ResponsiveReiding

Proverbs 14:1 The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.

Is the Church as the wise woman about the business of building the Church – laboring WITH Christ in His goal? Or are we guilty of sometimes breaking it down with our own hands? If we would be a part of His purpose and plan in building His Church – here are some of the things we’ll need to keep in mind:

(2) It will take an upright walk.

(3) It will take imbibing God’s Wisdom.

(4) It will be messy.

(5) It must be built upon the Truth.

(6) It increases in the knowledge of Christ.

(7) It require we reject foolishness.

(8) It will take a Bible-saturated vision for the future.

(9) It require placing much weight upon the reality of sin and God’s sacrifice for in Christ Jesus.

(10) It takes knowing not everyone will share in our joy or sorrow in its increase and stumbling.

(11) It takes faith to believe it will succeed.

(12) It rejects worldly means for spiritual ones.

(13) It knows sorrow will attend its progress.

(14) It recognizes that some will pull back from joining the labor.

(15) It takes knowing that some things are true, and others are not.

(16) It is built by those who are cautious about falling into evil.

(17) It knows that rashness and fits of anger are counter to its aim.

(18) It understands this is a wisdom the world does not understand.

(19) It thrives on trusting in Christ’s final victory.

(20) It understands the real wealth is has to give to the world in the Gospel.

(21) It rejects a mindset that fails to value those made in God’s image.

(22) It trusts Christ will attend them in their faithfulness.

(23) It must conspire to bless mankind in Christ.

(24) It knows its wealth is in the King of Glory.

(25) It avoids deceit.

(26) It fears the Lord, and so fear little else like culture or politics.

(27) It thrives on knowing it King’s true power and position is not to be triffled with.

(28) It seeks to glorify its King in bringing more to Him.

(29) It walks in holy, divine patience.

(30) It thrive on the tranquility of being secure in the Savior.

(31) It remains generous with its bestowments.

(32) It abides when all else passes away.

(33) It informs the whole of the one who knows Christ as God’s wisdom.

(34) It seeks a Kingdom built upon God’s own righteousness in Christ.

(35) It trusts that that in following Christ, it walks in the favor of the Living God.

Hell is an uncomfortable subject. As it should be. No one ought to be light and trite at the thought of it. But it is a reality of Biblical teaching, and one that needs to be thought through carefully and prayerfully.

My purpose here is not to unpack the totality of Biblical teaching on the nature of eternal judgment. Rather, owing to a question I recently received regarding someone struggling with the “justness” of Hell, I just want to advance a few Biblical concepts to help us frame our thinking on the topic a bit more evenly.

There is no need to try and tame, tone down or de-fang Hell as it is portrayed in the Bible. It’s horrors are beyond us. It is meant to be a terrifying prospect. We are warned against it in the most graphic and severe of terms. At the same time Hell is to be understood within the full scope of the Biblical teaching on it, not just a few of the more shocking (and they SHOULD be shocking) passages addressing it.

Four thoughts:

1. Let me begin by making sure we understand that Hell is not an egalitarian or “one-size-fits-all” proposition.

God is just. As just, He can neither over-punish, nor under-punish anyone. Whatever judgments are meted out in the final analysis must be perfectly fitting both to the crime, and to the criminal. We know this by several different means. First, the way the Old Testament sets out very specific penalties for various sins under various conditions. Even the killing of another human being is treated in several different ways: Was it premeditated? Was it in the heat of passion? Was it the result of an injury but the killer was not intending to take the life? Was it an accident? Was it in self-defense? Was it in the act of protecting another? Was it in war? And several more. Now if God’s Law accounted for such differences, and held different treatments, we may safely assume He does the same in this regard.

Secondly, many fail to take into account Jesus’ own teaching on the subject of judgment when He returns, such as in Luke 12:42–48 “And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 44 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 45 But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. 47 And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”

Now I think this speaks directly to the idea of those who never even heard the Gospel in verse 48. The one who did not “know” the Master’s will, is not punished like the one who did, and rejected it. We must be clear here, it does not mean they are saved, but it DOES indicate the experience of their eternal separation from Him will have gradations due at least in part to what they knew. So we can trust Him to be just.

