Let's pray once more. Heavenly Father, we're
thankful to be your children. We're thankful
to be under your care. We're thankful for the
confidence and the boldness that we have to enter
into your very presence because of the finished
work of Jesus Christ. We come now to confess
our great need of you. Once again, we'd ask that
you would open your word to us, enable us to
hear it, enable us to assimilate it into our
lives. Don't allow us to turn away, don't allow
any stubbornness in us to hinder the work of
your Holy Spirit, but may you have a free course
in our lives to accomplish all your perfect will.
We pray for the lost that they would be found
of you this morning. I ask for myself that you
help me as I present the word, that I would present
all that you've given, that it would be honoring,
glorifying unto you and helpful to all who hear.
And we ask in Christ's name, amen. Amen. Okay,
well, we're still in Proverbs. I don't know for
how much longer we will be in Proverbs, but we're
there this morning. And I only got about halfway
through the verses that I wanted to cover last
week. So we're going to continue on in this 16th
chapter, but I'm going to... start reading this
morning at verse 16 once again so it says how
much better is it to get wisdom than gold and
to get understanding rather than silver the highway
of the upright is to depart from evil he that
keepeth his way preserve with his soul pride
goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit
before a fall Better it is to be of an humble
spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil
with the proud. He that handleeth a matter wisely
shall find good or shall prosper, and whoso trusts
in the Lord happy is he. The wise in heart shall
be called prudent, and the sweetness of the lips
increaseth learning. Understanding is a wellspring
of life unto him that hath it, but the instruction
of fools is folly. The heart of the wise teacheth
his mouth and addeth learning to his lips. Pleasant
words are as an honeycomb sweet to the soul and
health to the bones. There is a way that seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof are the
ways of death. He that laboreth, laboreth for
himself, for his mouth craveth it of him. An
ungodly man diggeth up evil, and in his lips
there is a burning fire. A foward man soweth
strife, and a whisperer separateth chief friends.
A violent man enticeth his neighbor and leadeth
him into the way that is not good. He shutteth
his eyes to devise foward things, moving his
lips he bringeth evil to pass. The gray head
is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way
of righteousness. He that is slow to anger is
better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his
spirit, then he that taketh the city. The lot
is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord." So it should be, I suppose,
I think it is anyway, obvious to us that this
particular portion of Proverbs really gives to
us the Christian life. It doesn't speak to us
of the way of salvation, but it does speak to
us of the way of... sanctification or the way
of conforming our lives to Christ. So last week,
as I said, we covered the beginning of it and
we saw there that wisdom is an understanding
or the chief desires of men or of Christian men.
And the question that we asked ourselves, was
this true of us? What do we prize in our life?
We were reminded that we have the mind of Christ
according to the New Testament. In other words,
we have wisdom and understanding because of Christ.
Christ is wisdom and understanding. And in Christ
we can order our lives right. We can cultivate
this knowledge and wisdom and understanding because
of the Spirit's work, the Spirit of Christ's
work in us. We saw that we learn by using, we
improve in these areas by using what we know.
You don't use it, you lose it. If you don't apply
what you have knowledge of, you really don't
know it. Then we saw that we're on the King's
Highway, is the way I put it. We're on the road
to heaven. And we're on that road, there's no
doubt. You stay on the road, and you get to heaven.
It leads straight to God. It's the King's Highway.
While we're on there, we shun evil. We don't
go after evil. We don't love evil. We don't want
anything to do with evil. So we don't go on the
Broadway. Those are two cities, or two streets
in the city of Saint Louis. King's Highway and
Broadway. You want to be on the King's Highway,
but you don't want to be anywhere near the Broadway.
It's funny, I laugh every time. I don't go by
there much anymore, but there's a Baptist Church
on Broadway. You know what the Baptist Church
name is? Broadway Baptist Church. I can't explain
it. So, we saw also that humility is a must.
We have to be humble before God, and we have
to give place to our brothers and sisters in
Christ. Humility. Christians are all about humility.
