PROVERBS 3
bedience brings a good reputation verse 1- 4
My son – forget not my law
BUT let your heart keep my commandments
for length of days – long life – peace
shall they add to you
Let not mercy and truth forsake you
bind them about your neck
write them upon the table of your heart
so shall you find favor and good understanding
in the sight of God and man
Trust in the LORD to direct to right path verse 5- 6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not unto your own understanding
in all your ways acknowledge HIM
and HE shall direct your paths
Health comes from the fear of the LORD verse 7- 8
Be not wise in your own eyes – fear the LORD
and depart from evil
it shall be health to your navel
and marrow to your bones
Money prospers if you honor the LORD verse 9- 10
Honor the LORD with your substance
and with the firstfruits of all your increase
so shall your barns be filled with plenty
and your presses shall burst out
with new wine
Love is found in chastening of the LORD verse 11- 12
My son – despise not the chastening of the LORD
neither be weary of HIS correction
for whom the LORD loves HE corrects
even as a father the son in whom he delights
Find wisdom which comes from the LORD verse 13- 18
Happy is the man that finds wisdom
and the man that gets understanding
for the merchandise of it is
better than the merchandise of silver
and the gain thereof than fine gold
She is more precious than rubies
and all the things you can desire
are not to be compared to her
length of days is in her right hand
and in her left hand riches and honor
Her ways are ways of pleasantness – and all her paths are peace
she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her
and happy is every one that retains her
LORD used wisdom to create the world verse 19- 20
The LORD by wisdom has founded the earth
by understanding has HE established the heavens
by HIS knowledge the depths are broken up
and the clouds drop down the dew
Sound wisdom and discretion will provide safety verse 21- 26
My son – let not them depart from thine eyes
keep sound wisdom and discretion
so shall they be life your soul
and grace to your neck
THEN shall you walk in your way safely
and your foot shall not stumble
WHEN you lie down – you shall not be afraid – yea
you shall lie down – and your sleep shall be sweet
Be not afraid of sudden fear
neither of the desolation of the wicked
when it comes
FOR the LORD shall be your confidence
and shall keep your foot from being taken
Be a giver to your neighbors verse 27- 28
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due
when it is in the power of your hand to do it
say not to your neighbor
Go – and come again – and tomorrow I will give
when you have it by you
Treat neighbor well verse 29- 30
Devise not evil against your neighbor
seeing he dwells securely by you
strive not with a man without cause
IF he have done you no harm
Be friends with the righteous verse 31- 32
Envy you not the oppressor – and choose none of his ways
FOR the forward is abomination to the LORD
BUT HIS secret is with the righteous
Contrasts between good and evil verse 33- 35
The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked
BUT HE blesses the habitation of the just
Surely HE scorns the scorner
BUT HE gives grace to the lowly
The wise shall inherit glory
BUT shame shall be the promotion of fools
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not to your own understanding. (982 “trust” [batah] means confide, confidence, secure, fear nothing, lead to believe, or feel safe.)
DEVOTION: When we become followers of the LORD Jesus Christ we are to put our full confidence in HIS love and teachings. HE doesn’t want us to be halfway committed to HIM. HIS desire is for our whole heart.
HE would like us to read HIS Word and follow it to the fullest extent. There are promises associated with obedience to HIS commands. Length of day is one promise. Peace is another promise. A third promise to those who follow the LORD is that they will have a good relationship with God and man.
Too often we try to take matters into our own hands and do what is right in our own eyes and it leads to destruction. Then we wonder what happened. We tried to do everything right but it failed.
All through the Bible we find individuals who have done their own thing and then found themselves in trouble. They finally cried out to the LORD for help and with repentance the LORD sent help. HE wants us to live a healthy life but that only comes with obedience.
We are safe in HIS hands. Our problem is that we are selfish and lazy and don’t want to wait for HIS timing to send us the blessing HE has promised. We want to have it right away and that causes us problems and many sorrows.