2. Additionally, all of us need to consider whether or not we can humbly admit that it is improper for us in our fallen condition, to judge God in His justness, when ours is skewed due to the Fall. He is never to be judged by us. And if we ARE judging Him, we are in fact making ourselves God, and saying He has to be answerable to our fallen notions of justice. Will we allow that perhaps His justice is higher and less fallible than ours, and again trust that He will be TRULY just in when He judges each and every one? We must do this. As creatures of the Creator, we need to assume our rightful place, and run from trying to usurp His place like we have been doing since the Fall. Remember the lie “you will be like God knowing good and evil.”

3. We also have to note that people are not in Hell because they didn’t hear the Gospel, but because we are all fallen in Adam – and, as Romans 1 points out in no uncertain terms – for rejecting what CAN be known about God as revealed in the creation. Everyone is without excuse because by virtue of creation we have incontrovertible evidence that God exists, and that as Creator has absolute rights over His creatures, and that we do not serve Him. In fact we naturally repress the knowledge of Him. And we KNOW we do not serve Him properly because we sin even against our consciences, which conscience is a remnant of having been made in His image. So there is no one who is “innocent” in that way. Yet again, there is gradation here. Jesus says it will more tolerable in the Day of Judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah, than for those who heard the Gospel and rejected it. (Matt. 10:14-15) What that will look like in the varying experiences of those involved, no one can say with specificity. The details are not revealed to us beyond the reality that some difference does exist. Either way, we can trust Him to do what is right by each of them, individually and corporately.

4. Lastly, it might be good to explore our sense of how severe sinfulness is, compared to how God views its severity. One of the effects of the Fall (the noetic effects) is that we have a dimmer view both of holiness and of sin. Holiness doesn’t seem so high, and sinfulness doesn’t seem so bad. Because we are skewed in this way, it sometimes seems as though God is going overboard. A useful analogy might be that it is like dealing with someone who for medical reasons has their perceptions skewed.

I remember reading about Ciguatera a few years ago. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) web site has this entry: “Ciguatera fish poisoning (or ciguatera) is an illness caused by eating fish that contain toxins produced by a marine microalgae called Gambierdiscus toxicus. Barracuda, black grouper, blackfin snapper, cubera snapper, dog snapper, greater amberjack, hogfish, horse-eye jack, king mackerel, and yellowfin grouper have been known to carry ciguatoxins. People who have ciguatera may experience nausea, vomiting, and neurologic symptoms such as tingling fingers or toes. They also may find that cold things feel hot and hot things feel cold. Ciguatera has no cure. Symptoms usually go away in days or weeks but can last for years. People who have ciguatera can be treated for their symptoms.”

So if a neurotoxin like this can make cold things feel hot, and hot things feel cold – when you are dealing with someone who is suffering under the influence of it, their responses (like thinking the ice water you just gave them is boiling hot) make sense to THEM in their state, but are the opposite of what the normal person experiences. Since the Fall, we live in an abnormal world. Fallenness is normative to us because we’ve never lived in any other environment. But it was not the norm in creation, and will not remain the norm when Christ returns and restores the Kingdom fully. It will never be the norm again for all eternity – perfect holiness will be.

We need to take our view of what SHOULD be our response to sin and holiness from God who is NOT afflicted with sinful distortions, rather than believing our own sinful distortions, even though they are what in fact we do perceive. We judge ourselves as the abnormal, and God as the normal in order to see what is true actuality. A bit like a pilot trusting his instruments in the fog, rather than his subjective feeling of being upright or upside down. The Word gives us the real picture, and when it feels off, it is because our perceptions are off, not the Word.

That being the case, we need once again to trust that He cannot err. He cannot be unjust. He must do what is right and holy – and if it doesn’t fit with our paradigm right now, someday, it will.

