THE CONTRAST OF CONSEQUENCES OF THE HEART

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PROVERBS 10:18-32
Lesson #15
THE CONTRAST OF CONSEQUENCES OF THE HEART

• Memory Verse: Your choice from Pro 10:18-32.
• We continue with the format that began in Proverbs 10:1…a list of individual, stand- alone proverbs on a wide variety of subjects.
• In this chapter I have grouped them together (out of order) following a specific theme in order to give some continuity to the lesson.
• Read Pro 10:18-32
  • The mouth and the heart:
    • Read Luk 6:45
    • Proverbs tells us there is a connection between the mouth and the heart. But we see that same message throughout the Bible.
      • Read Rom 3:13-14 The evil heart is in the mouth.
      • Read Rom 10:9-10 The believing heart is also in the mouth.
  • “He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.” (18)
  • ^“ In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.” (19)
    • Key words: slander (lies); fool (no God for me); wise (living skillfully).
      • This section of Proverbs gives us the contrast between the righteous person and the wicked person (20-21)
      • The wicked person lives a life of lawless evil.
        • He has hatred in his heart and hides it with flattering lips that are not honest. (18)

To harbor hatred in the heart and to hide it is wrong in God’s perspective.

In God’s perspective, it is not just the outward actions that are important but the attitudes of the heart have equal importance. It is Jesus’ message in the Sermon on the Mount (Mat 5-7).

• • • • • He finds it easy to speak slanderous words against another person. (18)

Slander is a false story or report designed to injure the reputation of another person.

Slander can take legal form in a courtroom or it can be informal in the form of gossip.

• • • • The righteous believer in Christ is wise and living skillfully
        • The wise believer in Christ will watch what he says. (19) Why?
        • As a believer in Jesus Christ, he knows he must answer to God for what he says. Therefore he will be careful how he speaks.
        • The wise believer will err on the side of righteousness by giving a person the benefit of the doubt.
  • “The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.” (20)
  • ^“ The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.” (21)
    • Key words: just (righteous believer); wicked (lawless evil); righteous (pure life); fools (no God for me); wisdom (skillful living)
    • Notice the parallels:
      • Tongue/heart
      • Just/wicked
      • Silver/little worth.
    • The Righteous believer living a pure life in Christ:
      • It is not a sin to talk too much.
      • However, according to verse 19 you increase your probability of sin the more you speak.
      • The tongue of the righteous believer in Christ is valuable because:
        • It can speak the truths of God and testify of Jesus Christ. (20-21)

Silver in the Bible is symbolic of redemption.

The believer that speaks about Christ’s redemption is very valuable to God.

• • • • • Speaking the Word of God is giving spiritual food to another person. (21)
        • Jesus said, “It is written man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Mat 4:4)
    • The foolish person that says there is no God for him:
      • The person that does not believe in a personal God for his life falls into the Biblical category of a “fool”.
      • According to God He is the person that has undeniable proof and still does not believe.
        • The heart of the evil person has no value to God. (20) Why?

He has already made his decision to follow Satan.

His decision is firm in his heart.

• • • • • He will experience eternal death and separation from God in the lake of fire. (21)

This person has no desire to know truth and no desire to receive Jesus Christ (wisdom) into his heart.

This person sees no value in living a life guided and blessed by God.

• • • • • Therefore, his heart has no value because the most valuable possession in the universe is Jesus Christ, and Christ does not live in the heart of the fool.
      • Notice that the fool dies for want of wisdom. Wisdom personified is Jesus Christ.
        • Without Christ in your life you cannot live successfully.
        • The person without Christ in his heart, experiences the second death which is an eternal separation from God.
  • “The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.” (31)
  • ^“ The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.” (32)
    • Key words: just (righteous believer); wisdom (skillful living); froward/forwardness (disobedient); righteous (pure life); wicked (lawless evil).
    • The froward person:
      • The froward person speaks evil, disobedient things against God.
      • The froward person is not guided by what is appropriate, within God’s lawful boundaries, or even society’s boundaries. (31-32)
        • If his words promote his own agenda, that is his guide.
        • God says the disobedient tongue will be cut out. (31) What does that mean?

God’s basic nature is truth. He will bring truth to the surface eventually so that the wicked lies will have no power.

In the final judgment of non-believers, the lying tongue will pay for its lies.