Proud Christian is an oxymoron. We were told
to listen to sound instructions. Sound instructions
from God through His Word. Sound instructions
from God through His people. We should expect
to hear from God from one another. That's what
we saw last week. So the way we speak matters,
right? The way we say something, that matters.
So pleasant words, the scriptures say, profit
very much. So we can expect to accomplish God's
will when we speak pleasantly. We saw that doesn't
have anything to do with not telling the truth.
We are telling the truth. That's what we Christians
are all about. But we're to put it as pleasant
away as we possibly can. We don't, in other words,
beat each other over the head. We make it as
pleasant as we can when we have to give instruction
or rebuke or whatever it is. Pleasant words are
good words. You want to make it as clear as you
possibly can. And you want to use as few words
as possible. Many a sermon is great for the first
20 minutes the second 20 minutes is nothing but
putting people to sleep Because it's got to be
a certain time Hopefully we don't ever hear that
here You say what you have to say clearly But
you don't go dragging it on and on and on and
on and if you're teaching If you have the opportunity
to teach, and this goes for teaching your kids
or a Sunday school class or when you're here,
you should never ever be boring. There is nothing
boring about the Lord. He's not pleased with
boring words. It's just imperative. There should
never be a boring worship service. We're all
responsible for that. You come here and you contribute
to the worship service, you have a testimony,
you have a hymn, you have a psalm, and it's never
boring. Okay, so that's what we, well, understanding
we saw is life abundance. That's what the abundant
life consists in. and the best understanding.
So we're going to continue on then today and
we're going to pick it up in verse 25 where it
says, there is a way that seemeth right unto
a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
So there is no right way apart from God's. You
can only be going the right way if you're going
according to God and His Word. It may seem perfectly
right to you. You may have devised and planned
and purposed the whole thing. But if it's not
done in God, through Jesus Christ, through His
Word, then you shouldn't have any confidence
in what you're doing. If you haven't sought the
Lord for it, and you haven't consulted the Word,
you haven't prayed, there's no confidence in
going forward. It may seem right, it may seem
good, but if it's not according to the Word,
it's not. And so it's not going to lead to your
death if you're a Christian, but it is going
to lead to heartache. It is going to lead to
trouble. You don't want that. You don't want
to be at cross purposes with God. And there is
a way that God has for us to go. And that's what
we should be seeking out. That's what we should
want. We have to acknowledge God is smarter than
us. He does know what he's doing. He will lead,
guide, and direct you. But if you don't want
it, you won't have it. You can go your own way.
And then you'll be subject to discipline and
repentance. sorrow and problems and heartaches,
but you will be brought back onto the King's
Highway. So remember that. Don't make it a second
clause or don't make it a second option. Make
it the first option of your life when you come
to a crossroads or you come to a decision. Seek
the Lord. Seek him first. Before you even consult
with anybody else there's nothing wrong with
seeking advice from other people and so on and
so forth but first the Lord Relying on him trusting
him To do what he's promised to do and that is
to lead and guide and direct your way In 26 he
that laboreth laboreth for himself or his mouth
craved of him I'm sure you've got a better translation
than that, or at least a more understandable
translation, but it's all the same. This is King
James English that I read it in. But an appetite
is good. Guess what it's saying? An appetite
is a good thing. So physically, for a physical
person, an appetite is good. I went through some
sicknesses and some treatments and said, I don't
have any appetite. And it was real easy to lose
weight. I didn't even have any desire to eat.
But I needed to eat. And that's what your appetite
is telling you. You need some food. You need
some nourishment. And so the proverb here is
that because of that, you're laboring for yourself.
You labor. You've got to get some money. till
the garden or however you obtain your food, you've
got to work. And that's another good thing. But
that's all physical, and it's all good. But like
we said last week, if you don't have a spiritual
understanding here in the Proverbs, you're missing
all of the really important things in life. So
a spiritual appetite is a good thing. This is
a physical appetite. What's the temperature or
what's the gauge? How do you view your spiritual
appetite? Well, do you have a good appetite?