Hell is Hell. The Bible presents it as eternal, irreversible torment away from the presence of God and His mercy and grace in Christ. The imagery is designed to be horrific, offensive and off-putting so that no one takes it lightly. It is right for one to recoil at its representations and to desire to find out why it is so horrific and just in God’s eyes, and to flee to Christ for deliverance from it, once its justice is understood. At the same time, Hell must be just – for it is the place of God’s judgment and He must be just. He cannot be any other way. So it is we can trust Him fully in how He uses this instrument of His final judgment. No one, NO ONE can suffer more than what is just, and no one, NO ONE can suffer less. It will be perfectly adapted to the desert of each individual. Sorrowfully, most (if not all of us) judge ourselves less guilty and sinful than we really are, and God far less holy that He really is. So we think – for us – it won’t be so bad. And we are wrong.

The final question is – what is your eternal destination?  Will Heaven for you be the presence of Christ? If not, you demonstrate the skewed nature of your perceptions, and you need to let God’s Word tell you the truth, so that you might flee to Christ to understand both your sin and its just punishment, and the remedy for your guilt and rebellion against the Living God in the Cross, and the One who died for human sin there. The Gospel is that all who believe in Him might be forgiven and reconciled to God in Him.

Proverbs 2:1-4 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,

Christians are really good at making Christianity complicated. It really isn’t. Following Christ is relatively simple. However simple does not directly translate into easy or without effort. But simple is good because we tend to stick with what we grasp best. So it is these few short verses introduce us to three things which show themselves as absolutely necessary to true understanding (i.e. seeing all things as God does) and growing close to the Father.

1. Knowing and TREASURING God’s Word. “Keeping” God’s Word throughout Scripture is not as much a matter of observing the letter of it, as it is seeing it as precious, valuing it. That which is precious to us, will capture our devotion. But we cannot highly (or better, rightly) value what we know little about. If I do not know either the potency of a medicine, or my need for it, I won’t be interested in using it. I’ve never been tempted to just go to the drug store, amble through the aisles and then suddenly be seized with the overwhelming desire to try a medication I don’t need. But if I am ill, and I know the cure is available, I will do what it takes, spend what it costs to obtain it. Fortunately, just reading the Bible both establishes my desperate need of the Christ it portrays, and then also parades Him before me in all of His redemptive glory so that I can have that need met. Nothing else known to man does such a thing. But I cannot know the value of the Word, apart from hearing and understanding the Christ of the Word and what He has done for me in His incarnation, death, burial and resurrection. And the more time I spend digging out that treasure, the more I grasp its true value.

2. But getting into God’s Word is not some mere intellectual exercise. Seeking to understand God’s Word, studying it – not simply preserving it like an ancient artifact is the second thing I need to consider. Having a Ming vase that is never used AS a vase, but merely as a work of art, is the picture. Many approach God’s Word this way. They know it is “precious” but precious in the sense that it is to be put on a self and admired – but not as though it is to be employed in the fabric and situations of every day life. We cannot approach God’s Word in this way and hope to be truly impacted by it. We must study it not as a curiosity, but as the study of life itself. We must employ it. It will resist being turned into a religious, social or intellectual artifact. And when it is treated that way, it becomes dull, irrelevant and useless. Yes, this takes work. Looking up words I don’t know. Reading more than singled out verses but discovering entire thought streams, concepts, arguments, symbols, historical portraits of people and events, and the message all of this is meant to convey through its various tributaries. Who said what to whom, when, where and why makes it all come alive. How every page opens up some new glimpse into the heart, mind, purposes and work of our God and Saviour. These are all there for taking – but not for the taking without the digging.

3. Prayer. If we are not interacting personally and regularly with our Lord – we cannot hope either to understand Him, or His Word. We must never allow knowledge about Him eclipse firsthand knowledge OF Him in living discourse. Lose this aspect, and religion freezes into form and mere doctrine at best, and random subjectivity at worst. Learn to just sit and discuss your life with Him like a friend. Tell Him about your cares, concerns, joys, fears, losses, expectations, family, friends and desires. Confide in Him. Ask Him for His Spirit’s assistance in reading and understanding His Word. Bring your cold heart to Him to re-warm and bring it back to life. Tell Him your doubts. He has big shoulders, infinite shoulders. You cannot overburden Him, take up too much of His time or tell Him too much trivia. He loves you. He delights just being with you. He loves to lighten your burdens by having you share them with Him. Any topic, any amount of time, any place, any time, any thought. Learn to live life with Him in the everyday realities of life, and you will soon learn how you are never alone – and always, ALWAYS invited to sit and unload. No apologies necessary. No ego to damage. No confusion or sorrow too great. No deaf ear. Free and open welcome. And willing to answer far more than any of us dare to ask.

Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

It’s not Scripture – but the saying “to be forewarned is to be forearmed” is nonetheless true. And one of the chief aims of The Holy Spirit in giving us the Proverbs is to arm God’s people with weapons to use against sin. One of those weapons is to unmask sin so that we grasp how it works, and how it reasons. Sin’s power is in “enticement”. And every enticement, every inducement to act contrary to the will of God bring some rationale along with it. Some form of argument and reason(s) why entering into any given sin is a better idea at the moment than not.

The word translated “entice” in this passage comes from a root meaning to open up, to create a hole or opening of some kind. In terms of temptation to sin, it implies making an opening in the heart and mind to consider and pursue some action we would be closed to previously. HOW it entices – how it makes this opening for itself is the focus of verses 11-14 in chapter 1, followed by ways to close that door in verses 16-18. The design is to give us the tools to recognize when we’re being talked into sin, and then another set to extricate ourselves from being talked into it. Talked into it either by others, or by our own deceptive hearts and minds.

So here are some of the attractive means that are used to open us up to sin. What may appeal to you may not appeal to another and vice versa. But there is no shortage of means:

a. (11) Danger. The thrill of possibly getting caught, getting dangerously close to the edge, pushing the boundaries is sufficient motive to goad some into actions that without that element would not even be on the radar. Is this you?

b. (11) Excitement. Youth especially is drawn to things which are exciting and abhor the boring. And then again in stages of life when we are bored, dissatisfied or disillusioned. Times like that make some especially vulnerable. The high experienced by a proposed new thrill can lead to places we would have never thought before. An unexpected message on Facebook. An old flame suddenly makes contact. The idea of just having a night out to “party” and have a little “life” again. Perhaps this is where you are right now.

c. (11) Randomness – careless abandon. Doing something on a lark, completely spontaneously without any forethought can be such an instantaneous trap that few temptable in this way escape the idea once implanted. Sins of opportunity that just suddenly present themselves can make short work of many who have been used to a lifestyle carefully guarded and regimented. Then, all at once, without warning or seeking, a secret desire is appealed to with a random opportunity to fulfill it, and tragedy follows immediately behind. I pray this is not you.

d. (12) Power. Especially if we have been through a season of powerlessness, confronted by unchangeable circumstances that we resent. Then almost any chance to exert some form of power, especially over someone else if we have been victims in any way – can swallow someone whole. Sins against others emerge in the most vicious ways under the sway of this enticement. And once indulged in, it escalates rapidly. May you are in that place right now?

e. (13) Some perceived gain that mimics wealth. All of us have those things inside, perhaps not even consciously voiced which seem like the purest gold to us. Some individual’s affection. The possession of an object or position in life. An experience. A previously unfulfilled desire from a spouse. Approval from a withholding parent. To be thought of a certain way by others. The one “thing” that if we had it, would finally make us feel truly wealthy and complete – and without leaves us feeling bereft and cheated. And then the possibility of obtaining it presents itself – and irrespective of the dangers, sinfulness of the method or anything else can’t dissuade us from acting. Maybe this is where you find yourself this very moment.

f. (14) Belonging, brotherhood – fellowship. Thinking that someone, some relationship, some society can fill the unfillable void within. And you are the puppet of any idea, group or person who pretends to be able to fill soothe that ache. Is that you today?

These are ways, created openings sin uses to gain control and reign in our hearts and minds. And Proverbs faithfully reveals their hidden barbs in this passage.

Thankfully, The Spirit didn’t end just in exposing these traps, He goes on to give us 4 remarkable means to deliver ourselves from these allurements.

