to depart from sin. You ask, “When are you going to quit drinking?” “Never! I like it!” “When are you going to quit cheating on your spouse?” “Never! It’s too fun!” To them, to quit living in sin is the worst possible thing they could do. They are perverse! They are warped! And many of us that are saved have been there at one point in our lives, but God took mercy on us.
“In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (II Timothy 2:25-26).
There was a time in many of our lives that if someone were to tell us that there is a better life than the bars can provide, we would have told him that he is crazy. We would have told him that there ain’t nothing better than this! Well, glory to God we found out just how wrong we were before it was too late.
We simply did not know that there was anything else. I was 23 years old before I ever knew clearly the saving truth of the Gospel. I certainly had not gone to any churches that preached the truth.
“The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul,” though I didn’t know it, nor understand it, getting saved was a desire accomplished and it was surely sweet to my soul.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2020 8:13:16 GMT -6
“The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit . . . The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy” (Proverbs 14:8, 10).
Proverbs 13:16 shows that a prudent man is a man having sound judgment, cautious (he knows when to keep his mouth shut): “Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly” (Proverbs 13:16).
The prudent understand his way, that is, God’s way. A fool’s deceitful heart causes him to revel in his ignorance. They follow their heart instead of following the Bible, therefore they don’t understand even the simplest things. The wise man seeks God’s way, and not his own way. With the foolish man, it is not so:
“All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits” (Proverbs 16:2).
“The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.”
Here we see two aspects of the same heart. A heart in bitterness and a heart in joy. No one else can know your bitterness, and no one else can know your joy. Now Paul says that we can rejoice with those that rejoice, and weep with those that weep, but we can’t really know, or intermeddle, with what another is really feeling. You and God are the only ones that really know how you feel. Over in First Samuel, Hannah was in bitterness of soul as she wept sore unto the Lord. Nobody else understood what she was feeling. She was under reproach for being barren, so she poured out her heart in the temple. Eli thought that she was drunk. She was not.
Hannah was bitter, she had bitterness in her soul. Now others could feel sorry for her, and weep with her, but no one could know the depth of her sorrow. “The heart knoweth his own bitterness,” it’s a picture of loneliness. When it comes right down to it, in this life, whether in your joy or your bitterness, you are really all alone in it. The cause of the bitterness is known by the one going through it, and it is ruinous to you and to others according to Hebrews: “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled” (Hebrews 12:15).
Jesus Christ knows our hearts, though.
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3). Jesus became our High Priest because He experienced what we feel: “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16).
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2020 8:06:52 GMT -6
“A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger . . . The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness” (Proverbs 15:1-2 KJV).
This is a verse that really ought to be memorized. Grievous words don’t soften people up, they just cause fights. “Only by pride cometh contention.” You have to have two folks to have an argument. Do you realize that more arguments are avoided when one of you is humble? I mean, once you get two proud sinners, you are on argument ground. That is good, fertile ground for an argument. Nowhere do we see more grievous words than in an automobile. It seems like we think we own the road and everybody else out there is just stupid! I do more confessing in a car than anywhere else. You know how many people have been shot to death over something as silly as ‘road rage?’ As soon as I say something wrong, I confess it. I’m trying to get this old man to relax and realize that I don’t own the road.
“The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.”
“The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright,” rightly dividing it: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15). Bible knowledge must be used rightly. It must be taken literally where it can, and it must be applied properly. It must be interpreted in light of other Scriptures. We need to interpret difficult passages in the light of clear passages.
For example, “Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression” (Amos 4:4). The Bible isn’t here inviting people to sin freely, that sin is acceptable. Israel had already gotten so far away from God that they weren’t going to do right anyway, so God said, “Go ahead.” Another passage, “he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 10:22). There are passages that are difficult and easily misinterpreted unless you use knowledge aright. This is speaking of those that make it to the end of the Tribulation period.
“. . . but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness,” it comes from the heart, especially children: “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him” (Proverbs 22:15). Folly, foolishness, really, they are just talking to hear themselves say something that is funny enough to laugh at. Anything that is weird they laugh at.
“. . . but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness,” and that’s just typical of children.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2020 7:34:13 GMT -6
“The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD . . . The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil” (Proverbs 16:1, 4).
