Proverbs 14 - Safe

Hello, and welcome to Strength for the Day.

And I'm Bryon, and guest hosting today for Pastor Dennis. And he's doing, I believe, some discipleship stuff this morning. And so filling in for him, and going to get started here pretty quick this morning.

But just gonna wait for a couple of people to get on, and looking forward to what we're gonna be going over this morning.

And I love the Book of Proverbs, and in particular, there's a couple of verses in this chapter that my dad in particular would quote a lot growing up.

And so I'll mention some of those ones that are kind of special to me and to my family, even things that we'll continue mentioning to this day. And good to see Terry, good to see Molly, and hope your guys' morning is going well.

I do want to wish, I don't know if he'll necessarily see this, he might later, but want to wish a very happy 12th birthday to Micah Fountain. And he is 12 years old today.

And so if you want to wish Micah a happy birthday down in the comments, or you can go over to Pastor Dennis and Miss Hannah's Facebook page and wish him a very happy birthday. And know that it's going to be just a great day.

Got some fun stuff planned for him. And so looking forward to doing that. Also want to say good morning to Rose and to Andra Stradwick.

And hope you guys are doing well and having a good morning. We're going to start off pretty quick here this morning. And as people continue to jump on, we'll just keep on going.

But we're in Proverbs 14 today. And we're in the first half of the chapter. And obviously, we would know if you've ever read through Proverbs, the first couple of chapters kind of have some definite themes that they're going through.

And Pastor Dennis mentioned a lot of those as we were in some of those chapters. You can read some things and go, okay, this is talking about maybe our moral purity with maybe marriage and some different things like that.

This chapter here is talking specifically about wisdom and the price of wisdom, how valuable it is to our lives. But then we get to some of these later chapters, maybe from chapter 10, really through some later sections.

Chapter 29, I think is when it starts to have some more concrete, okay, these are all kind of Proverbs along the lines of a faithful woman, a diligent work ethic, a lot of these kinds of things.

But Proverbs 14 has a lot of kind of miscellaneous Proverbs that are on several different topics.

But really, as I was reading through the first part of this chapter, there is a main thought of safety and security, stability that you can really see in these first maybe 15 or 16 verses.

So we're gonna dive right in and hopefully learn some great stuff from God's Word this morning. It starts off like this. Every wise woman buildeth her house, but the foolish plugeth it down with her hands.

A wise person, someone that is following God's Word and God's ways, is going to be building their house. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean, I know Dustin and Christy Geitel may hop on a little bit later today.

I know they do lots of house renovations and things like that, where they were working on their kitchen, they were working on siding, they were working on painting, they were doing all of those things.

It's not necessarily saying that, hey, if you're a wise person, if you're a smart person who follows God's Word, you're constantly gonna be doing home renovation in the sense of one of those things. It's not saying that.

Saying a wise person is gonna be one that builds up their household. So it might be something that you say kind words to those that are in your house. It might be that you would encourage people to follow God and to follow His Word.

It would be that the way that you interact with people is going to reflect the God that you serve.

When we are foolish, when we're not following God's ways, the Bible says that it's like we're literally tearing down, we're plucking down our very houses in front of us.

Verse number two says, he that walks in his uprightness, fear the Lord, but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him. The person that fears the Lord, that realizes who God is and why he should be followed, he's going to walk in his uprightness.

It says, but he that's perverse in his ways, despiseth him. A person that is, the word perverse there would mean kind of twisted. It's someone that doesn't follow God.

It's someone that doesn't view the world the way that they should. It's perverse. It's a twisted way of viewing things, despises the Lord.

The person that wants to twist what God has said, twist reality to whatever they want, hates the Lord. Because when you see how God has made things, you don't wanna follow it.

I think even of this month and the month of June for a lot of corporations has kind of been co-opted for what has been termed Pride Month of people that would wholesalely follow the LGBTQ lifestyle.

And that is, we would know from the word of God, a twisting, a perversion of the way that God intended for us to live as humans.

And so because of this, many of those people that are struggling with those sins in particular hate the Lord, hate the Bible because of what it says about their lifestyle.

Just as a person that maybe would make a continual habit out of a lifestyle of drunkenness might not like the Book of Proverbs in particular, because it talks against being drunk, it talks against seeking that lifestyle in just the same way, the

people that hate God's way would hate the Lord because their ways are perverted. It is twisted from God's design. Verse number three, in the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.