Our prayer should be that we will not lean on our own understanding and acknowledge HIM. When we do this HE will direct our lives in a way that will be pleasing to HIM and a blessing to us.
CHALLENGE: Memorize verses five and six in this chapter and have others listen to the verses. Then ask them what the verses mean to them.)
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 9 Honor the LORD with your substance, and with the firstfruits of all your increase. (3513 “honor” [kabad] means glorify, distinguish, respect, to be heavy, to be weighty, be rich, or be glorious.
DEVOTION: Solomon continues to give wisdom to his son. He promises his son that he will have long life and peace if he follows the LORD. His son needs to trust the LORD.
One of the areas where he needs to trust the LORD is in the area of finances. Here we find a hard subject at the beginning of the book dealing with living right. When we give the LORD the first check written each pay period we will be blessed. It is one way that we show the LORD that we trust HIM.
All of our money comes from HIM. HE is the one who gives us the strength to earn it. HE is the one who gives us the intelligence to spend it wisely. Our responsibility as followers of the LORD is to give HIM glory with our lives.
One serious area where we struggle in our lives is with the spending of our money. Sometimes that is the hardest area to give back to the LORD. There is a promise given in the next verse that says that if we give glory to the LORD through our giving, HE will give us blessings. This is not the health and wealth gospel preached by some. We are not giving to get. So our motive should not be to give so that we can get? Right!!
We give because we love HIM for HIS gift of salvation. We give with a cheerful heart because of the promise of eternal life. Our motive is important.
In America those who give to religious organizations receive tax credit for their giving. Some people give only to receive the tax credit. That might end at anytime and then there has to be a decision as to whether they will continue to give. This giving deals with motive.
There needs to be more instruction regarding our giving. The New Testament even teaches that we should be giving ten percent of our income to the LORD. Many question this practice. So there needs to be individual searching of the Scripture regarding our responsibility to give. Once we have studied and asked the LORD –give properly.
Are we giving lovingly to the LORD? Or are we giving because we feel we have to and give grudgingly? The LORD knows our motives. HE has blessed us with so much, we should be very thankful to HIM.
CHALLENGE: Be persuaded by the Word of God regarding our income and what we give to the LORD. Study to show yourself approved unto God.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 21 “My son, let them not depart from your eyes— Keep sound wisdom and
discretion;” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). (Discretion: 4209 מְזִמָּה [mâzimmah /mez·im·maw/] n f. From 2161; TWOT 556c; GK 4659; 19 occurrences; AV translates as “discretion” four times, “wicked device” three times, “device” three times, “thought” three times, “intents” once, “mischievous device” once, “wickedly” once, “witty inventions” once, “lewdness” once, and “mischievous” once. 1 purpose, discretion, device, plot. 1A purpose. 1B discretion. 1C devices (evil). James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2001)
DEVOTION: Last night I walked home from church after prayer meeting and as I was walking a couple of incidents occurred that made me pause and pray. The first was two teens driving vehicles that they decided needed to be turned sharply. The second one, as it was sliding hit the curb. The loud noise sounded like someone had been hit or something had been hit. Neighbors came out to look and the teens just laughed and thought nothing of the incident. The second occurred just a few minutes later as I walked. Some young boys were playing in the school yard and laughing together. Their voices filled the night air and it appeared innocent until they spoke. Then it was cursing and language that should not be used by young people at any time. Both incidents caused me to be troubled at the lack of discernment! Solomon was instructing his son to be wise; to value discernment and use of wisdom! Inappropriate action and words demonstrated that these young people were not being wise or discretionary.
Before you speak or act rashly consider what Solomon is teaching his son about understanding and discretion.
CHALLENGE: Your actions reveal your values when parents or people in authority are not around. Consider what you are saying by your deeds!
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: 29 Devise not evil against your neighbor, seeing he dwells securely by you. (2790 “Devise” [charash] means to cut in, engrave, to plough, to plan secretly, usually something wicked, cut in, to fabricate, plan, plot against, or device evil things.)
