Proverbs 14:2,5,6 ESV
“Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord,
but he who is devious in his ways despises him.
A faithful witness does not lie,
but a false witness breathes out lies.
A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain,
but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.”
Another way of wording this first verse (sentence) here
could be, “Whoever fears the Lord walks in uprightness.” Either way it says the
same thing, but this way it is showing the fear of the Lord as what produces
the walk of uprightness. First we have to fear (honor, value, respect, revere,
worship, and obey) the Lord, and then what follows is us walking in
uprightness, in moral purity, in holiness, in righteousness, in honesty, and in
faithfulness.
But, if this is our practice, to walk in the fear of the
Lord, in obedience to his commands (New Covenant), in uprightness, moral
purity, honesty, integrity, and in faithfulness, truly we will be despised by
those who are devious in their ways. And some of these who are devious are
pastors, elders, deacons, Bible teachers, small group leaders, husbands, wives,
fathers and mothers. So, if you walk with the Lord, expect to be hated even by
other Christians.
I love all these comparisons. For they paint a really good
picture for us of where God draws the line in the sand, basically. For,
according to the Scriptures, if sin is what we practice, i.e. if we continue in
deliberate and habitual sin, and if obedience and righteousness are not what we
practice, then we don’t have eternal life with God. But if we walk according to
the Spirit, by the grace of God, in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord,
and in the forsaking of sin, then we have the hope of eternal life with God.
So, people who are faithful witnesses do not make lying their
practice. They will not willfully and deliberately and habitually tell people
lies. Now this is not to say that they might not unknowingly pass along some
information they believed to be the truth. But as soon as they realize it is
not the truth, they will make every effort to correct the wrong and to speak
what is right. Or if they have had a slip of the tongue and immediately the
Holy Spirit convicts them that they just told a lie, they will make it right.
But those who are false witnesses are habitual liars who
make lying their practice and who intentionally tell people lies in order to
deceive them and in order to send them off in a different direction opposite of
the truth. Some of them may do this as a defense if they feel they are being
discovered or found out for their evil, and so they will create false personas
in hopes to lead people off their trail. Others habitually lie for the sole
purpose of leading people away from the truth so that they will follow after
the lies, instead.
And we need to understand here that many of these liars and
deceivers are reputable pastors and Bible teachers and book authors who are
respected in the Christian community. So many people, thus, do not even bother
to test their words against the Scriptures because they see them as above
board. But we have to know that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light
and his servants masquerade themselves as servants of righteousness. So, just
because they look good doesn’t mean they are good. Test everyone!
A scoffer is someone who ridicules and scorns the truth and
who derides and disdains those who are teaching the truth. But some of these
scoffers are students of the Scriptures and they are those who profess to be
Bible teachers and pastors and elders of churches. So, with all their head
knowledge and all their learning, they still do not accept the whole counsel of
God, but they mock it usually. So, they do seek wisdom in vain, mainly because they
refuse to obey much of what they do read in the Scriptures. So, those who gain
wisdom are those who obey what wisdom teaches.
Proverbs 14:9,12,14 ESV
“Fools mock at the guilt offering,
but the upright enjoy acceptance.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways,
and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.”
Fools mock at whatever they don’t understand or at whatever
they refuse to accept as truth. So, to mock at the guilt offering appears to be
about mocking at repentance, i.e. at the thought that they might have to
actually forsake their lives of sin in order to follow Jesus in obedience.
Thus, fools (wicked people) commit sin lightly and they give these grievous
sins misleading names, and they pass over rebuke with a joke, and they
encourage others in sin by their easy way of viewing it. So, they don’t call
sin what it really is, like many will just say “I messed up.”
So, rather than accept the teachings of the Scriptures (the
whole counsel of God) into their lives, they go the way that seems right to
them in their own thinking and reasoning, according to their own flesh and what
makes them feel good inside. And they may profess faith in Jesus Christ and
claim to be in relationship with God and make claims to heaven as their eternal
destiny, but what they are following is not the true gospel but a gospel
created in the mind of humans in order to appease the flesh and to coddle
people in their sins. And they claim it is because they don’t want to offend
people.
But the truth of the matter is what has already been
discussed here and that is that how we live does indeed impact where we will
spend eternity. If that is not what you believe, then please read the
Scriptures, especially Matthew to Revelation, and read them one word at a time,
in context, and do so prayerfully, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the
truth of his word. If you are honest, you can’t miss it. This is all over the
New Testament. If we walk in sin we will die in sin but if we walk in
righteousness we will live.
Proverbs 14:16,22,25 ESV
“One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil,
but a fool is reckless and careless.
Do they not go astray who devise evil?
Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.
A truthful witness saves lives,
but one who breathes out lies is deceitful.”
Now, the picture the Lord Jesus is giving me here is that of
those who are threatening God’s true servants because his servants are speaking
the truth of the gospel. Many pastors of churches today are teaching lies, and
not the truth. They are teaching a false gospel that is not of the Spirit of
God but of the flesh of man, although it has parts that are biblical. So it is
close to the truth, but it isn’t the truth, so it is a lie. Many are leading
people to believe they can be saved from their sins and be guaranteed heaven
when they die but that they don’t have to repent of sin nor obey the Lord.
So, if you are one who is holding on to the whole counsel of
God and who is teaching repentance and obedience to and submission to Christ as
Lord, don’t be surprised if you will have other Christians and even pastors and
elders of churches who will despise you and turn against you and even invite or
kick you out of their gatherings. For many of them are literally being trained
to do exactly that, to get rid of people with “strong convictions” who are
still teaching repentance and obedience to Christ.
So, be one who saves lives, not one who destroys lives.
Teach the truth (the whole counsel of God) and not the lies that are close to
the truth but that are not the truth because they are not of the Spirit of God.
And keep speaking the truth even if you are rejected and persecuted by other
professers of faith in Jesus Christ. Keep teaching repentance and obedience.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom
2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2
Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal
5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col
3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb
3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
The
Lord’s Anointed
An
Original Work / December 16, 2011
Based
off Isaiah 61
The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;
Anointed to preach the Good News;
Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;
Proclaim freedom for the captives.
He sent me to preach release for pris’ners
Who are walking in sin’s darkness;
Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;
And tell them about God’s judgments;
Comfort all who mourn;
Give crowns of beauty;
Oil of gladness and thanksgiving.
They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,
A planting of our Savior, God,
For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and
They will rebuild God’s holy church.
God will renew them, and will restore them,
And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.
You will be ministers of our God, and
You will rejoice in salvation.
The Lord loves justice;
He is faithful to
Reward those who are seeking Him.
I delight greatly in the Lord;
My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.
He has clothed me with His salvation,
And in a robe of His righteousness.
He has given me priestly garments to wear,
As the bride of Jesus Christ.
As the garden of our Lord and Savior,
He causes us to grow in Him.
He makes righteousness,
Praise, and thanksgiving
Spring up before all the nations.
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