WWUTT 1459 The Way of a Fool is Right in His Own Eyes (Proverbs 12:15-28)

We see these contrasts a lot in Proverbs. The way the fool leads to death, the way of the wise leads to life.

Today we're going to hear about the words of the fool versus the words of the righteous, when we understand the text.

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

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

Q &A on Friday. Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. Well, we're back to our study in Proverbs today, picking up in chapter 12.

We've looked at the first half of the chapter. Today we want to look at the second half, so I'm going to begin reading here in verse 15.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

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

Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.

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

Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.

No ill befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble. Lying lips are an abomination to the

Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight. A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.

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

Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.

In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death."

So you notice a lot of contrasts here. The way of the fool is this way, the way of the righteous is this way.

We've seen that through Proverbs chapter 12. We begin today with verse 15. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

A fool is following his own counsel. He's going his own way, and every way that he looks at according to his own understanding looks like the right way.

And sometimes the fool can pick the right way. And you see that guy make a decision, and you think to yourself, hey, what a wise fellow.

That was a good choice. But if he's responding subjectively, if he's acting based on his own feelings, if he's following his heart, he won't go the right way every time.

Eventually he's going to go somewhere that will lead to his destruction and anybody else who follows after him.

What is it that Proverbs 3 said to us? We were told to lean not on our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge

Him, acknowledge God, and He will make straight our paths. There's another verse that sounds like this one, like Proverbs 12, 15.

It's in chapter 21, verse 2, where it says, every way of a man is right in his own eyes.

If left to ourselves, we would follow ourselves. We're going to go the ways that we think are right, but our heart is fallen, and we are deeply deceived, having been born with the sin nature of Adam in rebellion against God.

If it were not for God's intervention, we would follow our own way to our own destruction. But it is because of the of the hearing of the gospel, the conviction in our hearts, turning from sin to Jesus Christ, the

Holy Spirit being poured in our hearts to seek after God. Now we seek

His way instead of our own way. So do not lean on your own understanding, but follow in the way of God, which we're doing here when we read the

Bible, and obey God's commands, and seek His counsel.

A wise man listens to advice, so listening to this word will make you wise.

We go on into verse 16, the vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.

Well, there's some advice for social media today, amen? The fool will react very harshly and very quickly to things that kind of offend his own personal biases, but a person who has confidence in God, confidence in the future, is mindful of things to come, that's a person who is prudent.

He's able to ignore insults because his confidence is in Christ, not in himself or in the opinions of others.

I had something like this happen just this week, as a matter of fact, something that was said on social media that a pastor, this man was a pastor, completely misread, and he called me, called me at the church and was chewing me out about it, was on the verge of tears, this guy was just not in his right mind, and then it came to find out that what it was he was reading, he completely misread, read something into it that wasn't even being said at all, and I don't know if I was able to show him his folly or not, but I hope that he was convicted of his sin and he won't be overreacting to things like that.

The tweet that he read, because it came from Twitter, the the tweet that he read was even about something else entirely, it wasn't about what he thought it was about, but this is that this is something that exposes the fool, the vexation of a fool is known at once, that he's so easily put off by so many things, the prudent man is able to ignore something that's even directed at him, even when those insults are right at him.

If we were to listen to every insult that's hurled at us, we'd never get anything done, so the prudent man whose confidence is in God is able to ignore those things and continue on with the

Lord's work. As we read in Romans 8 verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, amen.

Verse 17 kind of goes along with the same theme of what we've read in these last couple of verses, whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.

That's exactly what makes him a false witness, because he lies, he does not tell the truth.

A man who is committed to the truth has the courage to stand on the truth, and if he makes an accusation about somebody else, he's going to present the honest evidence, he will give the facts.

A false witness will not, and sometimes won't present any evidence at all, they will just make a claim to try to stir the emotions of the crowd and win the people to their side.

We're seeing some of this going on right now in the Southern Baptist Convention leading up to the annual meeting next week.

A lot of political games are being played, and it's very heartbreaking to see this. In one such circumstance, it involves a former prominent leader in the

Southern Baptist Convention, and if I had time, I would talk about this more, but let's continue on.

Verse 18, there is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

You're seeing kind of a connected theme going on in these verses here, right? Ephesians 4, 29 through 32 say this, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Be kind to one another, tender -hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

We go on to verse 19, truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

You know, there's good news in that, especially for us who are in Christ, that lies don't go with us into eternity.