DEVOTION: We should only have one goal regarding our neighbors and that is to show them what a genuine Christian is supposed to be like. We should never think of a way to hurt our neighbor even it they are not treating us right in our own eyes.
We are the best witness for the LORD in our neighborhood. There will always be those who will not like us because of our love for the LORD but if we treat them right consistently they will know that there is something to our belief in God.
Our goal should be to help our neighbor that doesn’t love the LORD in any way that we can to be a good witness for the LORD. Some will respond but others will treat you worse because they don’t want to have anything with our God or our church.
Our prayer life needs to be used to help is be a good neighbor even to those who treat us bad. The LORD will deal with them in HIS time and in HIS way. HE wants us to always be the neighbor HE wants us to be no matter what.
Today we find that being a Christian is not what it used to be. Our world is changing and it is not for the better. We have to stand up and be counted as those who are genuine believers even when there are other believers who are not doing what they should be doing. We have to answer to the LORD and so do they.
The problem is that sometimes the ones who are not treating us well are those who claim to be believer. It is still our responsibility to treat them well. They will answer to the LORD and they will lose their blessing if they are genuine believers. Pray for them.
CHALLENGE: We live in a day and age when it is hard to tell who are genuine believers and who are not. Even those who go to church each Sunday might not be genuine believers and our witness is important to them as well.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Chastening of the LORD verse 11
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Honor the LORD with your substance verse 9
Firstfruits verse 9
Barns full verse 10
Presses shall burst verse 10
Give due to those worthy verse 27- 28
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Law verse 1
Commandments verse 1
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 4
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 19, 26, 32, 33
LORD will direct the path of
those who acknowledge HIM verse 6
Honor the LORD with your substance verse 9
Correction of the LORD verse 11, 12
LORD founded earth by wisdom verse 19
LORD by understanding established the heaven verse 19
By HIS knowledge verse 20
the depths are broken up
the clouds drop the dew
HIS secret is with the righteous verse 32
Curse of the LORD in house of wicked verse 33
LORD blesses the house of the just verse 33
HE scorns the scorners verse 34
HE gives grace to the lowly verse 34
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Man verse 4, 13
Son verse 11, 12, 21
Father verse 12
Wicked verse 25
Neighbor verse 28, 29
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Leaning on your own understanding verse 5
Wise in your own eyes verse 7
Evil verse 7, 29
Afraid verse 24, 25
Wicked verse 25, 33
Devising evil against neighbor verse 29
Strive with another man without cause verse 30
Envy verse 31
Forward verse 32
Abomination verse 32
Curse of the LORD verse 33
Scorner verse 34
Shame promotion of fools verse 35
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Length of days verse 2, 16
Peace verse 2, 17
Mercy verse 3
Truth verse 3
Write commandments on heart verse 3
Favor verse 4
Good understanding verse 4, 13
Trust verse 5
Lean not on own understanding verse 6
Acknowledge the LORD verse 6
Direction verse 6
Not wise in your own eyes verse 7
Fear of the LORD verse 7
Depart from evil verse 7
Spiritual health verse 8
Honor the LORD with possessions verse 9
Give firstfruits to the LORD verse 9
Blessings flow to givers verse 10, 27, 28
Despise not the chastening of the LORD verse 11, 12
Loved of the LORD verse 12
Happy verse 13
Wisdom verse 13- 21
Better than merchandise
silver or gold
More precious than rubies
Length of days in her right hand
Riches and honor in left hand
Way of pleasantness
Path is peace
Happy is everyone that retains her
Riches verse 16
Honor verse 16
Happiness verse 18
Discretion verse 21
Walk safely verse 23
Confidence verse 26
Righteous verse 32
Just verse 33
Grace verse 34
Lowly verse 34
Wise verse 35
Inheritance verse 35
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Proverbs of Solomon verse 1- 35
Instruction of son
Keep my commandments
Length of days and long life
Peace
Practice mercy and truth