• • • The just or righteous person:
      • The righteous believer in Christ, living a pure life, will exhibit his skillful living abilities by what he says. (31)
      • The righteous believer living a pure life knows what is proper in society and acceptable to God. (32)
        • The righteous believer is the person listening to God, guided by and obedient to the Holy Spirit when he is convicted of some sin.
        • By living in the Spirit, he is living a pure life in Christ because the Holy Spirit tells him what is pleasing to God.
  • Source of wealth and the quality of character:
    • Abraham is the Biblical model for verse 22.
    • Read Gen 13:2
    • ^” The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (22)
    • ^“ As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.” (26)
      • Key words: sluggard (lazy).
      • God tells us in verse 22 that He is the source of blessing. That blessing is not just material wealth but spiritual wealth as well.
        • Many non-believers that have no relationship with God and do not believe in Him some times gain a lot of material wealth in their lifetime.

If God is the source of blessing why do evil people prosper materially at times and righteous people remain poor?

This old question goes throughout the Bible.

The answer is very complicated, individualized, and personal.

The book of Proverbs is a book of generalities.

It does not speak specifically and personally.

Instead it speaks of probabilities.

• • • • • What is the mediating factor in all of this?

Verse 22 says, “and he addeth no sorrow with it.”

Material wealth with added sorrow is wealth that was not obtained legally or morally.

Therefore, it is not material wealth that has value to God but the person’s heart attitude toward the material wealth and how the person pursues it.

God deals with individuals specifically and personally at all given points in time in a person’s life.

God’s actions are either permitted or they are promoted in the life of a believer depending on the openness of the condition of the heart of the person.

God sees the whole of a person’s life and his heart. Man never sees the heart and always sees only a short period of time in that person’s life.

God’s actions are conditioned as to whether or not that person will receive Jesus Christ as his personal savior or not.

If riches will bring a person with a soft heart to Christ, God will promote the material riches.

If material riches will cause a person with a hard heart to further harden his heart, God will permit the riches because He gives us over to what our free will demands.

The same is true of poverty depending on the person’s heart.

Therefore, with all of that in mind, God will prosper or not prosper a person depending on how that person will respond to God.

• • • • The sluggard (lazy person):
        • God works with character qualities as well as conditions of the heart.
        • God’s blessings are promoted by such character qualities as industriousness, perseverance, and faithfulness.

Therefore God speaks against laziness.

Laziness will not gain wealth.

• • • • • These proverbs are general truths about basic character qualities that God desires to see in people, and He often prospers them accordingly.
        • “vinegar to the teeth” and “smoke to the eyes” is a picturesque way of saying that if you hire a lazy person to work for you, your teeth will be on edge and you will be brought to tears.

You will constantly be watching to see if he is doing the job. You will end up in tears when the job is never finished.

The acidity of vinegar eventually dissolves the alkali of the bone and makes it impossible to chew food.

Smoke causes the eyes to water.

• • General Truths about the Wicked (lawless evil) and the Righteous (pure life):
    • ^“It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.” (23)
      • Key words: fool (no God for me); understanding (discernment of good from evil); wisdom (skillful living).
      • Notice the parallels:
        • Fool/man of understanding
        • Mischief/wisdom.
      • The person that says there is no God for him enjoys the thrill of walking on the edge of the law. That law can be either moral or legal.
        • The thrill of the sport is the challenge of whether he will be successful or fall.
        • Will he get away with his evil deeds? Or will he fall and get caught?
        • According to the Bible, he will always fall in the end and have to give an answer to God at the final judgment.
      • The person that understands the difference between good and evil or right and wrong, both morally and legally, will also understand that actions produce consequences. This will guide his life’s decisions and, as a result, he will find himself living skillfully according to God’s standards.
        • Remember earlier Proverbs told us to get wisdom and with the getting to get understanding. (Pro 4:7)
        • Here we see that if you have the understanding of right and wrong, the wisdom of skillful living becomes automatic.
    • “The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.” (24)
      • Key words: wicked (lawless evil); righteous (pure life).
      • Notice the parallels:
        • Fear/desire
        • Wicked/righteous
        • Come upon him/be granted
      • Fear is the opposite of faith. In other words, if you have fear, you do not have faith.
      • The evil person without the moral law of God to guide him should fear because he cannot control everything in his life.
      • On the other hand, the righteous believer living a pure life in Jesus Christ has nothing to fear because while he cannot control his life, God can and does.
      • God will meet the needs and desires of the believer in Christ according to God’s perfect will in which the believer is walking.
      • Read Jam 5:16
    • ^“ The fear of the Lord prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened” (27)
      • Key words: fear of the Lord (extreme reverence); wicked (lawless evil).
      • The person with a fear of the Lord has an awesome reverence for God and the things of God. His attitude is one of submission and obedience to God and His will where he has exchanged his own perspective for God’s perspective about sin and life.
        • God orders his days and guides his years. This believer in Christ has eternal life with God.
        • The fear of the Lord is a healthy fear of who God is. The fear of the Lord is controlling principle for gaining wisdom of skillful living.
      • Generally speaking, if you are living an evil life style with evil friends and participating in lawless activities, morally or legally, your chances of an early death increase depending on the depth of lawlessness of those activities.
      • The evil person living a lawless life has fear of judgment and punishment that surely will come his way in the final judgment.
  • Eternal consequence of wickedness and righteousness:
    • ^“ As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.” (25)
    • Key words: wicked (lawless evil); righteous (pure life).
      • This proverb tells us that life is short and passes like a whirlwind.
      • But the end of a wicked life and a righteous life in Christ are vastly different.
        • The wicked person (evil and lawless) has nothing to show for his life. He has not stored anything in heaven that has eternal value. (Mat 6:20)
        • The righteous person living a pure life in Jesus Christ will live forever and will have stored eternal riches in heaven during his life.