When the judgment of God comes upon the wickedness of man, all the lies that wicked man had told, they will perish in the judgment of God.

Those who speak truth will endure forever, for Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

John 14, 6, no one comes to the Father but through Jesus Christ. We come to the truth, we speak truth, we will endure in the truth forever.

As Jesus said in Mark 13, 31, heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away.

The word of the Lord endures forever. That which is spoken in the world, that which comes from the flesh, endures only for the moment.

So do not lose heart just because somebody would speak ill of you or speak lies of you. Continue to hold fast to Christ and know that his justice will ultimately reign in the end.

Verse 20, deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.

Deceit in the heart of those who devise evil. Now understand something, that when we're talking about people who are evil, we're not always talking about people who are consciously doing evil.

Like in their heart, they devise evil. It's not like they're sitting there and rubbing their hands going,

I'm gonna do something evil today. And so therefore it's their intent that makes it evil.

What makes it evil is that it's not of God. It does not honor God. It does not build others up.

It is not in obedience or in submission to Christ.

It's from the flesh. So even if a person has good intentions, but they do that which is contrary to God and his word, they've devised evil in their heart, even if their intentions were not evil.

Just like what we see with critical race theory and intersectionality, the the wokeness that is spreading among and even only talking about evangelicalism.

So just in churches that have accepted critical race theory and people are now divided because of these worldly philosophies, which are not uniting anybody, they are dividing people.

Those who have accepted this wokeness perspective are not trying to be deceptive.

They're not trying to do something evil. They're actually trying to love others. And that's the whole reason why they got snookered into this.

I remember Votie Bauckham saying years ago, even before the social justice movement was as big as it is now, he said that if the social justice movement went by its actual name, young Christians would not have been lured into it because the social justice movement is actually cultural

Marxism under a new name. So we want to do justice, but we're naive about that.

And instead of knowing God's word, there are people who, though their intentions were good, have been led astray into these false and worldly ideas.

So as they're devising these critical race things in their heart, the the intersectionality tool that they are implementing to do what they think is to bring about justice, they're actually devising evil in their own heart because they have doubted the

Word of God. And they're convinced by these words from the world. Critical race theory divides people up into different categories.

It is inherently divisive because it's meant to separate people out into categories and then through intersectionality, stating that this person is oppressed and this person is their oppressor.

And so it's a blame game. It ends up accusing people and others are able to gain power and control over others through victimhood, claiming a certain victim status.

And if you'll listen to the figureheads of these two worldviews, critical race theory and intersectionality, they will say there's never really any way to be reconciled with one another.

There's always going to be these divisions. So there's no end game to these two theories.

And people who get sucked into them are just constantly going to be divisive. We're not being united around anything, especially not united around Christ.

Romans 16 verses 17 and 18 say, I appeal to you, brothers, watch out for those who cause divisions for such persons do not serve our

Lord Christ, but their own appetites. And by smooth talk and flattery, they deceive the hearts of the naive.

Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil. But those who plan peace have joy.

And the peace that surpasses all understanding that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, we find in the gospel of Christ by turning to Jesus by humbling ourselves by getting receiving forgiveness for our sins, which

Christ offers to all who believe in him. We take that forgiveness. We are reconciled to God.

We forgive one another were reconciled to each other. This all happens through Christ, not through worldly philosophies, but by following and walking in the word of God, which brings peace to his people.

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew five in the Beatitudes, he said, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God.

Verse 21. No ill befalls the righteous. There is no judgment on the one who does what

God says is right. But the wicked are filled with trouble.

They continue to cause trouble until the day of the Lord, when trouble will come on them under the judgment of God.

Verse 22. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.

And we've seen this over and over again in this particular section of Proverbs 12, seeing that those who speak truth will receive the favor of God.

Those who act faithfully according to God's way, we are his delight.

God delights in us. I remember that I just mentioned the Beatitudes to you out of Matthew chapter five.

Well, each one of those Beatitudes begins with what? With what word? Blessed. Blessed are they.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, since we're talking about that right here, for they will be satisfied.

To be blessed means to be approved by God. We are his delight.

But those who lie, who do not speak truth, who do not seek

God and his word, they are an abomination to the Lord. So let that fill you with fear,

Christian, a reverent fear that you would walk in truth and not devote yourself to lies, not believing lies, not speaking lies, not spreading lies about others.

