THE PRIORITIES AND TREASURES OF THE WISE

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

PROVERBS 21:17-31
Lesson #36
THE PRIORITIES AND TREASURES OF THE WISE

• Memory verse: Pro 21:20
• ^“He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.” (17)
  • A person that spends his life living for worldly pleasures has his life out of order. Wine and oil are symbolic of a lavish lifestyle.
  • This person will not be rich materially, and certainly he will not be rich spiritually.
  • This proverb speaks about a person’s priorities in life. Priorities determine how you spend your time, your efforts, and your money.
  • Read 2Tim 3:3
  • Read Mat 6:19-20
  • What should be the Christian’s priorities?
    • Priority #1 Your responsibility to God (Mat 6:33):
      • Personal prayer time, talking with God.
      • Personal Bible reading and study.
      • Personal worship.
      • Your spiritual growth through church attendance and Bible Study classes.
    • Priority #2 Your responsibility to your spouse (Gen 2:24 Eph 5:21-33)
      • Communication
      • Meeting personal needs of the other person
      • Spend time with the other person.
    • Priority #3 Your responsibility to your children (Pro 22:6 Eph 6:4 1Tim 3:4 Tit 2:4):
      • Children includes those who live with you and those who do not, up to the age of 18.
      • Spend time in communication
      • Meeting their personal needs (physical, emotional, spiritual).
    • Priority #4 Your responsibility to your extended family (Mat 15:4-9 Mat 19:19):
      • Extended family includes primarily parents, then grandparents.
      • Your responsibility is to make sure that you or someone else is meeting their needs physically, emotionally, personally, and spiritually.
    • Priority #5 Your responsibility to your church family (Heb 10:24-25 Rom 12:1-5):
      • Meeting the needs physically, emotionally, and spiritually of your brothers and sisters in Christ.
    • Priority #6 Your responsibility to non-believers (Mar 16:15 1Tim 6:12 2Tim 3:10-12):
      • To be a witness of Jesus Christ in your lifestyle.
      • To witness to other people.
    • Priority #7 Your responsibility to yourself (Gal 2:20):
      • No scriptures give any priority to your own desires or needs.
      • We are to trust God for all of these. We are to die to self and live to God.
    • General Comments on Priorities:
      • Where does my job fit in with the above priorities?
      • Even though we spend most of our time during the day working at a job, there is no specific priority for it in scripture, why?
        • A job is not a priority. It is a means of fulfilling the above priorities. Earning a living touches all the above categories of priorities.
        • To arrive at a proper perspective regarding your job means you first have to examine your motive for the job you have.

Is your motive to accumulate money, power, or prestige? An illegitimate motive.

Is your motive to meet your responsibilities? A legitimate motive.