“The preparations of the heart,” in other words, getting it right. Preparing it for life, preparing it for salvation. “The preparations of the heart,” you see, a Christian is the only man that prepares his heart. Did you ever see an unsaved man spend any time on his heart? I’m not talking about his physical heart; I’m talking about his spiritual heart.
“The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.” When a man answers to godly things, it is because God has done something in his heart. If the heart is right, then the tongue will be right. “how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34).
A man can’t speak good things until he is good on the inside. But unfortunately, man is more interested in justifying his own self. “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12). The problem is that man looks on the outside, but God looks upon the heart and knows what is really going on inside there.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:3-5).
“The LORD hath made all things for himself,” Jesus Christ did all the making.
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him” (Colossians 1:16).
“The LORD hath made all things for himself,” the Lord has made you for His pleasure. Now, if a man rejects Him, He will have pleasure in destroying him. Isn’t that peculiar? Remember in Proverbs chapter 1 what He would do when calamity came upon the wicked? He would laugh: “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me” (Proverbs 1:24-28). God is pleased with justice. God is pleased with judgment. And if a man prefers justice and judgment to mercy and grace, God is pleased to give him judgment.
God is a whole lot different than the way that the modernists looks at him. They put Him forth as a God of love, but the Bible clearly shows Him to be equal part love and equal part justice. God will execute fiery judgment upon the Christ-rejector.
Now, if a man will come to God as a needy beggar and a wicked sinner, and he is pleading for God’s mercy on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice, it is God’s pleasure to forgive.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2020 8:01:50 GMT -6
“He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief” (Proverbs 17:20).
“He that hath a forward heart,” a perverse, crooked heart like that spoken of by Jesus in Matthew: “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19).
“He that hath a froward heart findeth no good,” it doesn’t matter how hard he looks, or how far he seeks, if the heart isn’t right you are not going to find anything but bad.
God hates this bitter fountain, which sprays venom from a poisoned well. Such a man will fall into mischief. He will be troubled, for God and men will oppose him. Any friends he has are not true friends, for they are only there for what they can get. They are certainly not there for the pleasure and peace of his corrupt and cutting tongue. He wonders why bad things happen to him, but he cannot admit his speech is corrupt.
Aaron and Miriam criticized Moses for his Ethiopian wife, so God made Miriam white with leprosy (Numbers 12:1-15). Korah and princes of Israel disrespectfully said to Moses, “Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy.” Meek Moses was furious, and God swallowed them and their families alive by the earth (Numbers 16:1-34)!
The truth of the matter is that a froward heart produces a perverse tongue. It is nigh impossible to have one without the other, because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Therefore, an evil heart will bring corrupt speech, which brings the double curse of this proverb. Keep thy heart with all diligence.
“. . . and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief,” like that tongue in James 3 that sets everything on the fires of hell. Now, sometimes a man’s tongue will cause the speaker to fall into mischief, and it will be the will of God. James says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations” (James 1:2). You start to witness to others, like the recent problems where soulwinners spoke to Muslims in cities in America that lean towards Muslim Sharia laws. The Muslims picked up stones and threw them at the witnesses. In some cases, the soulwinners were arrested. Just because a man has a good clean tongue and he is living for God doesn’t mean that he isn’t going to fall into mischief from Satan’s crowd.
One of the things we can count on in life is trouble. We are going to have some trouble whether we live right, or we live wrong. We are not going to escape some form of trouble no matter where we live in this world. Trouble follows you, and you are born into it. Job said, “I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came” (Job 3:26). In other words, if you think it is bad now, wait a bit—it’ll probably get worse. All this, and then more trouble on top of it—that’s life.
You can’t really escape trouble, so the best thing to do is to live right with the assurance that no matter what may come we will be rewarded for living right.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2020 8:12:04 GMT -6
“He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him. The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty. A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle. A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled” (Proverbs 18:17-20).
“He that is first in his own cause seemeth just,” if you only listen to one side of the tale it’ll sound like one fellow got a bad deal, but when you take the time to listen to both sides you get a totally better and clearer understanding of what took place. “. . . but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.” Listen to both sides of any story before you make a decision.
