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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2020 7:00:17 GMT -6
The Jew was told to get out and fight their enemies first, and then rest and relax. The battle first, and then the rest.
TODAY’S VERSE:
“He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them . . . Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house” (Proverbs 24:24-25).
Verse 24 is a reference to the Antichrist. “He that saith unto the wicked,” and Satan is called the wicked one. or “that wicked one” in Second Thessalonians 2.
That's what the Antichrist does. He makes the unrighteous “righteous”; but according to the world’s standard of goodness, which isn’t very good at all. “But to them that rebuke him,” God rebukes him, the Lord rebukes him, and Bible believers rebuke him. “But to them that rebuke him,” the wicked, or the one that respects the person of the wicked, probably for profit, and judges in respect to their wealth.
You see that business back up in verse 23? “It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.” “He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous.” If you say that just because a guy is rich or has power, and that's the kind of thing that people hate. The common people hate that; they really abhor that. They want the same kind of treatment. You can put them in jail, but but you better put the rich man in jail too, or they'll revolt, eventually.
“But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, And a good blessing shall come upon them.” Do you want a good blessing? Then rebuke the wicked man and rebuke him that calls the wicked man righteous.
“Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.”
“Prepare thy work without,” priorities! Do that first, “and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.” You can’t eat walls. So, what is he saying? Do the important things first. The battle first, and then the rest (Joshua 1:9-15).
Do you know what that means for a Christian? The Cross first, and then the crown. That really has a great application. “Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field,” the world is the field in the New Testament.
Let me give you another verse on it. This was the sin of the returning remnant. Remember, after the first captivity, when the Jews were off in Babylon, when they returned on Nehemiah and Ezra? The problem is recorded in Haggai 13-10. They had come back and started to build a house for the Lord, and quit, and gone to building their own house. This was the sin of the returning remnant. They lost their zeal. That’s what happens. People get revived and then they get back on the way. After a little bit, they cool off and get back involved with the everyday things of the world, and they lose their fire. It’s just the way it goes.
“Prepare thy work without,” that's where your food comes from. You are not going to eat the walls in that house. You need to get you some crops down.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2020 7:07:14 GMT -6
When the Holy Ghost has taken away: by regeneration, the dross of our fallen nature and newly forms us in Christ Jesus, then as gold and silver from the furnace, we are brought forth as vessels of honor for the master’s use.
TODAY’S VERSE:
"Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer" (Proverbs 25:4 KJV).
Silver is mined from the earth with other metals and isolated by refining processes. Silver must be refined numerous times to remove all the dross – the scum or foreign matter that corrupts the purity of the metal. After all the dross has been removed, the pure silver can be formed into a beautiful vessel with the excellent traits of silver.
Here is a wonderful proverb – an obscure and pithy saying carrying a valuable lesson of human experience or wisdom. The proverb does not intend to teach or warn metallurgists or refiners, but it instead borrows a lesson from their work to apply to civil government in particular, and all units of society in general. The immediate context is helpful (Proverbs 25:5)..
Note that silver is refined through the furnace, and it takes as long as it takes, though it result in much discomfort for the refined. We are that dross, and we are that silver, but praise God, we are also that gold that will one day come forth through God's faithful hand on the potter's wheel and testing and trials designed for our good.
One of my favorite songs sung by Ron Hamilton (aka Patch the Pirate), Rejoice in the Lord has this for a chorus.
O Rejoice in the LORD He makes no mistake, He knoweth the end of each path that I take, For when I am tried And purified, I shall come forth as gold.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2020 7:14:15 GMT -6
There is a huge difference between "knowing the way of righteousness," that is, knowing that salvation is in Christ, but not following it to its conclusion of receiving Christ. They have a head knowledge, but they have never had a heart knowledge. So, they are missing salvation by 18 inches. The distance from the head to the heart. Of course, the heart refers to the composition of all the components of our soul—our mind, emotion, and will—plus the most important part of our spirit—our conscience.
TODAY’S VERSE:
"As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly" (Proverbs 26:11 KJV).