Speak truth to one another in Jesus' name. Verse 23, a prudent man.

Once again, we're talking about a man who is mindful of the future. He thinks about the consequences of what it is that he is doing, and he acts accordingly in the fear of God and according to the

Lord's ways. A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly.

What would this mean for the prudent man to conceal knowledge? Well, the wise person is, he restrains himself.

We talked about this at the beginning here. He doesn't fly off the handle at everything that he hears that goes against his biases, or he draws wrong conclusions even about things.

Rather, he's going to speak in such a way that gives grace to those who hear.

As we just read also from Ephesians 4, verse 29, he is going to say things that build up others, that are appropriate for the circumstance.

The fool, on the other hand, everybody's going to hear everything that he thinks.

It's like he cannot keep any control over his mouth, and he's going to react harshly to things that he disagrees with.

So the prudent man conceals knowledge, the heart of fools proclaims folly. Just an outpouring of words.

Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, as Jesus said. Verse 24, the hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

It used to be that if a person committed a crime, forced labor is what they received, and criminals were going after their own way instead of walking in the right way.

So the slothful, the lazy man who doesn't do his work but tries to gain by stealing, he's going to be caught for his crimes and put to forced labor.

Whereas the hand of the diligent will rule, the man who is faithful to his work and does it has strength.

We continue on in verse 25. Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

Remember Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6, do not be anxious.

Who can add a single day to his life by worrying about tomorrow?

Do not worry about tomorrow. Today has enough trouble of its own. Instead, in Matthew 6, 33, he says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all the things you need will be added as well.

That's a good word and should make you glad. Verse 26, one who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Once again, I could draw the example of the stuff that's going on in the SBC right now, leading up to the annual meeting next week.

One troublemaker in particular that is trying to lead people astray, but it is the one who is righteous, is a good guide to his neighbor.

And I pray that the people, pray for the messengers, pray for this annual meeting that's coming up next week.

The Southern Baptist Convention is the largest fellowship of Protestant churches in the United States.

What goes on in the SBC often affects and reflects things that are happening in American evangelicalism at large.

So it is important to you to pay attention to things that are even going on among the Southern Baptists. Pray that the messengers will not be led astray by lies, but instead desire the truth, especially the truth of God's word.

And it would be the faithful proclamation of his word that would become a message, once again, that is loved by Southern Baptist churches and faithful pastors devoted to verse -by -verse exposition in their pulpits.

I'd love to see that start with the SBC and then get picked up by churches around the

U .S. and the globe. We go on into verse 27, whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.

I was talking about this very thing with a hunter recently, and if I see him in church this Sunday, I'm going to show him this verse.

But he was talking about how there's guys out there, they will hunt big elk and they'll hunt bear.

And this fellow said that he had hunted bear, and I said, what does bear meat taste like? He said, oh, it is so good. But you have to clean the animal as soon as you kill it.

You have to prepare the animal and butcher it right away. There are a lot of guys that will kill these big animals, and then they'll go tie it to their truck, parade it around town, go to all their friends' houses, say, hey, come look at this thing that I've killed.

And then by the time they get to actually butchering the animal, the meat isn't any good anymore. But if you get it while it's fresh, well, you get good meat.

You may not have, you know, as many friends ogling over this prize animal you killed, but you got some good food out of it.

So take that now and apply that to verse 27. Whoever is slothful, whoever hesitates to prepare this animal that he's killed will not roast his game.

But the diligent man will get precious wealth. The one who hunts and then does the work with his animal to prepare that meat for eating, which is really the reason why anybody should be hunting any animals, because you want food.

That's why we go hunting for food. Verse 28, in the path of righteousness is life.

And in its pathway, there is no death. We once again come right back to Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father but by him. Jesus is our path of righteousness for those who believe in Jesus, where his righteousness and delight to live in the righteousness of God.

So let us follow on his ways and in his path, the path of life.

There is no death. We will reign forever with Christ. Amen. Heavenly Father, thank you for these good words.

And I pray we think about these things diligently as wise men and women desiring to be the delight of God and walk in your truth, looking to Jesus as our example, as our teacher, as our

Savior, as our King. He reigns. We worship him. In his name we pray.

Amen. This has been When We Understand the 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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