“The lot causeth contentions to cease,” it solves the problem. Two or more sides want their idea to go through, so a vote is taken, and the majority of the people decide an issue. It doesn’t mean that all disagreements will cease, but the matter is decided in an orderly fashion.
“. . . and parteth between the mighty,” in other words, it separates the warring factions, and restores peace.
“The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD” (Proverbs 16:33).
“A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city.” Once you offend a brother, to win him back is like attacking a strong city. He will have defenses up against you because of what you said or did to him.
“. . . and their contentions are like the bars of a castle,” his defenses are really hard to get into. They throw up that wall of defense against you and it is hard to speak to them, and hard to get them to listen. We are much better off never offending them in the first place.
Cain was offended by Abel’s offering. He never was won, and he ended up killing his brother.
“A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled” (Proverbs 18:20).
This is making a living by what a man says: counselors, lawyers, judges, preachers, teachers, that kind of thing. He fills his belly by the words of the mouth. It can also apply to a conman.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2020 7:52:24 GMT -6
“Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger” (Proverbs 19:15).
“Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep,” laziness breeds laziness. The lazier you are, the lazier you are going to be. The best way to conquer laziness is to jog a couple of miles or walk if you can’t run. People sleep, and then they want more sleep, and the body is never satisfied. The worst thing are those buttons on your clock or phone that will give you another fifteen minutes. When the alarm goes off, get up!
What are the consequences of laziness? In a godly world, you would starve to death. Jesus Christ of the Bible does not allow lazy people to eat 2 Thessalonians 3:10)! An idle soul – a person not working at something – shall suffer hunger. Because you are lazy, noble employers will not promote you or pay you very much; you will stay in lowly jobs and get poorer and poorer. You will soon not have enough to eat.
People that oversleep often get headaches, and they are easier to get sick. They get sluggish and groggy throughout the day. You don’t need Geritol, it’s not tired blood, it is just a bad attitude. Another thing that tends to make us tired and sleepy is over-eating.
“. . . and an idle soul shall suffer hunger,” not only from the physical standpoint, but Jesus said, “Bless are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). When a man gets lazy in regard to his soul, he will starve spiritually.
Paul wrote to the Christian, “And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing” (I Thessalonians 4:11-12). He teaches that if a man works, he’ll have what he needs.
If a man can work, and won’t work, he should starve: “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat” (II Thessalonians 3:10). Unless we live in America where they actually pay people to be lazy and vote for one particular party of handouts.
They didn’t have welfare back in Bible days, nor do they have it in most of the world. While stationed in the Philippines it was not unusual to see people starving to death in the streets . . . it is only in America that they pay folks to do nothing.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2020 7:54:45 GMT -6
“Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right” (Proverbs 20:11).
If a full-grown adult is known, then even a little child is known. In other words, God is going to judge us according to our actions and attitudes. “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).
What do we know about a man? We know that he is a sinner. A man will eventually lie to you and cut corners. At some point he will not be true even to his own convictions, let alone Bible convictions. “Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right,” and it seems that this verse is talking about is whether that child is still under innocency or not. That is, whether that child’s doing is still under the protection of God. A baby is not “saved,” no matter how many times it is sprinkled in some church. A baby, up to a certain age, is considered “safe.”
Paul wrote: “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died” (Romans 7:9). The instant a child knows the difference between right and wrong and chooses to do wrong—he becomes a sinner in need of a Saviour. That age is different from one child to another. A child brought up in a Christian home where the Bible is honored and taught from their earliest days, that age could be as young as three-years-old. In a godless home, the age could be as high as seven. Only God and the child know when the knowledge of sin begins.
A child of God is known by his doings also: “But if any man love God, the same is known of him” (I Corinthians 8:3). He is known by his doings if he is praying, if he is witnessing, if he spends time in the Word of God, if he loves preaching, those are all pretty good evidences that he is, in truth, a child of God. He is known by his doings. If you want to judge whether his work is “pure and right,” you watch what they are doing, and judge them by the Word of God—certainly not by your own Christianity. That would likely be “divers weights, and divers measures.”
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2020 8:31:13 GMT -6
“There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up” (Proverbs 21:20).