When an Old Testament verse in quoted in the New Testament, look for its primary meaning to be in the former passage. In this case, Peter writes: "For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire" (II Peter 2:21-22 KJV).
The salvation by works crowd love verses like this because it shows, in their minds, that a saved man can return to his former state and end up in hell because he didn't do his part to be saved.
We have been looking a lot at the fool in Proverbs, and the one thing that we know is that the fool is not interested in knowing God, “How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:22 KJV).
The fool isn't interested in heaven. You speak of heavenly things and they'll say, "I'll worry about such things later." They only want to live for the present, and to have their fun. So, a fool will experiment with life. He'll try religion for a bit, so long as it is fun, but as soon as the preaching gets too hot--he'll return to the things that were more comfortable.
The believer has embraced Him Who is the very embodiment, the personification of "wisdom" and have a different kind of knowledge: "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" (I John 5:10-13 KJV).
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Post by Deleted on Aug 27, 2020 6:24:11 GMT -6
If we are faithfully serving God in whatever capacity God has called us and are being blessed through it--others will envy us and seek our hurt. But bless God, He is still in the business of meaning His plans for good, and will see us through, even though an army might assail against us.
TODAY’S VERSE:
"Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?" (Proverbs 27:4)
At least with an angry, wrathful man, people are forewarned to avoid him lest he lash out at them for some supposed wrong he thinks they might have done to him, but the envious man is like a serpent slithering in tall grass. You just never know when he might strike.
Envy is ugly in all of its manifestations. It led to the death of Cain's brother Abel; whose offering was well-pleasing to the Lord while his own was rejected. It led to Esau and his progeny hating the people of Israel because God had chosen them over the Arabs to make his covenants with. Today, millions are dead because of the adherents of the Moon God. How the Pharisees and the Sadducees envied the successes of Jesus Christ. Consider the misfortune of Joseph, all because his brothers were zealous of a coat of many colors--and he would have died at their hands--except for God's hand in preserving Israel through Joseph. His brothers had meant evil against Joseph, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, to save much people alive.
Paul dealt with envy in his ministry, "If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself" (I Timothy 6:3-5 KJV).
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2020 7:14:52 GMT -6
"Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once" (Proverbs 28:18 KJV).
A double contrast: “whoso walketh uprightly” vs. “he that is perverse in his ways” and “shall be delivered” vs. “shall fall at once”. “He that walketh uprightly walketh surely; But he that perverteth his ways shall be known” (Proverbs 10:9). The right way to live proves to be the best way to live!
We should note that when the word "saved" is used in the Bible, it is not always talking about spiritual redemption. Often it refers to a physical safety. Stories have been told about men living for the Lord that have been protected in a dangerous situation because they had not yet finished their course, and the Lord still had a purpose for them on this earth. Honestly, when I've nothing left to do for the Lord in this life, I would not want to stay here five minutes more than absolutely necessary. I have family I'm in a hurry to see again.
This verse will have a future component for the remnant of Israel during the horrendous days of the Tribulation period, when they will flee from the Antichrist's grasp to enter into the mountainside fortress of Petra where they will be cared for, fed and protected for the remainder of the time of Jacob's trouble. These will be those that are living for the Lord in the midst of unprecedented evil, and in this case, God will certainly make a way of escape for them.
As to the wicked, well, "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy" (Proverbs 29:1 KJV).
This is one good argument for not fellowshipping and accompanying a fool that is openly and violently at odds with the God of the universe. At any moment God may say, "Enough!" and judgment may fall. It is best not to be in the same car as that person when it happens.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2020 7:32:19 GMT -6
“Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not . . . Many seek the ruler's favour; but every man's judgment cometh from the LORD” (Proverbs 29:24, 26).
“Whoso is partner with a thief,” what do they call a guy that's involved with a crime with another man? an accomplice. “Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul.” “I’m just along for the ride.” Well, stupid, you’re with the wrong guy. You shouldn’t have been in the car. This one fellow was out with a guy one night that shot up a bar, and he was just along for the ride. The cops would not have cared one way or the other. He’s just as guilty as the guy that pulled the trigger. I mean the bar got shot up and he was with the guy that did it. He could have been hauled into jail. He’s fortunate the guy didn’t kill somebody, or he would be an accomplice to murder. He sweated that thing out for three days, and he thought for sure that the guy had killed somebody.
“Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not,” in other words, he doesn't see or it's not revealed to him the trouble he is in. He doesn't get the message.
The passage that explains this somewhat is Judges 17:2: “And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my son.”
In the passage, Micah steals money from his mother and she curses him. He eventually returns it but that's where the thief and the cursing both show up in the passage.
This phrase, “it bewrayeth it not,” is that it's not revealed to them the crime and the potential of the reaping of the thing. It's a difficult passage to understand.
“Many seek the ruler's favour; but every man's judgment cometh from the LORD.”
“Many seek the ruler’s favour,” bribes, and other things like that. Lobby groups in America. “but every man's judgment cometh from the Lord,” in other words, you take people that have committed crimes; they try to get the rulers on their side so they can beat the rap. Well, many seek the rulers favor, but every man’s judgment is coming from the Lord. You may beat the rap down here with some of official on your side; but sooner or later, it’s going to catch up with you.
Sooner or later, God is going to bring you to task and you’ll have judgment for your sins, regardless of the rulers favor, like in verse 12 where you have wicked rulers who would listen to lies. Regardless of that, the ultimate judge will bring everything into judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:14) with every secret thing. He going to bring it all, and you can't beat it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 4:13:47 GMT -6
“There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness” (Proverbs 30:18-20).
Now, what he says is too wonderful is this. Number one, you can’t tell from whence the eagle came because there is no path there. You can’t tell where the boat came from, because the sea eventually erases the path. You can’t tell which way the serpent has come because he leaves no trail on a rock. See now, it's on a rock, it might leave a trail on the ground, but the way of a serpent on a rock, you don't know where it came from, and you don't know where it's going to.
And that's true of a man with a maid. You don't know what a man is going to do with a woman. You don't know where they come from when you see them, and you don't know where they're going. So, what he is saying is that he doesn’t know their destination, and the path is obliterated.
The eagle in prophecy is found in Ezekiel 17:1-7. In reference to Pharaoh and the Antichrist: “And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants. He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs. There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.”
The serpent is found in prophecy in Revelation 12:2-4, 9: “And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born . . . And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil.”
The ships are found in prophecy in Revelation 18:17-19. the ships show up, and the merchant ships that are connected with the downfall of great Babylon.
Now, the maid . . . hard to find. She could be Israel. But there is no doubt who the woman is in verse 20 of Proverbs 30. That would be Jezebel of Revelation 2:22; and Revelation 17:2, that corrupt harlot business system of Babylon; and Revelation 18:7, the harlot business system of the world. So, we know where the adulterous woman is, she is in the Tribulation. “. . . she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness,” and of course, after the evidence has been removed you couldn't prove it so; you don't know the way she came or the way she's going.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2020 6:39:16 GMT -6
A wife’s loyalty is a very precious thing to a man. Her dedication to domestic needs is part of her loyalty, so he will not have to worry or scrounge for anything for her family. Proverbs 31 has the best picture of a perfect woman, and here faithfulness is described.
TODAY’S VERSE:
“The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil” (Proverbs 31:11).
In verse 10, we saw her principles.
Notice her prudence in verse 11. She has prepared things ahead of time. Prudent means to be concerned about the future, and when it comes to finances and financial matters, and the home The Bible says the heart of her husband, not his head, but his heart he could trust her completely, so they have no need of spoil. In other words, he doesn't need to go out and get two jobs to keep the thing up because she's out with the charge card racking up huge bills and filling up the Visa card, charging this and charging that. He doesn't eat at need to rob folks or work 2 or 3 jobs to make ends meet. This woman has got some sense about the future.
She knows if you spend more than you make, you have a deficit. if you do that in our lives they come and take everything away from you. If government does it, that's alright. I don't think it's right for government to do that.
What if you are spending more money than you are making right now, and you plan in two years to finally started getting your budget in line. You won’t make it. Two years from now, you'll probably be in jail somewhere, for not paying your bills.