They are at once simple, and overlooked and underutilized.

a. (16) Consider the evil of it. Wait. Wait and think. And think about the evil that hides behind the temptation. Not pausing, thinking and considering finds us prey in the traps of sin more than any other thing. Hold that word before you say it. Consider the impact, the consequences, the motive behind it. Think about what it means to do evil.

b. (16) Find compassion for the victim(s). There is in reality no such thing as a victimless sin. For if I am joined to all others in Christ, I cannot be the means of imbibing the contagion of sin without it impacting all the others I am connected to in Christ. We never sin alone. And compassion on our brothers and sisters in the Lord is a powerful antidote to falling into many a sin. How dare we drag them along with us into that morass? How dare we make others in any way, the victims of our sinful acts?

c. (17) It’s foolish – stupid. Shame has one main role – to be so uncomfortable as to cause us to retreat when we act or think in ways that are beneath us. When we consciously choose to act like we are not who we are in Christ. That is shameful. It is not shameful to err, to trip and fall, to make a mistake. It IS shameful to refuse to act as image bearers of the Living God.

d. (17-18) The end of this pursuit, is death. To stop and think about the reality that without exception – the wages of sin is death. And that to participate willingly in those things – the guilt and stain of which Christ died to free us from – says in effect says to Him – “here, feel some more pain on my behalf. As long as I get to go free.”

Such horror ought to make us recoil. But in the thoughtless moments of temptation – such thoughts are woefully far from us. May the Spirit be pleased to come along side and bring them streaming back into our minds – so as to live in the freedom He died to secure for us.

All that said – think then on what a wonderful Savior we have – who has not only paid the penalty for all our sin, but then also counsels us and walks with us and empowers us that we may learn the holy skill of walking with Him. What a Savior!

Proverbs 13:21 Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.

RAF: As a result of our fallen condition – disaster chases us all. Trials come to all of us, whether we are God’s people in Christ or not. But those who have found righteousness in Christ, find those difficulties redeemed for their good. Herein is the vast distinction between those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and those not. And this is specifically one of the ways God chooses to mark the difference between the two.

When Moses was charged with leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, the Lord determined it be done through a series of judgments poured out on the Egyptians in the form of 10 plagues.  The first 3 of these were universally felt in the whole land. The plagues of the water turned to blood, the infestation of the frogs and then that of the gnats appear to have troubled the Israelites as well as the Egyptians. It isn’t until the 4^th plague – that of the flies, that the texts notes: “But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. 23 Thus I will put a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.” ’ ” (Exodus 8:22–23)

As Christians, we live as much in a fallen world as all those who are not – a world groaning under the first pains of God’s judgment upon humanity and the earth due to sin. But that is not the end of the story. At some point God lets His distinction between the lost and the redeemed known. While disaster continues to pursue the Unbeliever, the righteous find reward with God. We are not given up to the disasters, but rather find ourselves given the means to experience the very same plagues as part and parcel of God’s deliverance.

For instance – Christians can endure times of economic crisis as opportunities to be separated from the World’s value system, and to cling to spiritual things instead. Christians can face times of natural disaster as reminding them of the temporary nature of this natural world, and to long only for the permanence and glory of Heaven. Death itself which will eventually come to us all (should Christ tarry), is converted from the portal to eternal judgment, into the entrance to our eternal reward.

The plagues may be seen and felt by all – but the Believer knows them as means of God’s deliverance, as well as judgment. And thus we are allowed to rejoice in what others can only dread.

What a great God we serve!

Proverbs 13:25 The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want.

RAF: Adam and Eve had everything. Literally. Everything bar one. A single tree marked out by God whose fruit they were to refrain from. And still they were not content. Heaven help me, for I still suffer from their disease.

The truth is, lack of contentment with God’s provision is a sign that wicked desires are ruling one’s heart. If we are not content with His providential provisions, we must ask ourselves why? What is it that is so important that we are driven to distraction until we get it? What is it that we “think” we are missing out on that is so necessary to our well-being? More, as Hebrews 13:5 reminds us: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Did you catch the comparison there? The Spirit did not tell us “just be content without” – but to be content “with” what we have. And what does He go on to say we have? Him! The One who has said “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Be content with the Creator and Maker of all things, and you can never suffer lack. It is the lie that we are lacking some-THING, when we have the very source of ALL things, the some-ONE with us at all times and in all places. What a glorious reality! And oh, how we need to learn to mortify these lusts by the Spirit, in reveling in Who is ours.