Just as we talked about with safety and security that when you're wise, you build your house, you walk in uprightness and fear the Lord. It says, the lips of the wise shall preserve them.

It gives them stability and safety as opposed to in the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride. It's just something that they use to beat down other people.

If in your life, you're using your words and your tongue to constantly belittle others and to tear them down from Proverbs 14, three, we would know, hey, if I'm doing that in my life, if I'm constantly tearing others down and bashing them down, then

I know that I'm not using my mouth. I'm not being wise. Instead, I'm being foolish. In verse number four, where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increases by the strength of the ox.

This is one verse my dad would constantly quote, and I think he had heard a sermon at one point or another called Keep the Ox, Clean the Crib.

And this verse in particular is talking about the fact that if you don't have oxen, then your stalls and everything are going to be completely clean, and it's no work to clean them or to take care of your stalls.

But it says much increase or the crops that you would get come because of the strength of the ox. You can do so much more in planting and in harvesting if you have the help of oxen to be able to do all of these things for you.

And so, the kind of application you can get from that is that, or the application in particular that was mentioned in the message was, hey, do the hard work because benefits come. You can reap a harvest if you put in the work.

Verse number five, a faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness will utter lies. When my younger sister Harmony was about four or five years old, my parents had her memorizing some different verses.

And so little Harmony said with this verse, a faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness will utter lies. And she had just a really hard time getting out that word utter. And it came out more like, you know, with a cow, utter lies.

And so I don't know, I might make a sticker someday of that. A false witness will utter lies and send it to my sister.

But yeah, with that verse in particular, as it relates to the topic that we're talking about today of stability and security, a faithful witness is not gonna lie. A person that's telling the truth that is intent on speaking truth is not going to lie.

It says, but a false witness will utter lies. It's just constantly out of their mouth. If maybe in your situation, if you go, man, I haven't been telling the truth a lot.

I've kind of been just going with whatever the situation demands. Sometimes I tell the truth, sometimes I don't. Realize that wisdom says, hey, I'm just going to be consistent across the board.

That I'm going to tell the truth no matter what.

Even if it means that maybe I might get in a little bit of trouble, I would rather have the honesty and integrity of my mouth rather than to sacrifice it for maybe personal gain, maybe for whatever else.

Verse number six, a scorner seeketh wisdom and findeth it not, but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.

A scorner here at the beginning of the verse, that's a person that mocks, that scorns, that really doesn't get on board with God's program, if you will.

And this is a person where a person that's mocking and scorning, even when they're trying to maybe get into Bible reading, maybe they think they have to, that they should.

When they come at it, as a scorner, as a mocker, not believing, they're not finding wisdom. It says, but knowledge is easy unto him that understand it.

If you say, you know, I'm going to look at some of God's ways, and I'm going to look at my own ways, but you're not completely submitted to God's ways, when you say, I'll look at both, and I'll choose.

The Bible says that knowledge isn't going to come to the mocker, to the scorner, to the one that does not understand, hey, God is God, God's in control, and I am not in control.

Verse number seven, go from the presence of a foolish man when thou perceive us not in him, the lips of knowledge. It doesn't do good for our souls to constantly surround ourselves with those that don't follow God's ways.

If your only friends are those that do not follow God, that do not worship God, that aren't walking in God's ways, that is going to determine a lot of your direction in life.

If all you ever hear is people talking about how they're not following God, then it makes it much harder for us to follow God. And so have, surround yourself with good, godly people.

Verse number eight, the wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of fools is deceit. There you have the wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way.

That the prudent person, the one who thinks ahead goes, okay, what's going to be the end result of what I'm doing? As opposed to it says the folly of fools or the stupidity, the foolishness of fools is deceit.

That people that aren't following God think, okay, I think if I do this thing, I'll get ahead. I think if I do this thing, it's going to end well for me and my family. But the Bible says that it deceives them.

Instead, the wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way of, okay, what am I doing now? And where is that going to lead me? And that's a great habit to have.

Verse number nine, fools make a mock at sin, but among the righteous, there is favor. And that word there for sin in verse number nine is interesting because it's also used of the sin offering or the guilt offering that would be made by the priest.

And that fools would make a mock both at sin, that would say, you know, is that really, is that really a bad thing to do this or that?