“The heart of her husband does safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.” I’ll tell you something else, he doesn’t need to buy her a whole lot of junk to keep her loyalty. “The heart of her husband does safely trust in her.”
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2020 7:14:30 GMT -6
It's amazing when you stop to think how much emphasis the Lord puts on preaching. How much emphasis He puts on the word of God. Our “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God,” and whatever else might be the case you are in the right place if you're under the Bible.
TODAY’S VERSE:
“Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets” (Proverbs 1:20 KJV).
“Wisdom crieth without,” one of the thoughts that come to mind is that picture of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation? “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20 KJV). In that verse, Christ is on the outside wanting entrance, but the door remained closed, just as the ears are shut to him in this first chapter of Proverbs. The people in the streets ignore that voice, for, one might conclude, that they don’t need what He is offering. They have all they need and are full, just as the last church before His return will think of themselves: “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17 KJV).
In both instances, the end result of ignoring the voice of Wisdom is utter destruction and a new sound upon their ears, the mocking laughter of the God of the universe, “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: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD” (Proverbs 1:26-29 KJV). Just as will be true of our modern-day scoffers: “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (I Thessalonians 2:10-12 KJV).
“. . . she uttereth her voice in the streets,” a most urgent message. What was it? Perhaps it was, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12 KJV). Or, maybe, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22 KJV). A few centuries later, that save voice of Wisdom cried again in the streets of Jerusalem, “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. . . Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:21, 28 KJV).
That voice is still crying in the streets, in the broad way to lost sinners to come home. How dare some suggest that God is only interested in a chosen few, and that the Blood of Jesus Christ was not sufficient to cover the sins of the entire world, but just a limited number. How does the Saviour call man to search for Him when they have been denied that privilege by the Father? How long will the heretical false gospel of Calvin be allowed?
The Saviour/Wisdom is also crying in the narrow road, Christian. He is calling for the wandering believer to return to fellowship. While it is blessedly true that we will not hear the mocking, taunting voice of God on some future day—we still stand the peril of “suffering loss” at His glorious throne of judgment. In many ways, and to a great degree, that may well be worse.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2020 4:34:38 GMT -6
Wisdom cries in the broad way and in the narrow way for any that will hear, today we see that if we would be wise, we must cry after wisdom and seek her as one would a hidden treasure. Wisdom initially calls any that would hear and offer to bear their load of guilt and free them from the shackles of sin, but wisdom has so much more to offer, to any that will diligently seek after her.
TODAY’S VERSE:
“Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding” (Proverbs 2:3 KJV).
I remember that when I was about ten years old, we went shopping at our local Eagle grocery store and were given volume one of some encyclopedia set which had, I believer, about 30 volumes. If we wanted to complete the set, we had to return to the store on a weekly basis and pay a modest $4.99 for the next volume. The first was a free gift, but the rest cost $144.71 on the store’s installment-type plan. I even saw that first volume in my parent’s house some years later. We only had the one that was free.
I have often thought of that in relation to salvation. The initial act of accepting God’s gift of eternal life always seemed to me similar to getting that free book. However, if you wanted to grow in faith, it was going to cost something in the area of commitment and faithfulness to spiritual things. Peter writes: “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Peter 1:4-8 KJV).
The promises were ours, and yes, they were exceeding great and precious, but to enjoy them to their fullest it was required of us to give all diligence and to add those promises one by one. As we were faithful to attain one, we would work (yes, I said work, Christian growth is surely a work) to reach the next level, so to speak. If we became stagnate in our life for Christ, we would not grow in our faith. God would not give us something new until we worked out the old. And Peter warned, “But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins” (II Peter 1:9 KJV).
I believe that we, then, see two characteristics of Divine Wisdom: She is found in her fullest expression only by those that are willing to diligently seek her; and, if rejected, she turns into a most scornful and unforgiving foe.
If the lost reject her, they will hear the mocking laughter of God as they seek for help where none is; for the child of God, they will stand empty of rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ where it is written that they “shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (I Corinthians 3:15).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2020 8:00:19 GMT -6
“My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments” (Proverbs 3:1 KJV).