Favor and good understanding
with God and man
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
Lean not on your own understanding
In all your ways acknowledge HIM
Fear the LORD
Health given
Honor the LORD with your substance
Give LORD firstfruits – barns full
Talking to his son
Correction of children by LORD and father
Keep sound wisdom and discretion
Life to your soul
Grace to your neck
Walk in the way safely
Foot shall not stumble
Not be afraid when you lay down
Sleep will be sweet
LORD needs to be your confidence
Keep your foot from being taken
Don’t withhold good from them it is due
Treat neighbor right
Choose none of the ways of oppressor
HIS secret is with the righteous
Gives grace to the lowly
Gives grace to the lowly
Wise will inherit glory
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Wise will inherit glory verse 35
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QUOTES regarding passage
31–35 In dealing with neighbors, one should avoid envying or emulating (LXX) a violent person (cf. Ps 73:3–5). This warning is followed by the reasons, expressed in a series of contrasts. On the one side, the Lord detests the perverse (v. 32), curses the house of the wicked (v. 33), mocks proud mockers (v. 34; see Notes), and holds fools up to shame (v. 35). But the upright he is pleased with (v. 32), blesses their home (v. 33), gives grace to the humble (v. 34), and bequeaths honor to the wise (v. 35). So wise and upright behavior pleases God and results in his blessing. (Ross, A. P. (1991). Proverbs. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Vol. 5, p. 921). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
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3:27–35. These verses include five sample maxims about relationships with others, with verses 27–31 each beginning with the words Do not. These are examples of what it means to be wise. They may be grouped into three relationships (vv. 27–28, 29–30, 31–32): (1) The command Do not withhold good from those who deserve it (v. 27) is literally, “Do not withhold good from its owners.” The idea is, fulfill an obligation such as paying wages to a hired laborer (Lev. 19:13b; Deut. 24:15). Proverbs 3:28 seems to reinforce the point of verse 27, but it may expand the idea to being generous to the poor. This is “right and just and fair” (1:3). (2) To harm … a neighbor (3:29) violates his trust, and to accuse him falsely (v. 30) violates the ninth commandment (Ex. 20:16). To plot translates ḥāraš, “to plow,” from which comes the idea of plans being thought up or devised as furrows in a field are plowed. The word is also used in Proverbs 6:14, 18 (“devises”); 12:20; 14:22 (twice: “plot” and “plan”). (3) Some people envy a violent man (3:31; cf. 23:17; 24:1, 19) because they see the money he has or the pleasures he supposedly enjoys. But God gives four reasons why such envy is uncalled for: (1) The Lord hates such a perverse (from lûz, “to be devious”; cf. 14:2) person, whereas the upright in contrast enjoys fellowship with God (3:32). (2) The Lord curses the wicked but … blesses … the righteous (v. 33). (3) God mocks arrogant mockers (cf. comments on 1:22), causing their actions to boomerang on them, whereas the humble receive His grace (cf. James. 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). (4) The wise are honored (cf. Prov. 3:16) but fools (kesîl; see comments on 1:7) are shamed. These verses show that the words “upright,” “righteous,” “the humble,” and “the wise” are basically synonymous in the Book of Proverbs. (Buzzell, S. S. (1985). Proverbs. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 913). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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A positive relationship with others (Prov. 3:27–35) is a fourth blessing the believer enjoys when he or she walks in the wisdom of God. Wise Christians will be generous to their neighbors and live peaceably with them (vv. 27–30), doing their best to avoid unnecessary disagreements (Rom. 12:18). After all, if we truly love God, we will love our neighbor as we would want him to love us.
On the other hand, if our neighbor is a perverse person who scoffs at our faith (Prov. 3:31–35), the Lord will guide us in letting our light shine and His love show so that we will influence him but he won’t lead us astray. Sometimes it takes a great deal of patience, prayer, and wisdom to rightly relate to people who don’t want Christians in the neighborhood, but perhaps that’s why God put us there.
