WWUTT 1559 Mouths Filled with Gravel (Proverbs 20:14-26)

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We've been talking about prudence this week in our devotional lessons, and we're going to see that a little bit more today in these proverbs that we consider, giving thought to our actions and the consequences of our words and our deeds when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the

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Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our

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Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. Coming back to our study in the book of Proverbs.

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I'm going to pick up in chapter 20, verse 14, and we'll read through to the end of the chapter.

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We'll see how far we get here. This is out of the Legacy Standard Bible, the Word of the Lord from Proverbs, chapter 20.

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Bad, bad, says the buyer, but when he goes his way then he boasts. There is gold and an abundance of pearls, but the lips of knowledge are a more precious vessel.

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Take his garment when he becomes a guarantor for a stranger and for foreigners, hold him in pledge.

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Bread obtained by lying is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

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Thoughts are established by counsel, so make war by guidance.

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He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, therefore do not associate with one of loose lips.

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He who curses his father or his mother, his lamp will go out in the midst of darkness.

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An inheritance gained hurriedly at the beginning, in the end will not be blessed. Do not say,

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I will repay evil, hope in Yahweh, and He will save you.

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Differing weights are an abomination to Yahweh, and a deceitful balance is not good.

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The steps of a man are from Yahweh, how then can man understand his way?

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It is a trap for a man to say rashly, it is holy, and after the vows to make inquiry.

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A wise king winnows the wicked, and turns the threshing wheel over them.

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The breath of man is the lamp of Yahweh, searching all the innermost parts of his body.

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Loving kindness and truth will guard the king, and he upholds his throne by loving kindness.

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The honor of young men is their strength, and the majesty of old men is their gray hair.

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Stripes that wound scour away evil, and strokes reach the innermost parts of the body.

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And notice in these proverbs that we're reading, as has been the case the last few chapters, well, you know, last couple of chapters that we've looked at, we're not seeing any contrast here.

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It's just a statement of truth that stands on its own. And so as we come back here to where we left off last week, verse 14, bad, bad, says the buyer, but when he goes his way, then he boasts.

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So in other words, he will look at the goods that he wants to purchase, and he tries to value them down so that he can get them at a cheaper price.

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So he'll say, ah, this stuff's garbage. Who would pay anything for this? And the person who's selling the goods says, oh, well, okay, well,

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I'll bring the price down. Like this buyer has convinced the seller that his goods are no good.

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The price that he's asking for is too high. It's a bartering, you know, a negotiating tactic,

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I guess you could say. And then after the seller brings the price of the goods down, then the buyer buys it.

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And when he walks away, well, he boasts. He's like, hey, look at me. Look at what I managed to get this item for.

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So he's outdone the seller and the goods he purchased below their value. The seller is now just out that money because of this buyer's

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Weasley kind of tactics. And we've seen in the Proverbs other counsel that has talked about beware of those who are wicked, who are going to try to con you with these false ways, with these lies.

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And this is kind of a con that's been set up here. How might there be spiritual application to this?

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Well, know the value of what it is that you have in the gospel of Jesus Christ that has been given to you so that you never sell it cheap and you never sell out to the world negotiating the gospel for a price.

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Well, I'll I'll knock this part out of the gospel if if you'll be OK with that. Will you welcome me if if I don't emphasize this?

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Maybe if I don't talk about hell so much or the wrath of God, it'll just all be love. Is that good enough?

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And will the world welcome me? Will the world accept me now if I sell the gospel cheap? Don't do that, because then the one who is conned you out of the gospel goes on boasting, saying, see, it really wasn't a big deal to that person in the first place.

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I've been in that place before, where especially when I was in college and I had a lot of friends who were mostly pagan and they were trying to negotiate with me, giving up my morality or my ethics to go do something with them that as a

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Christian, I shouldn't have been doing. And then once I did, once I gave into it, boy, they were sure proud of themselves, even said it to my face.

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See, really wasn't a big deal in the first place, was it? You were making much ado about nothing.

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Isn't this more fun? So we must be sure that this word that we have is a pearl of great price, not according to what the

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Mormons have said regarding that particular term, but as Jesus expressed it in his parable, we know that the gospel is a pearl of great price.