You might break the chapter down into three sections. Notice in verse 1, “my son”, in verse 11, “my son,” and in verse 21, “my son.” Each section begins with that refrain. If you want to apply it to a Christian, this is Solomon speaking to his own children. God talking to His own nation, Israel. But then again, God is speaking to His own children—the born again believer in this age, “my son.” Everybody that is saved is a son of God, so you can apply it.
“forget not . . .” You might know that whenever we are told not to forget, what is the tendency? To forget! “My son, forget not my law . . .” In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (12:13-14). All that Solomon went through, in his life, he came down to this conclusion.
All that Solomon went through in the book of Ecclesiastes, I don’t know if you’ve ever seen it or not, or if you’ve taken the time to go through there, but in this book is every philosophy that has ever been known under the sun. Usually a philosopher is somebody that doesn’t work, and soaks up off of somebody else.
Epicureanism is found: “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour” (Ecc 2:24 KJV).
Socialism is found: “Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field” (Ecc 5:9 KJV). That’s communism, that’s socialism. The whole thing is to be shared by everybody—a commune situation.
How does Ecclesiastes start out? “There is nothing new under the sun.” And after Solomon goes through the whole thing, he says, “fear God and keep his commandments.” Marx didn’t, and wound up in hell.
Capitalism is found: “There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt” (Ecc 5:13 KJV). The owner owns his own capital, and usually it is to his own hurt. Why? Well, because people get to where they trust in the capital.
Altruism is found: “When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?” (Ecc 5:11 KJV), the unselfish concern for the welfare of others.
Materialism in 5:10, Deism in 5:2, Nihilism is in 3:20, Paganism in 4:2, Agnosticism in 3:11, Pessimism in 2:20, Fatalism in 2:23, Hedonism in 2:10, Epistemology in 2:2, Empiricism in 1:16, Metaphysics and Cosmology in 1:13, Atheism in 9:10, Agnosticism in 8:17, Modernism in 9:7, Existentialism in 11:8. They are all in there. He went through them all. And when he got to the end he said, “keep the law.” Why? Because we have to stand before God. Really, do you know what philosophy is? It is man trying to outthink God. Do you know what religion is? It is man trying to justify himself before God.
Faith in God is you justifying God and condemning yourself before Him. Religion is justifying self. Philosophy is outthinking God. Science is man’s attempt to prove his philosophical thinking.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 4, 2020 7:19:05 GMT -6
“He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee” (Proverbs 4:4-6 KJV).
Get—get—get! That’s what Americans want. Do you know why stores are open until 10:00? Because people just can’t quit buying. People are insatiable spenders. They can’t control it. And the stores know it. So, the stores open earlier and stay open later. Get wisdom instead! You don’t need all that junk. All it means is that down the road you are just going to have a big garage sale and gets pennies on the dollar.
“Get wisdom!” You’ll never put wisdom in a garage sale. Get wisdom. Get it! Don’t let it get by you.
“Forget it not,” once you get it, don’t let go of it. Hang on to it. Don’t let it flee. You can learn this book. You can learn the doctrines of the book, through repetition, but if you don’t stay in the book, you’ll forget them. You take a Christian that backslides 4-5 years, he has a hard time remembering all the stuff he learned while he was faithful. He couldn’t remember what he knew just a few years before.
That stuff is all connected with spiritual power and spiritual fellowship with God. You stop the fellowship and those things will go away. You’ll lose the simplest stuff as that flesh takes over so quickly.
“Get wisdom . . . neither decline from the words of my mouth, Forsake her not . . .” And this is the promise: “and she shall preserve thee.” “Love her,” and this is the promise, “and she shall keep thee.”
“. . . she shall preserve thee,” well, when a Christian wises up to salvation, it says in Timothy that the “holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation” (II Timothy 3:15). Will wisdom preserve thee? “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ [the wisest thing we ever did was trust in Christ]. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:12-13 KJV). And, “grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30 KJV).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2020 8:23:37 GMT -6
In order to be truly saved, a man must first know that he is truly and completely lost. It is at this heavenly vision that I believe that every man and woman experience the fact that the greatest transaction of heaven or earth is completed. It is at that moment when our dirty hands reach out to receive the purest prize available in all the universe, and upon receiving, our filthy hands become washed in the soap of Christ’s Blood. And we are “new creatures in Christ!”