It’s possible to have a godly home in the midst of an ungodly neighborhood, for God “blesses the home of the righteous” (v. 33, NIV). We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, and one dedicated Christian in a neighborhood can make a great deal of difference and be a powerful witness for the Lord. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Skillful (p. 41). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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Ver. 35. The wise shall inherit glory, &c.] The wise are the same with the just and lowly before mentioned, to whom God gives grace, and to these he gives glory. The wise are such who are so, not in a natural, civil, or notional sense, or that are wise in the things of nature, in civil affairs and in speculative matters of religion; but in a spiritual sense, who are wise unto salvation; who know themselves, the sinfulness of their nature, their inability to do that which is good, and their want of righteousness to justify them before God; who are sensible of the sickness and diseases of their souls, their spiritual poverty, and their great folly and ignorance with respect to things of a spiritual nature; who know Christ, and him crucified, the way of peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation by him; that know him, not only notionally, but so as to apply unto him, and rest on him for salvation; who build it on him the foundation, on him only, and give him all the glory of it; and who have also a competent knowledge of the Gospel, and a comfortable experience of the truths of it; and who take up a profession of religion upon such an experience, and hold it fast without depending on it, and have a conversation becoming it, walking circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Now these shall inherit glory; not the glory of this world, or honour among men in it; but the glory of another, of which the glory of this world, and of the most excellent things in it, is but a faint resemblance: it is unseen, inconceivable, and incomparable; it is an eternal glory which Christ is entered into, and the same the Father has given him; and will lie in the vision of God, and communion with him; in beholding the glory of Christ, and in having a glory put upon them both in soul and body: and this they shall enjoy as an inheritance; not by purchase or acquisition, but by free gift; as a bequest of their Father; which comes to them as children, through the death of Christ the testator, and will be possessed for ever, as inheritances run. But shame shall be the promotion of fools; not fools in a natural, but in a religious sense; such who know not themselves, nor the way of salvation; who mock at sin, and scoff at religion: these and every one of these shall take or lift up shame, as their part and portion, alluding to the heave-offering under the law, in opposition to the glory the wise shall inherit and possess. Or, shame shall lift up foolsn; hold them forth, and make them manifest and conspicuous: all the promotion they shall be raised unto will be only shame and confusion, if not in this world, yet in that to come; for, when they shall rise from the dead, it will be to shame and everlasting contempt, Dan. 12:2. The Targum is, “fools shall receive tribulation;” that shall be their inheritance in the other world. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 4, p. 352). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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The path of wisdom is not only one of inherent goodness; it is also one of inherited glory: “The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools” (Proverbs 3:35). The word translated “fool” here means “dense, stupid.” In contrast to the shame that fools pile up, the wise fall heir to glory.
Think of the glory that the world gave to David Livingstone, the son of humble parents. He went to Africa to be a missionary—to evangelize what, in those days, was a savage continent. When he saw the horrors of the slave trade, he added another goal to his purpose: to emancipate the slaves. The stories he brought back from the missionfield awoke the conscience of England. When he penetrated deeper into Africa, he realized that someone needed to unravel the puzzle of the tangle of great rivers that drained the heart of the continent. Wanting to find the hidden sources of the Nile, he decided to add another goal: to explore.
This humble missionary was concerned only with the glory of God and the good of the benighted Africans. During his furloughs, however, he was lauded and lionized by his countrymen. When he disappeared, a major American newspaper funded Stanley’s mission to find him.
When this lowly missionary, whose practical wisdom was renowned, died alone on his knees by his camp cot far from civilization, his heart was cut out and buried in the country he loved. His body was carried to the coast and sent home to England where he was given a state funeral and buried in Westminster Abbey. Perhaps the greatest of all tributes given in this world was bestowed by Punch, a magazine ordinarily devoted to humor:
He needs no epitaph to guard his name,
Which men shall prize while worthy work is known.