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It is so valuable you could not put a price on it. There is nothing in this world that can be offered of equal or greater value than the gospel of Christ.

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So never sell it cheap. Certainly give it away to others for free, because it is only the message of the gospel that saves for those who believe.

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So we go on here to verse 15. There is gold and an abundance of pearls, but the lips of knowledge are a more precious vessel.

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And kind of goes right with the same theme of the previous proverb, right? We know that the knowledge that we have from God is even greater than gold or an abundance of pearls.

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As valuable as those things are, and as long as they last, they don't last forever, and you can't take them with you.

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When you die, you have none of your gold and none of your pearls to be able to present before God and say, hey, look what

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I accumulated in life. We have Jesus Christ, and it is by him only, by faith in Jesus, that we have everlasting life.

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Far greater than anything else we could have in this world. Verse 16. Take his garment when he becomes a guarantor for a stranger, and for foreigners, hold him in a pledge.

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So just as you had kind of an exchange of business that was going on in verse 14, so there's kind of something like that here in verse 16 as well.

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So this is a warning we've seen a few other times in Proverbs, like in Proverbs 6 .1,

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for example, where you need to be careful about the kind of deals that you make or the partners that you make in some of those deals.

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Because if you're partners with somebody who makes a bad deal, well then that bad deal comes upon you as well.

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You will feel the effects of his folly, in other words. So we must be careful with who we partner with even in this world.

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This is not just business advice, but it's even spiritual advice that we not keep company with those of bad morals.

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Because once again, we'll sell our ethics cheap. Those things that have been given to us by knowledge of God through Jesus Christ that we have according to his word.

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Don't sell those things, don't give them away, don't give them up. Hold fast to them and live according to them.

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Let nobody talk you out of the truth that we have in God's word. We go on to verse 17.

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Bread obtained by lying is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

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Again, there's something economic in this particular proverb. He obtained bread by lying.

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So he told some kind of a lie in order to get his bread cheap. Just like the guy back in verse 14.

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It tastes sweet, but afterward his mouth is filled with gravel. In other words, he got no sustenance from it at all.

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Now apply that spiritually. And think about what we talked about yesterday. We were in 1 Corinthians 10.

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That Jesus is the bread from heaven. And he says in John 6 that we must eat upon his flesh and drink his blood.

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It means to be filled with Christ. Not that we literally become cannibals and eat his flesh and drink his blood.

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But that we fill ourselves with Christ Jesus. Fill yourself with anything else. It might taste sweet for a time.

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But it has no lasting nourishment to it. Only Jesus Christ gives us that nourishment unto eternal life.

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Verse 18. Thoughts are established by counsel, so make war by guidance.

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If you're going to commit yourself to something as great as war, well, we need good counsel for that.

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We should not just follow our own way or walk according to our own wisdom or will.

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And so, as Christians, we are doing battle. We are doing war every single day. We are fighting against the forces of darkness in the heavenly places.

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As the Apostle Paul talks about in Ephesians chapter 6 and in 2 Corinthians 10 and other places.

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We destroy strongholds and every lofty wisdom that is raised up against the knowledge of God.

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Worldly wisdom that tries to assert itself as being greater than God. We're constantly doing battle against those things every single day.

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Not being taken captive by worldly ideas, worldly philosophies. That's Colossians chapter 2.

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And we're helping to protect one another from those false teachings as well. That's in Ephesians chapter 4.

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That the church itself is a protection. It's a safe harbor for one another. We would guard ourselves from false teaching and each other and grow one another up in the knowledge of God.

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We do this. We do this kind of spiritual battle every day according to the word of God. So know this word and store it up.

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This is our counsel. And receive the counsel of others with greater wisdom in these things than you have.

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That we may grow one another in the knowledge of God according to his word. Go to church. Sit under good teaching.

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Attend Bible studies. And iron sharpens iron. Encourage and admonish one another according to this word.

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We go on now to verse 19. He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets.

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Therefore do not associate with one of loose lips. It's kind of loosely tied into some of these other things that we've read about.

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So even in the previous proverb, verse 18, thoughts are established by counsel. So make war by guidance.

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Well, war was a huge economic investment. Right? So as we've been talking about some economic things through these proverbs.