TODAY’S VERSE:
“I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly” (Proverbs 5:14 KJV).
It is a most wonderful miracle when a young child, before he has had the misfortune to discover the depths of sin, is miraculously saved because a parent, Sunday school teacher, bus worker, or friend cared enough to give him the gospel and show him how to be saved. To meet a young man that has kept himself pure, that has grown into a strong, vibrant Christian unscathed from the ravages of sin is to have a glimpse into the very throne room of God. To attend a wedding where two chaste virgins are uniting their love for one another to a life where God is honored is a treasure to behold. And to know that these things are still possible in our debauched society gives one a modicum of hope.
Sadly, this is not always the case. Thank God that He is still saving men and women who have been ravished by the world, the flesh, and the Devil. I believe that in every instance of authentic salvation, there is a moment of realization unlike anything ever experienced in that person’s life. It is a moment where a pit is exposed, and one is able to see themselves in exactly the way that God sees them. Thoroughly lost and completely condemned.
“I was almost in all evil,” is the instant that a sinner recognized that there is but a step between him and hell. In fact, in a very real sense, the gates of hell are thrust open and a future glimpse of themselves burning in that preternatural furnace is lain open for display. As if that were not frightening enough, it is accompanied with the secure knowledge that that is where we belong, that that is our just deserts. It is at that moment in time when all the sins of our life are revealed of the things that we are guilty; our contempt for God, our parents, all authority and all the lewdness of our preceding years are laid bare. It is then that we are forced to realize that we are existing at the very brink of hell itself, except for a single heartbeat, we are standing on the precipice of eternity.
“. . . in the midst of the congregation and assembly,” we discover that our supposed morality was nothing more than a cheap whitewash, and, though we had not a name for it, somehow we understood that “we were an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as a filthy rag,” and we understand as we never had before the true cost of our iniquities, for “the wages of sin is death.”
It is a beautiful thing when a child receives Christ and is permitted to escape the life of sin that we who are saved later in live are exposed to. However, that is not completely the best thing, for there is nothing to compare to the realization that years of debauchery of a lifetime are suddenly and completely and eternally gone and left in its place is a child of the living God as holy and as pure as a new born babe. I have yet to hear, and am unable to communicate, any word that truly describes the translation from being a child of Satan to becoming a son of God in as quick a time as the tick of a clock.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2020 5:44:29 GMT -6
In the Old Testament, for a man to commit certain kinds of sin, it would cut him off from the covenant of Israel and he would lose his own soul. He would wind up in hell. There was no such thing as eternal security than.
TODAY’S VERSE:
“But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away” (Proverbs 6:32-33 KJV).
The man that stole the bread ran the risk of losing his possessions, and a man can still make it through this life without possessions. But, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36 KJV).
In the New Testament, Paul says when you sin this kind of sin you sin against your own body, “What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body” (I Corinthians 6:16-18 KJV).
“Flee fornication.” That is any type of unnatural, unsanctioned sex. It is any type of sexual activity that is not under the situation of marriage.
Proverbs says that such a man “lacketh understanding,” and “destroyeth his own soul.” It is a sin that is worthy of death.
Why does God look at it like this? What was the motive of the thief? Hunger. What is the adulterers’ motive? Lust. See the difference? What happens if he gets caught?
“A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away,” the problem in America is that this country has become desensitized regarding dishonor. Americans generally don’t have any personal integrity or honor. They get into debt over their head, they go and declare bankruptcy. But rather than learn from their error, they repeat the cycle. There are very few things a man can retain in this life. A fortune may be fleeting, and success may only be for a season, but a man should be able to hold on to his honor. “A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away,” adultery is a social sin that a man will take to the grave.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2020 7:20:07 GMT -6
Why does the father go over and over godly instruction in Proverbs? Because he is “training up” his son for the future day when he won’t be there to act as his guide and tutor: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6 KJV).