An appetite, in the physical sense, drives you
to food. In the spiritual sense, it drives you
to God. You need to gauge your spiritual appetite.
There's nobody else that can do it for you. Nobody
else can really see what's inside of you. Of
course, God knows, and you know. Do you have
any care, any appetite? Are you interested in
learning? Are you interested in growing in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord? Are you interested
in becoming a better example of Christ to your
children and to your neighbors? That's an appetite.
I want to learn. I want to grow. So, you know,
hopefully you have that, at least some measure
of it. And the more that you learn, as we've
said many times, the more it increases. And if
you never learn, there's a real problem. If you
never grow, there's a real problem. Things that
are alive grow. They increase. I've got plants
at home that I started that ginormous They're
alive That's what we should expect for ourselves
because that's what God says he's going to do
Draw near to me. What does it what what comes
next? I will draw near to you You get you getting
anything out of your devotions You hearing from
God in your word? Is it just letters on the page?
Well, why aren't you getting anything? Because
you're not drawn near to God. All you're sitting
there is reading the book. You're not reading
it for understanding. You're not reading it for
knowledge. You're not reading it for the love
of God. You're not reading it to experience God.
And because of that, God's not interested. You're
wearing out God he's tired of your sacrifices
as they used to say in the Old Testament So It's
a true statement if you do draw near to God he
will draw near to you think of that What does
that mean is that is that is that the most wonderful
statement that you ever heard or water is God
of the universe is going to draw near to you
simply because you are attempting to draw near
to him It doesn't get any better than that folks
it does not another there's not a better promise
in the Word of God than that Your spiritual appetite
think about it What do we got next we've got
here we've got a series of uh warnings and i'm
not going to reread them but bad company corrupts
good morals that's the that's a private not here
but that's true you want to you want you want
to go down into into grief and sin and sorrow
just hang around hang around the wrong people
that's all you want to stay away from Bad people.
In any way that you can. The most difficult thing
to do is to stay, if you work, is stay away from
the bad people when you work. I work in a factory
with 500 people and there's plenty of bad people
all over the place. And they just love to drag
you down. And they will. We got the, we got the
scoundrel. We got the perverse person. We've
got the gossip. We've got the violent man. And
we've got the deceiver. I think that just about
covers everything. And there's some of these
people everywhere. I had a whole bunch of friends
when I was converted. And I was just the same
way, with the same characteristics. Well, obviously,
I couldn't hang around with them anymore. And
we became bitter enemies for a while because
they resented the fact that I wouldn't hang around
with them anymore. There wasn't any going over
to the tavern or anything else with these people.
So, you must choose your friends wisely. Choose
your company wisely. We shouldn't try to avoid
every unconverted person. I'm not saying that.
We want to have opportunities to share the gospel.
But that's why we should want to associate with
some unconverted folks. So that we do share the
gospel. So I had all manner of... When I was
working in the factory, I could share the gospel
every day. Every day of the week. No problems.
I didn't have to look for people. They were all
around me. It was the greatest time. I grew a
lot during those years. Hopefully you'll experience
some of that. So then we go on then to verse
31. And it says, gray hair is a crown of glory,
if it be found in the way of righteousness. So
just because you're old, that doesn't mean anything.
It's all kinds of old wicked people. There's
all kinds of old people that maybe they're probably,
I'm sure there's some old people that are Christians
that never grew, you know, or grew slightly,
let's put it that way. And so they don't have
any wisdom just because they have gray hair.
The Bible's not saying anything like that. The
Bible's saying that a person who has attained
an age that has gray hair associated with it
and has lived his life in the Lord seeking the
kingdom first and his righteousness that person
there that has they have some wisdom so those
are the people that you want to look out for
those are the people that you can that safely
hear what they have to say and so The Bible is
also telling us here that you don't have to spend
a lot of money on hair coloring. It's okay to
have great hair. It's fine. It's a glory. It's
a mark of age and wisdom and experience. And
that's how you should view it. God doesn't care
about your hair color. But that's what we should
all be striving for. We should be striving and
desiring to be helpful to others, to put some
of our experiences to use, to be able to help
the younger generation. We've been through it.