The principle here is being prepared for a rainy day and putting a little bit aside. Treasure to be desired are the things you need, and oil speaks of light and heat. Life is pretty miserable when these things are lacking. A foolish man is not a good steward of his money, and spends it as fast as he makes it, never considering that one day he might be out of work for a spell, due to layoffs or sickness. Now, we realize that this verse is for the most part written to a nation where there was no welfare or assistance checks, and if they had nothing they did without. In America, we have unemployment insurance (assuming the worker didn’t get fired) and welfare checks. What are people going to do when the welfare system does eventually collapse under its own weight?
The foolish man in the New Testament is found in Luke 15 where the Prodigal son took his inheritance and wasted it on riotous living until he found himself sleeping with the hogs and eating whatever food he could before they got it.
You and I, we are told in the Bible, “Lay up treasures in heaven.” We are told to set our affections on things in heaven. If a person is wise in the Lord, then he will be filled with oil—oil in the New Testament pictures a man being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our comforter, and He is our Teacher of spiritual truths. When a man is filled by the Holy Spirit, he does not need Greek lexicons and Bible commentaries to understand His Bible—the Holy Spirit will illuminate his understanding as the Scripture interprets Scripture.
“There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise.” The wise man seeks the filling of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit follows, and does the things that leads to good results.
The foolish man blows it all on today. Some people just do not have an eye for tomorrow: “And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die” (Isaiah 22:13). They take no thought for eternity either. They just live their lives until the last and make no provision for what happens after they die.
Children are like that. Tomorrow never comes. They are only concerned about the here and now. Now, we can understand that in a child, but it should not be the way of an adult. He should be taught in his childhood the necessity of laying something back for a future time. He should be taught that discipline. Very few people saved money today as they ought to.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 22, 2020 7:31:35 GMT -6
“The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor. The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets” (Proverbs 22:12-13).
Proverbs 15:3 is very similar to this: “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” The “eyes of the Lord” are mentioned in Isaiah 11:2 and Revelation 5:5, there are seven spirits, and they are said to be the eyes of the Lord. Now, those eyes preserve knowledge. In other words, those seven spirits of God, it is their responsibility to preserve the Bible.
Again, it is the seven spirits of God Whose responsibility it is to preserve the words of the Bible. It is not scholars, translators, scribes, or college Greek professors. It isn’t even the church’s responsibility. It is God’s obligation and responsibility to preserve knowledge, and He has done it.
Now, I don’t understand it all, nor do I understand how He did it, but He did it. It is His eyes that did it. He knows what is right, He sees what is going on.
“. . . and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor,” that’s the new translations that He overthrows. The words of the transgressor are lies and excuses that won’t hold up to the facts. God overthrows them, and I’ll tell you especially when—in judgment. There’ll be all kinds of words of the transgressor in judgment, and God will overthrow them with truth and facts. He says that the secret things will be revealed in the day of the Lord, in the day of judgment.
“The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.”
All this is an excuse for doing right. 15:19 is a similar verse: “The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain” (Proverbs 15:19). It is just another way of saying, “I don’t feel like doing it.”
The difference between a man with character and a man without character is that the man without character is motivated solely by feelings. If he feels like doing something, he does it. If not, he doesn’t. A man with character is motivated by truth. He is motivated by the principle that if it is right, then do it. It has nothing to do with feeling. It might not feel good, but it has to be done.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2020 8:19:04 GMT -6
“Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine” (Proverbs 23:13-15).
Twice in these two verses the word “rod” is used, it is important to God. If you want to save your child from the pitfalls of life, and ultimately make him responsive to the Gospel, you need to apply corporal punishment. You need to associate pain with wrongdoing in order to teach him a healthy respect for right behavior.
Now, this doesn’t go along with modern psychiatry or modern ethics. All that modern psychology has produced is a race of mongrel teenagers that do not recognize authority, they cannot rule themselves, and they are frustrated by the time they are twenty, so many of them blow their brains out. They are full of guilt. They are full of guilt because they have never been punished for their wrong, so they carry that guilt. Modern psychology doesn’t understand that. They think that guilt is something that is inflicted upon them by religion. No! Guilt is the product of human conscience and they have it before they ever hear of religion.