The righteous believer in Christ is building his life on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

The believer with Christ is the foundation of the New Testament church.

Read 1Pet 2:4-5

• • • “The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.” (28)
      • Key words: hope (certainty); righteous (pure life); wicked (lawless evil); perish (lose life).
      • The blessed hope of the believer is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
      • Read 1The 4:13-18
      • The word “hope” in the Bible is something that is assured and will surely come to pass.
      • The coming of the Lord brings gladness to the hearts of those who love the Lord and terror to those who do not.
      • The person that lives in evil lawlessness knows that a judgment is coming. Notice verse 28 says it is an expectation of the wicked.
      • The final judgment of the non-believer ends in the lake of fire for eternity.
        • The word perish is not annihilation.
        • It is to lose your life for eternity, and it is an eternity without God.
    • ^“ The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.” (29)
      • Key words: upright (just); iniquity (sin).
      • Living the way God desires brings moral, physical, and spiritual strength to the believer in Christ who is living his life in right relationship to God.
        • This is what Jesus meant with the words, “I am the way”. (Joh 14:6)
        • The only way to eternal life is through Jesus Christ.
      • Living in sin without giving your life to Jesus Christ who forgives us of all sin, means that you are building a life of temporary things.
        • There is nothing of the world that will last for eternity.
        • Everything in your life will be destroyed in the end.
    • “ The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.” (30)
      • Key words: righteous (pure life); wicked (lawless evil).
      • A decision made for Jesus Christ gives the believer right standing with God (righteousness) through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
      • That decision for Jesus Christ is an eternal decision. He will never lose his salvation in this life or in eternity.
      • His name is forever written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Rev 21:27)
      • Read Mat 5:5
        • The beatitudes tell us that the meek inherit the earth. The meek are those that humble themselves to put their lives under the control of Jesus Christ. The word meek means = to be under the control of.
        • The believers in Christ will reign with Christ on earth for 1000 years after His second coming.
        • Then when God creates a new eternal heaven and a new eternal earth in Rev 22, there will be no non-believers on that new earth.
        • Read Psa 37:9-11

Homework
Proverbs 11:1-15

• Application of Pro 10:18-32
  • What does verse 18 tell you about the fool that says there is no God for him?
    • He lies and does not value truth.
  • What do you think verse 21 means?
    • The believer in Christ will share what he has learned about God with others by giving them spiritual food. The unbeliever will have no interest in the things of God.
  • Why is the righteous person described as an “everlasting foundation”? (25)
    • The believer’s life is built on Jesus Christ, and they become the foundation of the New Testament church.
  • Is verse 27 always true? Why or why not?
    • It is not always true as Proverbs are probabilities. A wicked person puts himself in more dangerous situations and places that can put his life in jeopardy.
  • What does verse 30 mean when it says that the wicked will not inhabit the earth?
    • When God creates a new heaven and a new earth, there will be no non-believers in eternity with God.
• Preparation for Pro 11:1-15
  • Read Pro 11:1-15
    • What happens when pride comes to a heart? (2) Why?
    • How do you think integrity guides the believer? (3)
    • What is the day of wrath? (4)
    • Find a verse that tells you something about Jesus Christ.
    • Pick one verse from Pro 11:1-15 and describe what it means and why you picked that verse.
• Memory verse: Pro 11:3