Holy Spirit – satisfy us with revelations of the glories of Christ.

Proverbs 13:11 Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

RAF: Once again we have this parallel between the spiritual and the natural. So good is our God, that He surrounds us in the created order with multitudes of practical illustrations to reinforce spiritual realities. In this case, the topic is growth. And just as virtually nothing in the natural order grows in uncontrolled fits or miraculous jumps, neither do we grow spiritually in sudden spurts and jumps. Sure, there are seasons of accelerated growth, but not huge, unaccounted for leaps. No overnight nor miraculous transformations into spiritual maturity. Maturity comes with time and experience. We do not synthesize Biblical truth in blocks as much as assembling bit by bit in solid, well cemented units of tested reality. Every child yearning for the privileges of age, still needs to mature to where those privileges are matched with willing responsibility. And this is true spiritually as well. It is why elders are called elders and not youngsters. Leaders are those who rise to that place not by random appointment, but by living the Christian life – with all of its joys, sorrows, hardships, struggles and battles consistently over time. It is why Paul warns Timothy to not “be hasty in the laying on of hands” (1 Tim. 5:22) – most likely referring to ordaining someone to an office in the Church. Time is a great revealer of hidden things. And those who look ready, may well not be.

So too Believer, do not look to sudden spiritual experiences, to movements, conferences, retreats, books or prayers as means to short circuit the kind of growth that only comes with time and experience. Those perceived “gains” usually dwindle before too long. Mountain top experiences fade so rapidly. But if you will give yourself to gather, little by little, you will be shocked at how solid and well-rounded and lasting such growth will be. Do not be afraid of giving God the time He needs to shift and shape and mold you afresh. One expert noted that when straightening teeth with braces, the average course runs about 4 years: two with braces, two with a retainer. Some shorter, some longer. How much more when dealing with bent characteristics of our fallen souls. Saved in an instant, but shaped in a lifetime. And perfected only at Christ’s return.

Do not be over anxious Christian – anxious yes, over-anxious, no. Take the time to saturate yourself in God’s Word as a habit of life. Learn to turn the heart to Him in prayer by instinct, and not just in set times to get your praying done or agenda accomplished. Cultivate the habit of gathering often with the saints in worship, filling the soul with nourishing things for the heart and mind that lead you back over and over to contemplate and glory in Christ. Do not worry about holding positions or filling roles in the Church, strive to grow in the character of Christ. Opportunities to serve will come most naturally to those who are seeking Christ more than the opportunities.

Grow. Steadily. Naturally. Trustingly. And what you gain, will never be lost. The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint.

Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

RAF: If hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life – then change your hope to those things which will be fulfilled. Seek after those desires God delights to fill – and you will know true life. Continue to hope after what may never be yours, and you will sink in a bottomless abyss of disappointment and aching unfulfillment. Set your desire on the good things in Christ, and you will be satisfied beyond your desires.

I knew a man once who had suffered the loss of a limb. But he never accepted it. Deep inside he simply wanted to will his situation away, and to be whole like he was before. I would want that too. He never relented and grew more and more often resentful and despairing. He knew that his limb would not be replaced. He knew this was to be his lot. But oh how he resisted it. And the pain he suffered from his inward resistance against the unchangeable circumstance, was far greater than the loss of the limb itself. And far more lasting.

No wonder then the Scripture reminds us to “hope in God.” This is the state of the Psalmist when he pens: Psalm 42:1–6 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation 6 and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

The picture of a deer panting for water is of one nearing death – panicking lest none be found. Crying out and tormented, shut out form the congregation the Psalmist then turns from all of this and comes back to himself saying “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” Why indeed, when he can turn and then say “Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation.” My outward circumstance may not change, but my soul can praise again – and THAT is where real hope is.

Hope in the Lord Beloved, and you are sure never to be disappointed.