He lived and died for God, be this his fame,
Let marble crumble, this is living stone.
The words inscribed on the brass plate that marks his resting place in the Abbey would perhaps have pleased the missionary more: “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring” (John 10:16). (Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring Proverbs 1–19: An Expository Commentary (Vol. 1, Pr 3:35). Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp.)
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35. The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools; (exalteth the fools; Marg.)
This is the last contrast drawn to restrain our envy at the prosperity of the wicked. It carries us forward to eternity. The difference between these two classes is not always shown to man’s vision. But the day cometh, when all shall “discern” in the full light of eternity.2 The wise—the heirs of glory—are identified with the lowly—the heirs of grace. Our self-knowledge—the principle of lowliness—is the very substance of wisdom. Their inheritance also is one—grace and glory. For what higher glory can there be, than the grace, which “hath redeemed” a vile worm of the earth, “and made him a king and priest unto God?” Oh! let the redeemed cherish honorable thoughts of their present glory. Be careful to clear it from the defilement and degradation of the world’s dust, and enjoy it in adoring praise to Him, who hath chosen thee to this so undeserved grace.
But who can tell the glory of the after inheritance—not like this world’s glory—the shadow of a name—but real—solid—‘an infinite gain in the exchange of dross for down-weight of pure gold.’ All occasion of sin and temptation are shut out forever. ‘The tree of knowledge shall be without enclosure. There shall be neither lust nor forbidden fruit; no withholding of desirable knowledge, nor affectation of undesirable. The glorified spirits touch nothing that can defile, and defile nothing they touch.’8 But after all, the glory of this glory will be communion and likeness with our Lord—“to be with him—to behold his glory.” We need not pry too minutely. Thus much is clear. The value of our inheritance is beyond all price—its happiness unspeakable—its security unchangeable—its duration eternity. The wise shall inherit glory. “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament forever and ever.”
Oh! will not the fools then discover the vanity of this world’s glory—too late to make a wise choice? Shame is their present fruit. Honor even now sits unseemly upon them.12 But “what fruit will eternity bring” of those things, whereof they will “then be ashamed?” Truly shame will be their promotion. Their fame will be infamous; their disgrace conspicuous, lifting them up, like Haman upon his elevated gallows, ‘a gazing-stock to the world.’ How solemn and complete will be the great Separation for eternity! “Many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Bridges, C. (1865). An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (p. 39). New York: Robert Carter & Brothers.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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A Good Name
“A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.” (Ecclesiastes 7:1)
It seems odd at first that Solomon would link these two maxims together. How is the day of death better than birth, and what has this to do with the value of one’s good name? The great king had once enjoyed a name synonymous with godliness and great wisdom, but his name had eventually become so sullied with the excesses of wealth and fleshly indulgence that he began to long even for death. It is a tragic thing for godly young people to allow their good names to be ruined by careless carnality, thenceforth never to be able to fulfill the promise their lives once seemed to carry. Solomon could employ all the most costly ointments and other comforts to ease his declining years, but they could never redeem his good name. “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all” (Proverbs 22:1-2).
The Christian believer has a double incentive to maintain a good name, of course, for his words and deeds inevitably reflect, for good or ill, on the name of Christ as well. When we cause our own names to be damaged, we also (as David did) give “great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme” (2 Samuel 12:14), and there are, sadly, many such enemies eagerly watching for us to give them yet another occasion to “blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called” (James 2:7).
In a very real sense, of course, even those who do maintain a good name all their lives can joyfully anticipate the day of death. Christ has promised: “I will write upon him the name of my God…and I will write upon him my new name” (Revelation 3:12). That will, indeed, be a “good name” and one we shall enjoy forever!
(HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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John traces the deity of Christ from “the beginning.”