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There's your economic tie there in verse 18. Here in 19, he who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets.

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Therefore do not associate with one of loose lips. That goes back to this section that we started in verse 14.

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Bad, bad says the buyer. But when he goes his way, then he boasts. This is another person who lies.

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He reveals secrets. Do not associate with one of loose lips. Because he's not going to keep your secrets.

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He's going to blab them to everybody else. This is, once again, being careful about who we keep company with.

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And especially those teachers that we listen to. Verse 20, he who curses his father or his mother, his lamp will go out in the midst of darkness.

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So we have a slanderer in verse 19. And now we have one who is cursing here in verse 20.

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He who curses father or mother, his lamp goes out in the midst of darkness.

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I was just listening to Alistair Begg talking about this recently. And how God has appointed to parents, to mom and dad,

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God -like responsibilities. Not that mom and dad are made gods. Not what

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I'm saying at all. But rather, as God trains us and disciplines us and grows us up.

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So parents have been given that responsibility as well. And the first commandment, with a promise, in the

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Ten Commandments. Which is also the first commandment in how we relate to one another.

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The man -to -man commandments, rather than the man -to -God commandments. So you have the man -to -God commandments, which are the first four commandments.

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We call that the first table of the law. The second table of the law is how people relate to one another.

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So, love God, that's the first table of the law. Love your neighbor, that's the second table of the law.

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The first commandment in the second table of the law is, honor your father and your mother.

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That it may go well with you. And that you may live long in the land that God is giving to you. Now, when we look at this command, we shouldn't be looking at it as, what do

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I get from this? But rather, we obey God. And as we obey God, we will indeed live long in the land that God is giving to us.

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And that's the eternal promised land, which is heaven. But as we go from those commandments about man's relationship with God, to commandments about man's relationship with man, the first one on the list is, honor your father and your mother.

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Because to dishonor father and mother is the same as dishonoring God. It's the same as disobeying

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God. And in the law, when you go to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the

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Bible, the law says that a son that hates his parents, that strikes his parents, that is a rebellious son, who is a drunkard and lazy and doesn't honor his father and mother, the penalty for that is death.

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Because it's the same as if that young man had blasphemed against God. And so death is the penalty for that.

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Therefore, he who curses father and mother is the same as if he's cursing God. And his lamp will go out in the midst of darkness.

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Because what will he receive? Hell. Eternal separation from God. Honor your father and your mother.

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And by the way, when I say hell is eternal separation from God, it means eternal separation from the hope of God. People in hell actually are in God's presence in the sense that they are receiving his wrath for all eternity.

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We go on to verse 21. An inheritance gained hurriedly at the beginning, in the end, will not be blessed.

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So this kind of goes back to the whole thing about, hey, a liar obtains bread and it's sweet in his mouth, but afterward it's filled with gravel, there's no sustenance to it.

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So likewise, an inheritance gained hurriedly at the beginning, in the end, will not be blessed. A person who gains an inheritance quickly is likely going to spend it quickly, right?

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Because that's what's on their mind. They don't have prudence. Remember talking about that yesterday? So those things gained quickly will not endure.

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And so there are people, even when it comes to Christianity, when it comes to conversion, they'll think that they've gained something quickly instead of understanding sanctification.

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Indeed, we've been justified. The moment that we come to Jesus Christ, we're justified. We stand before God as innocent.

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But there is also this process that God has ordained is supposed to happen in the life of a believer, that we are growing in holiness and righteousness until the day of Christ.

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So you tell a person, hey, if you pray this prayer, you come down to the altar, you raise your hand, repeat these words after me, boom, you're saved.

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If that's what it is that you communicate to a person, then what you've done is you've given them an inheritance hurriedly. And they actually don't know anything about growing in the

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Lord, being obedient to God, learning about Christ and his word, fellowshipping with believers, loving one another, going to church.

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They haven't learned anything about that because you've just declared them clean as if a magic spell did it.

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All you had to do is repeat these words and you've gained an inheritance of eternal life. Well, it might turn out that they rejoiced in the word for a time, but they have no root in themselves.

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And then once something sprouted up, it just withered away. That's in the parable of the sowers that or the parable of the sower, also known as the parable of the soils that we read about in Matthew, chapter 13.