TODAY’S VERSE:
“My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee” (Proverbs 7:1 KJV).
There will come a day in every person’s life that only memories will suffice when they need a word of advice from a parent. It is our divine duty as parents to see that those memories are Bible rich and not worldly wise. Oh, friend, this is why we must guard our emotions at all times so that our words are not words of anger and frustration, but words laced “alway with grace, seasoned with salt” which will be repeated countless times in tomorrow’s thought life of our children.
No wonder that we live in a world filled with angry men; for growing up all they knew was anger from those whose duty it was to nurture and prepare them for the coming of adulthood, but as anger was all the parent knew, that was all the parent could bestow. Those families that know the Lord and are blessed to be able to name the name of Christ in their home, are doubly blessed to be able to influence the next generation with a legacy of faith.
Proverbs uses a lot of repetition. The Word takes it for granted that we do not remember everything we hear, so it says it over and over again. That’s one way we learn—through repetition, through association, and experience—so he says again, “My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.” In 3:8 it says that if we “keep my commandments, and live” (vs. 2), “It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones” (3:8).
Even for a Christian, this is true, for “if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13 KJV). Words to the wise is sufficient.
“Bind them upon thy fingers.” A book is bound, and we talk about that being the Bible. “Write them upon the table of thine heart. Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman” (Proverbs 7:3-4 KJV). In other words, get as close as you can as you would to your own family. “That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words” (Proverbs 7:5 KJV).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2020 7:19:21 GMT -6
“When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water [The Trinity was separated sometime in eternity]. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth [Genesis 1:1]: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep [Genesis 7:11]: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him” (Proverbs 8:24-30 KJV).
That is how He brings Noah’s flood in, He opens the windows of heaven and the fountains of the deep were broken up.
“. . . when he appointed the foundations of the earth,” what does the earth stand on? What holds it up? The Word of God: “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3 KJV).
God’s Word holds the waters where they are, the deep where it is, the earth where it is, and the whole solar system in place—not science, false so-called. There are millions of science books that are out-of-date at the Louvre in France. There is a bookshelf there that is five miles long of nothing but outdated science books. It is said that by the time a science book is published, it is outdated, and they have discovered new things that prove the previous “scientific” facts were untrue. Forget science and believe the Bible.
The world is held up by Jesus Christ, Who created all things: “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17 KJV).
“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding” (Job 38:4 KJV).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2020 7:16:44 GMT -6
A good person running with a bad crowd will not usually improve the crowd, but the crowd will more likely turn the good person into one of themselves.
TODAY’S VERSE:
“Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars” (Proverbs 9:1 KJV).
We need to turn back to chapter 8 to see what these seven pillars are:
“I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength” (Proverbs 8:12-14 KJV).
Today, we will consider prudence.
Webster’s 1828 says the following about the word.
PRU'DENCE, n. [L. prudentia.] Wisdom applied to practice.
Prudence implies caution in deliberating and consulting on the most suitable means to accomplish valuable purposes, and the exercise of sagacity in discerning and selecting them. Prudence differs from wisdom in this, that prudence implies more caution and reserve than wisdom, or is exercised more in foreseeing and avoiding evil, than in devising and executing that which is good. It is sometimes mere caution or circumspection.
Prudence is principally in reference to actions to be done, and due means, order, season and method of doing or not doing.
The first instance of prudence in the book of Proverbs is found in chapter 1:
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood” (Proverbs 1:10-16 KJV).
The first pillar of wisdom is to avoid evil, wicked companions, and builds upon the “consent thou not” of verse 10. The first step toward folly is to follow the crowd and join a flock of bad birds, for birds of a feather will flock together.
How clearly this truth is given by Paul: “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners,” or as someone later decided to comment, “a rotten apple spoils the bunch.”
If you want to be wise, your first pillar is walk with the Lord and His people and avoid the things of the world.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2020 3:58:53 GMT -6
“It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom. The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted” (Proverbs 10:23-24 KJV).
“It is as sport to a fool to do mischief,” that’s what he enjoys. He enjoys lying, he enjoys being a joke, a jest, or some mischief.