When a child does wrong, he knows he has done wrong, and when they are not punished for it, they bare the guilt—it doesn’t go away. Now, when they are punished, the guilt is gone. In their minds they know that they have dealt with the wrong. When a kid is not punished for doing wrong, he becomes a frustrated kid. Punishment absolves from guilt. Not only that, but children will test their limits just to be assured that those limits are still there, and they feel protected. Punishment erects those limits and are good.
“The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame” (Proverbs 29:15).
What we have today in our society is a lot of teenagers that have been left to themselves and have raised themselves. They are called “latchkey” kids. Both parents work, so they are alone most of the time—and they gravitate toward peer pressure to establish the rules. Those “rules” are generally antisocial and lead to unrestrained wrongdoing. As a result, the kid brings shame to his parents and to himself. Many young women find themselves pregnant at an early age and their child carries on the same pattern. That is, if it isn’t destroyed for the convenience of the mother’s sex life.
“My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.”
In Proverbs, a wise heart is a heart that is open to instruction. In this case, it is a father’s relationship to his son. If you have a son that listens to you, that is a real joy. They are still not perfect, and they don’t always do right, but if they will listen to you when you sit down to reason with them about their actions, that is a real joy.
“Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning” (Proverbs 9:9).
“A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother” (Proverbs 10:1).
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2020 8:14:23 GMT -6
“My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change: For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?” (Proverbs 24:21-22).
People that are “given to change” are unstable people. James wrote of them: “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8). So, don’t meddle with people like that. As long as the Bible is agreeable to them in their way—they are all for it—but as soon as they find that the Bible disagrees with them, they change the Bible. Don’t fool with people that correct the Bible, change the laws to approve sin, and change with the times. Jeremiah wrote: “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein” (Jeremiah 6:16).
The Antichrist will be a changer: “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time” (Daniel 7:25).
Friend, if you are reading and are not saved. It is bad enough to have to face an eternity without God, but there is a very real chance that you will have to go under the iron rule of this coming Antichrist. Please do not reject Jesus Christ and the way of salvation and find yourself in the situation where it is too late to change your eternal destiny.
The results follow: “For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?”
That evil man will go on and on and on and prosper and prosper—like an Al Capone—it is said that for his time he amassed the single largest personal income of any man that ever lived, until the tax man called. They couldn’t get him for organized crimes and murder, but the government didn’t get their cut, and that is what they got him on. Income tax evasion. It is estimating that he was making over a million dollars a day.
“For their calamity shall rise suddenly,” quickly. “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Proverbs 29:1).
“and who knoweth the ruin of them both?” Who is the “both?” In verse 21, those that don’t fear the Lord, and those that don’t fear the king. Two kinds of rebels. We have religious rebels and political rebels. They will both “suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (I Thessalonians 5:3).
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2020 7:50:55 GMT -6
“By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone. Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it” (Proverbs 25:15).
“By long forbearing,” by patience, “is a Prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone.” In other words, you have a hard situation. You want to you overcome it; it comes from patience. You just don't rush through life and solve things quickly. It takes time. By patiently waiting on the Lord, dealing with the situation.
Proverbs 16:14 speaks on a similar vein: “The wrath of a king is as messengers of death: but a wise man will pacify it.” In other words, he won't stir him up. Also, it's true of prayer: “I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth” (Luke 11:8). This talks about importunities. If you just keep patiently going back to the Prince, eventually the Prince will give you a hearing, and when you go to him, have a soft tongue, “a soft answer turneth away wrath,” the Bible says, in 15:1.
That is true of prayer. James 5:16 cautions, “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
Colossians 4:2, “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2).
Don't stop. And that's how you seemingly persuade the Prince, because your Saviour is the Prince of peace and sometimes He just wants to see how desirous you are of what you're after. If you go to him one time and ask for it, and it is soon forgotten, there's not much desire on your part and He knows it. But forbearing will persuade the Prince.
“Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it” (Proverbs 25:16).
Well, that’s just discipline there, and not overeating. “The glutton and the drunkard should come to poverty,” and here the guy eats too much. I mean, honey as good, but too much is bad for you. It's moderation, “eat so much as is sufficient for thee.” Now, the Bibles is likened into honey. The verses on moderation and temperance are found in Philippians 4:5, “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” And temperance is dealt with in Galatians 5:23 as a fruit of the Spirit.