There is wisdom there. And then he says in verse
32, he that is slow to anger is better than the
mighty. and he that ruleth his spirit than he
that taketh the city." So you've got these two
contrasts. You've got slow to anger and ruleth
his spirit on one side. We've got the mighty
and he that taketh the city on the other side.
Now which is stronger? Which would you think
is stronger? Do you think it takes more strength
to take a city? or to control yourself? Well,
again, the Proverbs doesn't ask us our opinion,
he just tells us it takes more strength to control
yourself. He's mightier than the mighty man that
takes the city. So, are you willing? Are you
willing to put this to the test? Patient man,
slow to angry. able to control your spirit. God's
saying, you can do that. He has the power to
enable you to do that. There's nothing more important
in your life, in your marriage, than this, I
think. I don't think I'm over speaking. The person
you're the closest to is going to irritate you
the most. That's all. It's inevitable. You're
going to have irritation in your life if you're
married and if you care, if you're in love with
this person. You can't just shrug off. It has
an effect upon us. Words, actions, they have
effect upon us. It's true. It takes a great deal
of grace in our life, the power of the Spirit
in our life to control our anger and our spirit
to be patient. Put it to the test. So I know,
I know this. I've got gray hair. I know this.
I've lived a long time and I've lived a long
time with the same woman. I know what I'm talking
about. And she can get up here and testify to
the same thing. We can get under each other's
skin really anytime we want to because we know
how to do it. Right Karen? And you just have
to be on guard. You have to realize what's going
on. And sometimes we're so free and easy that
it's like an accident that the irritation happens.
But it does happen. It doesn't mean that I don't
love her or she doesn't love me or life's coming
to an end. But it's not a pleasant experience
to go through that. Control yourself. Count on
the Lord in the power of the Spirit to make you
patient and keep you under self -control. Anger
very seldom accomplishes anything good. Anger
is the enemy. That's all. Yeah, I know the Bible
says be angry and sin not. And that's true. I'm
not denying that. But that's the exception that
proves the rule to me. To get angry is no good.
So then we've got the summation here in verse
33. The lot is cast into the lap but the whole
disposing thereof is of the Lord. Evidently in
Israel they cast a lot of lots. It was a decision
-making process. They would cast lots. I guess
maybe there's some cultures today that cast out
bones or colored stones. I don't know what, you
know, but obviously we don't do that. Well, maybe,
I guess, right? Maybe we do. Maybe there's some
of you that do, or know people that do. But we
do have to make decisions in life. Somehow or
another, we've got to make a decision. Now, cast
and loss is not the way to do it. And I guess
I should say also that there's no such thing
as luck or chance. And a Christian should never
be using those words. Oh, I was lucky. No, you
weren't. Right? Right. We shouldn't talk like
that. That's not a Christian way of speech. Well,
I got a chance. I got a chance to do this. No.
That's not how we talk. What's the overall point
of the passage? The overall point of the passage
is that God is sovereign and controls all providence
according to His will. That's the point of the
passage. Nothing happens apart from the will
of God. Nothing. All providences are produced
to accomplish God's will and purposes. That's
a big truth to grab hold of and to believe. When
I was first converted, I had an old Presbyterian
pastor. That he said that he thought and he believed
that God controlled the color of his socks Every
morning He went to his sock drawer and I guess
he had multiple colors But he believed that he
picked out the exact color of socks that God
wanted him to wear that day That's how he was
teaching sovereignty Providence He's probably
right, but I mean that I would have never considered,
but he's probably right. So what does it mean
for us? How are we going to make decisions? How
are we going to live under the providence of
God and the sovereignty of God? What does he
want us to know? Well, he wants us to know that
all of these things that we've been talking about,
They're all part of God's plan and purposes and
providences He wants us to live in this manner
Now I'm not saying perfectly So you the the foundation
of our life is the sovereignty of God and His
controlling Providence, that's foundational So
on that foundation you live You don't you're
not afraid You're not hesitant. A foundation
makes for solid footing. We want to walk on solid
ground. And we walk on solid ground by having
a firm conviction and trust in the Lord and His
sovereignty. How does it work? Well, it works
by you living your life as far as you can. determine
and practice according to the Word of God, led
by the Holy Spirit. And you can trust then that
you are on the firm foundation of God's sovereignty
and His providences. That's how you do it. You
got to get up in the morning. You got to work.