“but a man of understanding hath wisdom,” he is wise, so he just doesn’t do it. He realizes that it isn’t going to help any body and that it might just hurt somebody. Joking doesn’t produce any good, just bad, so he knows enough to simply avoid it.
“The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him,” in other words, what the unsaved fear the most—that’s what is going to happen to them. Deep down inside he knows what he deserves, and he is not surprised when it happens. And he is hoping against hope that it is only purgatory. No matter how much they claim to the contrary, he knows there is a hell—but he’s hoping against hope that his religion or morality is going to keep him out, but his fear is what he will reap.
“. . . but the desire of the righteous shall be granted,” of course, the qualification here is to be righteous—in faith. When a man is right with God and they ask God for something that is right, God will grant it. “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not” (Jeremiah 33:3 KJV).
Does that mean that one can ask for a new Cadillac? It says the “desire of the righteous,” and knowing who you are and what you deserve, you may only be asking for a Volkswagen. That is a great prayer promise.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2020 8:02:52 GMT -6
“They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight” (Proverbs 11:20 KJV).
This is a “froward” heart, not a “forward heart.” . . . a perverse heart. A homosexual is froward, a lesbian is froward, a prostitute is froward—that is a perverted act of sex. Adultery, fornication, any type of illicit relations is perverseness. Any kind of rebellion against God in spiritual matters (spiritual adultery) is a perverse action or attitude. That is frowardness.
All this comes from the old carnal, wicked heart just having what it wants and having its own way in opposition to God’s standard of righteousness.
“They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD,” they just can’t do right. The Bible says back in Genesis 6 that “GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (vs. 5).
“They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD,” that is why Romans 6 says that “they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” This is because our human heart, our carnal heart, our fleshly heart is forward. It is perverse. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9 KJV). Our heart is “desperately wicked,” it is a rebel, it is a criminal.
The only thing to get that thing right is to purify that heart with the Blood of Jesus Christ, and even then, you are going to have problems with it until the day you die.
“. . . but such as are upright [the heart is right, in tune with God, yielded to God] in their way are his delight,” we have the expression, “that was downright dirty, or downright mean,” no one says, “that was upright nice.” Why would a person be “upright in their way?” Because they are upright in their heart. Basically we are what our heart is: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23 KJV). Jesus said, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:18-19 KJV).
A man that has good ways, right ways, is a delight to God. It isn’t because he is “doing” right, it is because he “is” right. You and I observe a man’s actions, but God looks upon the heart, his thoughts, and his motives. God delights just because a man does right, we have religious people all over the country that do good all the time, but that doesn’t mean that they are right with God. That doesn’t mean that they are pleasing God, God hates an outward show if the inward heart isn’t right.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2020 5:36:41 GMT -6
Wickedness may prosper for the moment but not forever. We were all wicked in our natural estate before we were saved, but because of the righteousness of Another, we are blessed to stand on an everlasting foundation. Indeed, blessed are they that are “in Christ!”
TODAY’S VERSE:
“A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved” (Proverbs 12:3 KJV).
“The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand” (Proverbs 12:7 KJV), and “As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation” (Proverbs 10:25 KJV).
This was very true of Saul and his children, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23 KJV). Saul acted wickedly on a number of occasions because of his iniquitous heart. His presumptuous sacrifice resulted in his being told that his kingdom would be taken and given to another. He was judged as unfit to rule in God’s name, but generally this would not happen until his death. Saul continued to rebel and reject God’s authority, but as he kept sinning in the face of God’s patience he ultimately was to die before his time. His house was not established due to his personal wickedness.
Yet, the target of the king’s wrath, David, had his house established by obedience: “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever” (2 Samuel 7:12-16 KJV). The kingdom of David is rooted forever with Israel’s history. As long as there was a kingdom in Jerusalem, there was a son of David to sit upon the throne. Twenty direct descendants of David sat on the throne. Ultimately, David’s throne will be an eternal throne with the Messiah Himself, a son of David, presiding.
“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” (Ephesians 3:14-21 KJV).
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