You can go to some of the earlier verses that the fools think that they are correct in everything that they do and that they're never wrong. And that if God says they're wrong, then God must be wrong.

It says, fools make a market sin, so not just sin itself, but even the sin offering, the guilt offerings that would come, that they would say, why would I need to bring a sacrifice?

Why would I need to bring money to purchase a sacrifice for the temple during this time? Say, why would I do that? You know, sin isn't that bad.

What I'm doing isn't that wrong. And this would go completely against the word of God.

We would know, as New Testament Christians, that Christ paid that penalty for our sin and that it's a very, very serious thing, both sin and both sin is serious and the sacrifice that Christ paid for sin is serious.

And when we would maybe in our own lives sin flippantly, that we wouldn't think much of it, that we wouldn't think that it's a problem when we sin, it betrays that our heart has not seen the world how God sees the world.

So, instead of being a fool who makes a mock at sin, at the price of sin, at the payment for sin, instead among the righteous, there is favor.

That God has his favor for those that realize who he is, who we are as sinners and the incredible price that Christ paid for us. Verse number 10, the heart knoweth its own bitterness, and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

That our hearts know when we hurt, and our hearts know our deepest gladness, and other people don't always know when we hurt, other people don't always know why we're so happy.

But God knows our hearts, and God knows when we hurt, and God knows our joy. And this verse encourages me that even when maybe other people don't understand what's going on in my life, I know that the Lord always understands.

Verse number 11, the house of the wicked shall be overthrown, but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish. And there you have just that same thought again, of there is safety and security and stability in following the Lord.

Verse number 12, there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Makes me think of the Book of Judges, that in those days every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

And we saw a couple years ago when we went through the Book of Judges, what happens when we only do what's right in our own eyes. Verse number 13, even in laughter, the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness.

And that just is a general proverb that would say, hey, even if people seem to be happy, they can still be going through hard times.

And from the New Testament, we would maybe take some of those things of be looking out for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

I think even a couple years ago of the comedian Robin Williams, who was deeply troubled with depression and things like that, even taking his own life at the end.

And even though he spent his whole life making other people laugh, there was still deep sorrow in his own life. So for you guys and for myself, let's look out for each other as Christians and look out for them.

Even if maybe they might put on a bright smile, get to know other people on a deeper level so that that way they would have someone that they can turn to in these kinds of times.

That even if they, even if their heart is sorrowful, even if they do have that heaviness of spirit, that they would have someone to turn to.

Verse number 14, The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways, and a good man shall be satisfied from himself. The simple believeth every word, but the prudent man looketh well to his going.

A wise man feareth and departeth from evil, but the fool rageth and is confident.

As we've kind of looked at through this whole chapter, these verses talk again about the fact that a wise person is gonna be one that looks ahead to what they're doing, and they would say, hey, what are gonna be the consequences of these actions, of

this path that I'm on? Whereas a foolish person says, hey, whatever I'm doing is right, whatever I'm doing is good, and I'm just gonna keep on going on my own way.

And so wisdom would say, hey, let's take inventory of the actions that we're doing, and let's make sure that we're anchored and stable in God's ways and in God's word and in God's path.

And not just say, okay, everything that I do is going to be correct.

When we do that, as this chapter has said, we are in danger of going in the ways of death, of destruction in our life that would tear down our families, that would tear down our testimony in front of others.

Instead, we should have a heart and a mind that says, hey, I want to follow God. And so I'm going to be careful about what I do, what I think, what I say, and allow God to shape my path. I hope this chapter would be an encouragement to you.

I know it was to me this morning. Just this encouragement.

And if we are ever on a path that is away from something that God would have, I'm so thankful for the promise of God's word that if we confess our sins, if we realize, God, the path I have been on is a path of destruction. It's a perverse path.

It's a twisted path. It's not your path. But when we confess our sins, when we say the same thing about our sin that God does, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we've seen, hey, maybe I'm on a path that I shouldn't be, God says, hey, confess it, I'll forgive you, and I will cleanse you from all unrighteousness, that there's hope in our life, that we can get back on the right path because God has promised

to cleanse us. And so I'm thankful that then when he cleanses us, that there is that stability, that security, that safety in God's path.

I hope that would be an encouragement to you, and I'll look forward to seeing you this Sunday, at 10.30, and look forward to being back with you on Strength of the Day on Tuesday. Well, it might not be me, probably be Pastor.