Proverbs 13:1 A wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

Here is the essence of what it means to be a “scoffer” – one who gives little or no weight to anyone else’s opinion or understanding, but assumes their own understanding is complete, and superior to all others.

We live in the Age of The Scoffer.

I submit three examples: Congress, The Five on FOX News and several from the MSNBC team whose recent outbursts have become infamous. I mention the Five, but in truth this is just one example of what occurs on virtually every news network – the problem is not exclusive to them. It is a human problem amplified in our media environment.

Here’s how the Scoffer thinks: They do not simply take what others offer with a grain of salt – they dismiss it out of hand. They look down upon and thus scoff at the thoughts, opinions, views, or observations of everyone else. They alone are the arbiters of truth. You are right, if you agree with them. That is the only criterion. Conversely, you are wrong if you disagree with them – end of discussion.

Oh, the discussions go on, and on, and on, and on. But no one ever changes their opinion. No one ever (if perhaps ever so rarely) concedes the other’s opinion, or adopts modification. It is an exercise in endless clashes. Each simply hashing and rehashing why they disagree. And it ends there. Hence our Government faces nearly total gridlock on every major decision, and the talking heads in the newsrooms rail hour after hour at one another, and argue with their “guests”. But no one changes. No one seems to be capable of learning anything from one who disagrees with them. They – we – simply “scoff.”

As I said, we live in the age of The Scoffer. It infects the way we interact with our spouses, our children, our parents, those of differing doctrinal opinions and anyone else we have to do with. It is a trap. One which inoculates us from being able to truly grow in Christ. Prevents us from being corrected. Hampers us from being able to ever adopt a better way. Our feelings are hurt, the way we want it done is thwarted, and we are soon at war.

The word in the original includes scorn, ridicule, boasting, mocking and dismissiveness. One lexicon notes that it includes being carried away with oneself.

Scoffers never grow. We cannot be corrected, so there is no means to bring us to a better place. We give lip service to saying we’ve not “arrived” – but we interact with others as though we have. It is a plague on the soul of the Christian.

Do not be sucked into it Beloved. Be humble enough to still learn – from any and all who bring truth. Especially as you daily peer into the mirror of God’s Word. Let it show you the blemishes, the smudges, the distortions. And listen to the counsel it brings to make you better and better – as it conforms you more and more to the image of your Savior. Whether that confrontation with Biblical truth comes through your direct interaction with the Word in study and prayer – or through the lips of your spouse, friend, parent or child. Be willing to hear the Father’s instruction irrespective of the delivery method. And you will be a “wise son” indeed.

Lord deliver me from this mindset. I go so easily there.

Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

RAF: Anxiety is a complex issue. There are right and proper anxieties, in terms of genuine concerns over very real difficulties. And then there are anxieties which are unrealistic, and/or occupy an improper place within us.

When we are controlled by our anxieties, we’ve let them run away with us. They become the dictators of life decisions, rather than the great realities of our God on His throne and His ever present and unfailing promises. They occupy the “throne” of our hearts, rather than serving to bring us to prayer and to seek to rest in God’s love and care. One way to know if our anxieties have crossed over from legitimate and reasonable concerns – even abiding ones – to sinful and destructive is by how we respond to God’s Word on the subject. If we cannot be calmed by reminders of God’s goodness, His providential care, an underlying trust that He holds us and knows what is best, and we slip over into despair, we need not only to fight the anxiety itself, we need to repent. If a “good word”, a right and correct and properly fitting word from the Lord’s counsel does not ease our anxiety, then perhaps our problem isn’t anxiety – but something else. Maybe, it is unbelief.

Does this mean all of our cares and concerns will simply evaporate? Not at all. In such seasons, we might find the need to battle this attack on our trust in the Lord a thousand times a day. A thousand times an hour! But we seek to regain the control our anxiety tries to rob from us. We treat it not like a condition to be accepted or merely treated or anesthetized, but an enemy to be defeated.

Little is so debilitating as a heart weighed down with anxiety. And notice the focus here – the heart. In other words, the love and trust we ordinarily have in Christ, is displaced in this condition. It seeks to reign within us, to be what occupies us most. But it is a usurper of the peace and joy that is meant to be ours in Him – and we fight it like the interloper and assassin of faith it really is.