Is there some doubt in your mind that God would
have you go to work in the morning? Well, that'd
be silly, wouldn't it? You can have total confidence.
Are you confident that God's gonna safely deliver
you to work? Or are you terrified of the highway?
Are you terrified of anything that cripples you?
Again, that's not... That's not pleasing and
that's not honoring, but it is honoring to courageously
and confidently get in your car and go to work.
You're relying on the sovereignty of God, the
providence of God. Is there any doubt in the
morning when you get up that if you got kids
you got to take care of them? You got to do your
best for your kids? You stay at home mom, you
got to take care of your kids. There's no doubt
about it. God gave you the children, He expects
you to take care of them. He expects you to be
His steward over these children whose He's entrusted
to your care. These eternal souls that are going
to live forever are entrusted into your care.
There's no doubt about that, that's the truth.
So you've got to put your best effort, you've
got to pour yourself into those kids. And I don't
mean spoiling them. There's nothing worse than
that, but you've got a poor year strength and
knowledge and love into your children That's
that's that's the sovereignty of God at work
and his faithful providence in your life I Got
to make a decision. I got it. I'm gonna change
jobs. I Think I need to change jobs. I want more
money or I want a better job There you have it
What are you going to do? You're going to sit
around and wait for God to be sovereign in your
life and take you by the hand and show you where
you're supposed to work and that is not how it
works, is it? You go exploring. You go looking
for whatever the job is that you want. The question
that you have to ask is why do you want it? Do
you want it just for the fact that you're going
to have more money? Well, do you need more money?
If you need more money than you're currently
earning, that's a very good reason to change
jobs. And God will honor that. He wants you to
be taken care of. You can trust God then to provide
for that job. Well, the job's going to take me
50 miles away from the church. Whoa, hold on
now. What's the primary purpose and priority
in your life? Serving God, worshiping God, loving
your brothers and sisters in Christ? You might
not be getting the right signals. In other words,
there's a whole bunch of stuff. Well, maybe not
a whole bunch, but there's several... Characteristics
are there several things that have to be met
if you're going to take a job Same with school
same with buying a house Whatever whatever it
is if it's not something that's going to improve
your relationship to the Lord and his people
Enable you to give more perhaps enable you to
spend more time Then stop that's a red flag God
will provide all of those things for you. He'll
provide you a good job that enables you to serve
Him and worship Him in a good church with your
brothers and sisters in Christ. You'd be useful
in the church and in the family. All of that
will work out. And if you want to know, I'll
give you a testimony. I'm not going to spend
time here, but if you want to talk to me about
it, I'll be glad to talk to you about it and
tell you all about it. I've lived it. I got gray
hair. But I'll share it with you anytime you
want to know. So that's it. That's the foundation
of my life and every Christian's life. The sovereignty
of God and the providential leading of God. It
doesn't paralyze us. It invigorates us. It enables
us to live confidently. Desiring the... The glory
of God to enjoy Him always. That's what He wants.
That's what He wants for us. That's what He calls
abundant life. Do you thank God for life? Or
do you thank God for true life in Christ? There
is a big difference. Everybody's here. Everybody's
got life. Not everybody has abundant life true
life in Christ We're in Christ we do have it
and we should be attempting to live it out in
total confidence and trust in the Lord so hopefully
it's been somewhat helpful these this section
of Proverbs and Hopefully we'll be able to apply
it to ourselves and live it out all of our days
until we get to the end of the King's Highway
and see him face to face. Amen.