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We're going on here to verse 22. Do not say I will repay evil hope in Yahweh and he will save you.

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So just like in Romans, chapter 12, give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all and do not repay evil for evil.

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There's prudence once again. You're thinking about the consequences of your actions and and what it communicates to other people, the effect that it has on you and the effect that it has on others.

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Paul goes on to say they're quoting from the Old Testament. Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the

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Lord, says Yahweh. So when we trust God and we trust that judgment is in his hands and that he is just and he will repay, then we're not investing our lives in this bitter scheme against somebody who wronged us and trying to get revenge on that other person.

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We will leave it to the Lord to repay. Still doing justice where we can do justice, but we're not enacting vengeance against another because we are wronged.

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We give that to the Lord and ultimately the final say is his. He will give to each person according to their works.

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As it says in the scriptures, if we believe that trust in God, verse 23, differing weights are an abomination to Yahweh and a deceitful balance is not good.

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So once again, do justice as we are to do justice, uphold justice, do what is right, according to the word of God.

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If you show partiality, if you treat one person this way and another person another way based on their social status, based on their skin color.

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Based on whether they're a man or a woman, are you really being just?

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Are you loving one another as God loves us? Or do you have a different standard for one person than you have for another?

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That's an abomination to Yahweh. A deceitful balance is not good. So understand the instruction given to all believers in James chapter two, verse one, show no partiality as you hold fast to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Verse 24, the steps of a man are from Yahweh. How then can man understand his way?

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The steps of a man are from Yahweh. We're talking about prudence once again, giving thought to the way that we go, the things that we do and what the long term effects, ramifications of that are going to be.

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How do we understand our way? We turn to the word of God. As was said back in Proverbs chapter three, lean not on your own understanding.

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In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.

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Verse 25, it's a trap for a man to say rashly, it is holy. And after the vows to make inquiry, like don't call something holy just because you want it.

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And God says it's good, so therefore I can have it. Don't say that rashly. Do you understand for sure whether this matter that you are looking at is truly honorable to the

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Lord? Discern those things, weigh them, seek good counsel. And then he said, then the next part of that, verse 25, and after vows to make inquiry.

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So you make a vow about something, you commit to something and then you go, OK, what were the, what are the stipulations of this again?

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What is it that I've committed myself to? Tell me, tell me what it is that I've just made a vow towards so that I can know what it is that I'm supposed to do.

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That would be foolish to do that, right? You want to know what you're committing yourself to before you commit to it. So therefore we need to give mind to those things that we're committing ourselves to.

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And we need to know that what we are partaking in is honoring to God. Prudence. Again, it's prudence that we're being called to here.

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Verse 26, a wise king winnows the wicked and turns the threshing wheel over them.

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We come back to matters of justice. A wise king is going to remove the wicked from his midst, that we may live in a just society.

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Isn't that better for everybody? Justice is a teacher to all. When we see justice being done against the wicked, then we know to go the way that is right.

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And so likewise, we need to, we need to put off the sin that so easily entangles the instruction that we have in Hebrews chapter 12, that we may run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith.

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And we also must be careful about the company that we keep, as I've talked to you about here. That we not keep company with those of bad character, because bad character corrupts good morals.

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We must be with the church of God, building one another up in sanctification and in holiness, until the day of Christ's return that we may be presented to Christ as his purified bride.

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And that's as much time as I have for today. We're going to stop there and pick up next week.

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We come back to the study of Proverbs. We'll finish up chapter 20 and go into chapter 21. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the wisdom that you have bestowed upon us in this book and many others throughout the scriptures.

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And it may be this, may this be the thing that we rely upon to guide our steps, to know the way that we are to go.

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That we may walk in a manner that is worthy of God. Continue to convict our hearts and lead us in these things as we go throughout our day, the rest of our week and into our weekend.

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Bring us safely into the presence of your church body this Sunday, that we may worship

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God together. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. This has been When We Understand the

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Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt

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.com. If you'd like to submit a question to this broadcast, or just send us a comment, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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And let your friends know about our ministry. Join us again tomorrow as we grow together in the study of God's word, when we understand the text.