Fight beloved. Fight the good fight of faith. Don’t surrender the throne of your affections to this pretender to the crown of your life. Guard the door of your heart – and continually crown Christ the king of kings and Lord of Lords in your own heart and mind.

Proverbs 12:26 One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

RAF: Today, many would title this idea: “Lifestyle Evangelism”. The truth is BOTH, what we say AND what we do matters. We can never safely have one without the other.

When it comes to evangelism, some would lay more or all of the stress in our efforts of proclamation. And proclamation is absolutely essential. People must hear, understand and believe – the Gospel – the message.

Others would place the bulk of the stress upon lifestyle and the “what” of our lives.

But good actions are not the Gospel by themselves, the “message” of Christ’s atoning death is; and the Message negated by graceless lives is an exercise in futility. We are to be men and women of integrity – of life and message so wrapped around one another that they cannot be separated.

The bottom line is – if Jesus hadn’t lived in perfect holiness, He could not have been fit to be our Savior. And if the message of the meaning of His death were not proclaimed, there is no faith by which one is justified.

Neither one could be omitted without salvation being a myth. We are not meant to be mere signposts, we are guides. Guides go themselves, where they want others to go. 

Proverbs 12:16 The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.

Many a person reacts instantly and negatively to slights and then justifies it under the guise of being “honest” or “transparent.” But honesty and transparency do not require wearing our every feeling on our sleeve, nor subjecting others to our every discomfort. This is a fool’s errand. Knee jerk reactions are the reactions of a jerk  – or more properly, a fool. The one who is easily provoked, is the slave of the provocateur. The only buttons someone else can push, are the ones you give them access to. And if you cannot set the provocative aspects aside to stay focused upon the real issues at hand, you will be forever barred from arriving at solutions to problems. I know. I’ve been there. I have played the fool. Heaven help me to be more like my King, Jesus. He responded to all situations, but never just reacted.

Proverbs 12:18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Do you tend to use your words as weapons – to wound others? Chances are, they were uttered rashly – like the knee-jerk responses of verse 16. But even if not – even if well considered, what a poor use of such a powerful tool – this tongue of ours. Even in reproof, our aim ought to be healing and never simple denunciation or hurting someone back. If someone needs correction, may we truly bring correction, for their good, and not merely give vent to our personal vitriol. Our job is not to punish others with our words. Ultimately, that is never more than our own desire to hurt the other. Even “when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” (Jude 9). Neither should we.

Proverbs 12:20  Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.

This is a right heart – one whose plan it is to bring peace – especially where it is threatened. For the lost, we seek their peace with God in Jesus. For the Redeemed, we seek their peace with one another. If that is not our goal, we are self-deceived and are devising evil instead.

Proverbs 12:21 No ill befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble.

It isn’t that the righteous are trial-less, but rather that God is not chastening, and every woe is redeemed for blessing.

Proverbs 12:23  A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.

Spilling everything we know about everything to everybody is foolish. When we shut up and listen, we remain prudent.

Proverbs 12:24 The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

This is as true in spiritual matters as it is in natural ones. The “farmer” who is not diligent to plow thoroughly, plant liberally, water carefully, pull weeds ruthlessly, protect from ravaging pests watchfully and harvest punctually – will not survive. The “Christian” who does not feed their soul on the Word daily, attack indwelling sin viciously, drink in worship thirstily, breathe in prayer repeatedly, seek holiness intentionally and pour grace into others as providence allows – will not survive either. I believe it was A. W. Tozer who said that most of us are not as holy as we wish were, but all of us are as holy as we are willing to be. If your spiritual progress has been stalled, or has taken a back seat – is it not time to see if you are being diligent about the things which make for true growth in the likeness of Christ? We will not rule over ourselves and indwelling sin, if we are not diligent to pursue those things which make for it. Nor should we be surprised then that spiritual matters have become more like forced labor than joyful privileges. It was in Christ’s diligence to pursue all the Father had put before Him, rather than shrinking at the struggles and labor, that purchased our salvation.