INSIGHT
The Scriptures are such an intimate and personal revelation of the mind of God that there is no distance between the Word and God Himself. John writes: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). This verse refers to Jesus, and yet, He is called “the Word.”
In Revelation 19:13, John writes of Jesus: “He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.” To know the Word is to know God; to uphold the Word is to uphold God; to believe the Word is to believe God; and to obey the Word is to obey God. (Quiet Walk)
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GAINING THE WORLD
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Mark 8:36
What if you are the most handsome man or beautiful woman the world has ever known, and are always dressed in a most gorgeous manner, and what if you have the greatest palace to live in and have the greatest collection of motor cars and everything else? What if you have the whole world—but lose your own soul? That is what Christ says about the world, and He says it supremely upon the cross. “Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:37).
Why did He die? He died for the souls of men—not for our material welfare, not to reform this world, but to save our souls. “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). And it is the soul that is lost. The world knows nothing about the soul, but it is in you and in all of us—this imperishable thing in us that goes on beyond death and the end. Christ exposed the lie of this world for what it really is.
He spoke a parable about Dives and Lazarus. The rich man sat in his palace, dressed gorgeously, in wonderful robes, eating with all his companions until he had his fill, while the poor beggar sat at the gate with the dogs licking his sores. The Lord says in effect, “Do not judge superficially—that is not the end of the story.” He gives us a picture of Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom and Dives in the torment of hell. You can see the difference between the mind and outlook of the world and the mind and outlook of the Father and the Son of God. He exposes the world for what it is.
A Thought to Ponder
You can see the difference between the outlook of the world and the outlook of the Father. (From The Cross, pp. 100-101, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Why do some persons “find” God in a way that others do not? Why does God manifest His Presence to some and let multitudes of others struggle along in the half-light of imperfect Christian experience? Of course the will of God is the same for all. He has no favorites within His household. All He has ever done for any of His children He will do for all of His children. The difference lies not with God but with us. (p. 45, The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer)
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Each and every Christian should be clear on this point: anti-Semitism in any and all forms, is a despicable evil.
On Saturday morning, a terrorist entered Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh and opened fire during Shabbat services. Before being shot and captured by police, Robert Bowers killed eleven people, including two brothers, a married couple in their 80’s, and a 97-year old woman.
This shooting took place in what is literally Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood, and has left some American Jews asking a question they should never have to ask: Are they safe? In America even, are they safe? It’s not an overreaction. What’s believed to be the deadliest attack on worshipping Jews in American history is only the most recent, and most extreme, example of the increasing anti-semitism in the United States. Yes, I said “increasing.”
Jews are only 2 percent of the American population but according to the FBI, they “account for more than half of the Americans targeted by hate crimes committed due to religious bias.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League, 1,986 anti-Semitic incidents were reported in 2017, compared with 1,267 in 2016. That’s a 57 percent increase in a single year.
Most incidents include things like bullying–especially but not exclusively on social media—and vandalism, especially the defacing of Jewish institutions with swastikas. This happened at a Jewish community center near a colleague’s home last year.
Still, even non-violent incidents cannot be dismissed as merely words or pranks. The Jewish heritage, as one person put it, comes with a “paranoia confirmed by history.” The ADL is correct to warn that the anti-Semitic poison currently rampant on Twitter, Facebook, and especially social media sites like Gab, find their way into mainstream discourse and, in extreme cases, inspire violence.
As Christians called by God to this cultural moment, it’s not enough to merely avoid being anti-Semitic. We ought oppose this vile ideology wherever and whenever we come across it.
Years ago, at an inter-faith dialogue featuring a Hindu, a Muslim, a Jew, a Buddhist, and me, a skeptic asked the three monotheists: “If your God is a God of love, why do you proselytize others?”
Setting aside the loaded postmodern assumptions in the question itself, I remember being surprised by the answer given by the representative of Judaism, “We don’t proselytize,” he said. “We believe God made a special arrangement with us through our father Abraham. If He made a deal with any of you, we don’t know.”