• • • Fulfilling priorities # 1 and #2 does not exempt you from your responsibility to the other priorities. The key word in all the priorities is balance.
• ^“The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright.” (18)
  • Key words: wicked (lawless evil); righteous (pure life); transgressor (lawbreaker); upright (just).
  • Those who live in lawless evil take advantage of those that live a pure, righteous life.
  • Because God makes a difference in the judgment for the wicked and does not judge the righteous that have their righteousness in Jesus Christ, the wicked will pay double for taking advantage of the righteous believer. In that sense, the wicked person that breaks God’s moral law will make the payment for their sins instead of the person that lives a pure life in obedience to Jesus Christ.
  • That tells us that the inner treasure is the righteousness of Christ in the heart of the believer.
• ^“It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.” (19)
  • Key words: contentious (strife).
  • Solitude is desired when one’s wife exhibits violent arguments.
  • This proverb goes along with Proverbs 21:9 and Proverbs 19:13.
    • Remember the man living in the corner of the roof to avoid strife.
    • Remember the nagging wife like a dripping faucet.
• ^“There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.” (20)
  • Key words: wise (the believer in Christ); foolish (no God for me).
  • What is the oil in the dwelling of the wise?
    • There are two ways to interpret this verse:
      • =1= As we have already seen in verse 17, oil is a symbol of material wealth.
      • =2= Oil in the Bible is also a symbol of the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
    • Because the oil is in the house of the believer in Christ, it must mean the presence of the Holy Spirit.
  • The fool that says he does not want anything of God in his life, uses up his opportunities to repent and come to know the Lord.
    • Every time he denies the conviction of the Holy Spirit that persuades him to repent, his heart becomes a little less sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
    • Eventually his heart is hardened against God like the heart of Pharaoh that would not let the Jews in Egypt go into the wilderness to worship God.
    • Finally when Pharaoh’s heart was totally hardened, God used Moses to bring His people out of Egypt.
  • What is the treasure to be desired in the house of the believer? It is the righteousness of Jesus Christ that gives the believer eternal life and the Holy Spirit that helps the believer set right priorities.
• “ He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.” (21)
  • Key words: righteousness (pure life).
  • The person that desires a pure life and mercy will only find it in the treasure of righteousness in Jesus Christ.
  • Besides obtaining the treasure of righteousness of Christ, the believer also gets the mercy of God. He is forgiven of his sins through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
  • Because of his forgiveness in Christ, he also gets eternal life, purity, and honor. However, he must walk in righteousness, mercy, and honor as he deals with others.
• “A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof.” (22)
  • Key words: wise (the believer in Christ).
  • The believer in Christ that is living skillfully has the potential to accomplish mighty things with the help and presence of the Lord.
  • This proverb should remind us of Joshua that fought the battle of Jericho. If you remember the story, Joshua did not have to do anything but be obedient to the plan that God set before him. He did not have to actually fight the battle because God fought the battle for him.
• ^“Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.” (23)
  • Words spoken in haste are often regretted at leisure.
  • Your words can get you into a lot of trouble. Just look at the politicians who deal constantly in words and how many times they are caught in the trap of their own words.
• “Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.” (24)
  • Key words: proud (conceit); scorner (arrogant hater).
  • This is the person that has contempt for everyone.
  • He thinks more highly of himself, and the more highly he thinks of himself, the more contempt he has for others.
  • Because of his conceit, he thinks that he is responsible for all that he has accumulated in worldly wealth.
• ^“The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour” (25)
  • Key words: slothful (inactive).
  • This person desires all the worldly goods he sees, but he will not work to earn the money to get what he desires.
  • Desire with idleness can lead to crime and crime can lead to death.
• “He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not.” (26)
  • Key words: righteous (pure life)
  • This is the contrast between those who have built their lives in accumulating treasures on earth and those who have built their lives on accumulating treasures in heaven.
  • This person that is enslaved by envy for the wealth of others is always looking to get what he thinks he deserves.
  • On the other hand, the person that lives a pure life in Christ will be focused on giving instead of getting.
• “The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?” (27)
  • Key words: wicked (lawless evil); abomination (hated).
  • This proverb reminds us of the story of Cain and Abel. God hated the sacrifice of Cain because he did not bring a blood sacrifice.
  • Pride in his heart prevented him asking his brother for a lamb from his brother’s flock.
  • But it was not only the pride that was so offensive but also the evil heart of Cain that hated his brother.
• “A false witness shall perish: but the man that heareth speaketh constantly.” (28)
  • When people find out that a person is a false witness and cannot be trusted they won’t listen to him anymore. He loses his credibility.
  • However, in contrast, the person that always speaks the truth becomes reliable. More and more people will listen to him because they know they can trust his word.
  • Read Mat 5:37
• “A wicked man hardeneth his face: but as for the upright, he directeth his way.” (29)
  • Key words: wicked (lawless evil); upright (just).
  • The hardened face refers to the evil person that will not change his mind. Not only is his face hardened but his heart is also hardened.
  • The wicked man is un-teachable because his mind is already made up.
  • The person that is justified before God by the shed blood of Christ is guided by the Holy Spirit that lives inside of him.
• ^“There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord.” (30)
  • Key words: wisdom (skillful living); understanding (discernment of good from evil); counsel (advice).
  • You cannot live skillfully without God in your life. You cannot discern good from evil without the Holy Spirit working in your heart. You will not get good, godly advice for your life without Christian family and friends.
• ^”The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord.” (31)
  • If you are going to go to war, you prepare your equipment.
  • However, for the believer in Christ the battle is spiritual and Jesus Christ won the victory on the cross.
  • Therefore, there is peace and comfort knowing that the believer does not have to fight the spiritual battles in his own strength because there is safety as well as victory in the Lord.
  • Because God helps us establish our priorities in life, the safety means there is a lack of anxiety.

Homework
Proverbs 22:1-14

• Application of Pro 21:16-31
  • How do your priorities line up with Biblical priorities? What changes do you need to make?
  • What can cause a person to be poor? (17) What things today fall into this category?
    • A lover of pleasure. Lavish parties, expensive vacations, expensive cars, boats, and houses.
  • How does 2Tim 3:1-2 fulfill the proverb in verse 17?
    • To have material pleasure as your priority means that other things are put ahead of God.
  • In verse 20, oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. What is the treasure to be desired?
    • The presence of God and the Holy Spirit inside of the believer that results in eternal life.
  • In verse 20,. How do you think the non-believer wastes it?
    • He passes up many opportunities to repent and turn his life over to Christ.
  • How do the offerings of Cain and Abel fulfill verse 27?
    • Cain’s sacrifice was unacceptable to God because his heart was filled with pride and hatred that ended in the first murder.
• Preparation for Pro 22:1-14
  • Read Pro 22:1-14
    • What three things come from humility and fear of the Lord? (4)
    • How do you explain that verse 6 does not always happen? (6)
    • Why is it not a good idea to go into debt? (7)
    • What is the point of verse 13?
• Memory verse: Pro 22:11