This is a rebuke against physical and spiritual gluttony. What do I mean, spiritual gluttony? There are some people that just want to study, study, study, read, read, read, study, study, study and not do anything with it. That's bad.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2020 7:43:31 GMT -6
“As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool. As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools. The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors. As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly” (Proverbs 26:8-11).
It's of no value. You don't bind a stone in a sling. You lay it in a sling. You bind it in a sling, go ahead and try it. I mean, you're just wasting effort. It’s vanity.
“. . . so is he that giveth honour to a fool,” It's useless. It's vain. It’s of no consequence.
“As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.”
Verses 7 and 9 go together. Well, “a thorn going up into the hand of a drunkard,” probably doesn't feel it, “so is a parable in the mouth of fools” has no feeling, it doesn’t have the right interpretation.
“The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.”
The fool is to be rewarded in this life with a rod, verse 3, and he'll be rewarded in the next life with the judgment in hell, in Revelation 11:18 and Revelation 20:11-15. In chapter 18, it talks about the time of judgment to give out rewards.
“As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.”
I can't understand why a dog would vomit something up and then going back to eat it, but he will. I've seen him do it. “So a fool returneth to his folly.” The thing that made a mess, he’ll go right back to it and make another mess, and then he'll eat the mess. That’s the fool! What a descriptive passage! If you didn't know that all men were sinners, you would know it by the fact that man's best friend is a thing that'll return to his own vomit. If that's man's best friend, man is in trouble.
The best friend man has ever had is Jesus Christ. I'm not against dogs. I'm not a dog hater. I've got a dog. I don't shoot dogs or kick dogs and all that. I mean, you don't want to pattern your life after a dog, and yet a lot of men are like that. They are just as uncouth, they are just as filthy and dirty, and in fact in Second Peter 2:22 an unsaved man and unsaved false prophet is likened to a dog. The false prophetess is likened to a pig. Hence, a bad woman is called a pig out in the streets. The Bible knows what men relate to.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2020 5:55:13 GMT -6
“Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet” (Proverbs 27:5-6).
Verse 5 and 6 go together. “Open rebuke,” is like preaching. What good is secret love?
Somebody says, “Well, I just can't say anything to her; I just love her so much!” You don’t love her. What good is it? What good was it for God to love the whole world and do nothing about it? I mean, the next time somebody gives you that business, take him to proverbs 27. Ask, “What good is secret love? It doesn’t do anybody any good. You don’t really love them.”
The Bible says, “He that loveth him [his child] chasteneth him betimes” (13:24). If you really loved them, you’d correct them.
“Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend,” like the Lord Jesus, like the preacher; they care for you, “but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” The enemy will flatter, kiss you, kiss your hand, kiss your feet; just to get the advantage of you. Jesus asked, “Judas, betrayest the son of man with a kiss?” (Matthew 22:48). Loving kisses!
In verse 6 the friend refers to Jesus, the kisses refer to Judas.
“The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.”
If you have ever really been good and hungry, you’ll understand that. I mean, you sit a kid down his supper table, and they start whining, “Green beans again?” You know that. I’ll tell you what, you let that rascal do without for about three days, he’ll eat all the green beans you stick in front of him and love it. That the problem with America. When kids start complaining about what they're getting to eat, they are eating too much.
When a kid starts complaining about what he’s fed, just send him to his room. “See you later.” You don't complain about the food, you just eat it, and be thankful you got it. That's one thing I like about a strict diet. If you only get one meal a day, I guarantee you, you're ready for anything and everything, as long as it's palatable. And then some. Even water gets to tasting good. That's good for you. It tames that old flesh and that old body.
“The full soul loatheth an honeycomb,” in business, what is law that “the full soul loatheth an honeycomb” refer to? The law of diminishing returns. You can’t sell a hamburger to a full fellow. You know, you get a guy that is really hungry---famished, the first hamburger is worth $25. The second hamburger is worth about $5, and you couldn’t get $0.50 for it. You see, diminishing. When he gets full, he doesn’t need it anymore, he doesn’t want it, so you can’t get so much out of him.
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