Christians, of course, agree that God made a special arrangement with Abraham. However, Christians also understand that in that agreement, God launched his plan of redemption and that through Israel, “all nations on earth will be blessed” (Gen 22:18). This, of course, God did through Jesus, who was, as the Scriptures make abundantly clear, thoroughly Jewish.
In a short piece on anti-Semitism, Francis Schaeffer wrote “…we should keep constantly in our minds that our Lord Himself was a Jew—born a Jew, lived a Jew, died a Jew.” And we should remember, as Russell Moore wrote in his blog, Jesus remains a Jew. As fully God and fully man, He was not resurrected from His Jewishness. So, as Moore bluntly put it, “to hate Jews is to hate Jesus.”
In light of that reality and acknowledging fully the Church’s checkered past when it comes to the Jewish people, we must not allow the tiniest whiff of anti-Semitism into in our heads, our homes, or our hearts. We hear too much of it today, sometimes in the name of preserving Christian America. There’s nothing, and I mean nothing, Christian about anti-Semitism in any form. As the little poem quoted by Francis Schaeffer back in 1943 reads,
“How odd of God to choose the Jew,
But not so odd as those who choose
The Jewish God and hate the Jew.”BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today’s news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions.
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ASSURANCE IN PRAYER
Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 1 John 3:21-22
Over and above my confidence is my right of access; I must have assurance with regard to my petitions.
James puts it like this: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” “But notice this: But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord” (James 1:5-7). If you are uncertain, doubtful, or hesitant and lacking assurance in your petition, you will not get your request, says James. Listen to the psalmist in Psalm 66:18: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” If I go to God with a double mind, holding on to my sin and knowing that I am living a wrong life, I will not have confidence in my prayer. “God is greater than our heart, and knows all things” (1 John 3:20); if I am condemning myself and know I am wrong, how much more so must God.
Now I think that our Lord Himself has answered this question in John’s Gospel. He put it like this: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). Or again: “I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16).
If I am keeping God’s commandments, then I can be certain that my life is being controlled by the Holy Spirit, and therefore I know that any petitions and desires I may have were created in me by the Holy Spirit.
A Thought to Ponder: If I go to God holding on to my sin and knowing that I am living a wrong life, I will not have confidence in my prayer. (From Children of God, pp. 129-130, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Colossians 4
Conduct yourself with wisdom, and let your speech be filled with grace.
INSIGHT
“Out of the abundance of [a man’s] heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). A man cannot claim his heart is kind if his words are unkind. He cannot claim his heart embraces heaven’s values if his mouth speaks the values of the world. The heart is a reservoir and the mouth a faucet. When the faucet is turned on, whatever is in the reservoir comes out. Paul writes: “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6). Elsewhere he writes: “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). Listen to your speech! Analyze your heart! (QuietWalk)
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The Just Shall Live by Faith
“Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)
This great principle—“the just shall live by faith”—was the Scripture that so inflamed the soul of Martin Luther that it became the watchword of the Reformation. It occurs first here in the small prophecy of Habakkuk, but is then quoted three times in the New Testament. The term “just,” of course, means “justified” or “righteous.” God says a person is enabled to live righteously by his faith.
The nature of this faith is clarified by three quotations. The first is Romans 1:17: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” The phrase “from faith to faith” means “from the beginning of faith to the end of faith,” and the context indicates that the foundational item of faith is faith in “his eternal power and Godhead,” which “from the creation of the world are clearly seen” (Romans 1:20).
Similarly, in the last occurrence: “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:38). Then the writer notes that the basic item of faith is special creation: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3).
The middle occurrence is Galatians 3:11: “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.” Paul’s lengthy explanation to the Galatian legalists begins with Galatians 2:16: “Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ.” Thus, justifying, saving, living faith begins and centers in Jesus Christ, first as Creator of all things, then as the Savior who “hath redeemed us from the curse of the law” (Galatians 3:13). (HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
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