SIN AND GOD’S REVEALED TRUTH

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Proverbs 28:13-28
Lesson #47
SIN AND GOD’S REVEALED TRUTH

• Memory verse: Pro 28:13
• ^“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” (13)
  • In the Old Testament the way man’s sins were covered was by doing animal sacrifice.
    • Unfortunately animal sacrifice did not remove sin or forgive it.
    • Therefore there had to be constant animal sacrifice to keep the sin covered by the blood of animals.
  • In the New Testament Jesus Christ is the final sacrifice for sin.
    • Through the shed blood of Christ on the cross sin is finally forgiven.
    • The blood of Christ was sufficient to pay for all of the sin of the world in the past, in the present, and in the future. No more sacrifice is required.
    • However, man must claim the promise of forgiveness by surrendering his heart and life to Jesus Christ.
  • Read 1Joh 1:8-10
  • The unbeliever that does not accept forgiveness through Jesus Christ seeks to cover his sin in some other way:
    • He denies that his sin exists.
    • He hides his sins thinking no one will know about them. However, God knows.
    • He covers his sin with good works thinking he can do enough to balance the books. However, there are never enough good works to atone for man’s sin.
  • Confession of sin when the Holy Spirit convicts a person of sin is the beginning of the path to forgiveness.
  • Notice this verse says to confess and to forsake. This then is the definition of repentance.
    • Repentance is not simply to feel sorry for a sin and that you got caught committing that sin.
    • Repentance is turning in the opposite direction so that you forsake that path that leads to sin.
  • Revealed Truth: Sin is a permanent stain on man’s soul that is removable only through the blood of Jesus Christ.
• ^“Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.” (14)
  • Key words: feareth (See Fear of the Lord = to have an awesome reverence for); heart (soul, inner man).
  • What is man supposed to fear? He is supposed to fear God, to have an awesome respect for who God is.
  • The hardened heart reminds us of Pharaoh in the book of Exodus.
    • The hardening of the heart is a gradual process.
    • When man continually denies and rejects God, his heart becomes hardened gradually with every denial or rejection. He cuts himself off permanently from God.
  • The end of the process of the hardening of the heart is mischief.
    • For Pharaoh it was the pursuit of the Israelites into the wilderness.
    • He died by drowning in the Red Sea.
  • Revealed Truth: The Fear of the Lord prevents a hardened heart.
• ^“As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.” (15)
• ^“The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor: but he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days.” (16)
  • Key words: wicked (lawless evil), understanding (discernment of good from evil).
  • Peter tells us that Satan is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. (1Pet 5:8)
    • The roaring lion and ranging bear are those that participate in lawless evil doing the will of Satan.
    • They seek only to destroy.
  • The wicked ruler that deals in lawless evil and the prince that lacks an understanding of right from wrong will oppress the people. This type of ruler does the will of Satan.
    • Remember that Lucifer’s desire from the beginning was a lust for power because of pride.
    • Many politicians and government leaders fall into the same lust for power.
  • The person that hates covetousness will probably live a long life. He will not lust after power.
  • Revealed Truth: The lust for power is the work of Satan that seeks to destroy.
• ^“A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.” (17)
  • Read Gen 4:11-15
  • The first murderer was Cain that killed his brother Abel.
  • God put a curse upon him that he would flee, wandering in his guilt far from God for the rest of his life.
    • But the end result of murder is the pit. What is the pit?
    • An eternal hell in the lake of fire is the destiny of a person that does not repent of sin.
  • The phrase, “let no man stay him” means that you should not get in the way of God’s judgment by helping a murderer avoid the consequence of his sin.
    • Notice that in Genesis 4, Cain was worried that someone would kill him.
    • God prohibited that so that Cain would live in fear and guilt for the rest of his life and face God in the final judgment.
  • Revealed Truth: God values life and retains judgment in His own hands.
• ^“Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once.” (18)
  • Key words: uprightly (just), perverse (corrupt/disobedient).
  • Read Rom 1:28
  • Read Psa 81:11-12
  • These verses give us the meaning of perversion which is moral uncleanness and sexual sins.
  • The word justification means that a person is made righteous before God. Walking uprightly is walking in the justification that the believer has in Jesus Christ.
    • To walk uprightly means that man can approach God boldly through access by the blood of Christ.
    • To walk uprightly means that man has peace with God through the mediation of Christ.
    • To walk uprightly means that man has the joy of eternal life in Christ.
  • Therefore, justification is salvation.
  • The perverse are those that are morally corrupt and morally disobedient to God
  • The morally disobedient people (perverse) practicing sexual sins are those that do not take advantage of God’s mercy that God extends to all those that repent of sin and receive Jesus Christ.
    • The perverse are the immoral unbelievers that will fall under God’s eternal judgment.
    • The perverse are those that have chosen by their own free will not to acknowledge God’s Son, Jesus Christ but to practice immoral sexual sin.
  • Revealed Truth: Boldness in the presence of God is only for those who are justified by Christ’s blood (Heb 10:19), because those who live in habitual sin are not saved. (1Joh 5:18)
• ^“He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.” (19)
  • Key words: vain (empty).
  • The industrious person walking in God’s ways is the opposite of the sluggard or lazy person. The industrious person will have plenty to eat.
  • The vain person is the fool that does not fill his life with the things of God. Therefore he is empty of anything that has an eternal value.
  • Because he does not have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, he does not belong to God’s family. Therefore, God does not have any responsibility to take care of that person.
  • Revealed Truth: Belonging to God puts the responsibility of your care on God.
• ^“A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.” (20)
  • The word faithfulness is a characteristic of God. Because of His faithfulness we can trust in His word.
  • God wants believers to be faithful in all areas of their lives:
    • Faithful to pray, faithful to gather together with other believers, faithful to be obedient to God, faithful to brothers and sisters in Christ, faithful to do what you say you will do, and more.
    • God blesses faithfulness.
  • The person that “maketh haste to be rich” is not faithful to the character and ways of God.
    • He is the unbeliever that takes advantage of everyone.
    • He is always looking for the get rich scheme that has the least amount of effort.
  • Revealed Truth: To be full of faith (faithful) in every area of life is to please God. (Heb 11:6) As you please God by faith, you will abound in blessings.
• ^“To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.” (21)
  • Key words: transgress (lawbreaker).
  • In this verse, the first word, “for” means because. This relates the two phrases to a courtroom where the man who stole a piece of bread is being judged.
  • If man is hungry enough he will break the law for a piece of bread.
    • However, a judge that uses favoritism and does not punish a lawbreaker justly violates God’s standard of justice.
    • God’s standard of justice is tempered perfectly with mercy. It is for that reason the last phrase of this verse has a man stealing a piece of bread because he is obviously hungry.
  • Revealed Truth: For justice and mercy to be perfectly balanced, God’s infinite wisdom is essential.
• ^“He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.” (22)
  • This is the person that seeks the wealth of the world by immoral and/or illegal means.
  • Even though he may seem to gain and live all his life in extreme wealth, he does not realize that he is trading his eternal soul for worldly wealth.
    • He does not realize there is such a thing as material wealth and spiritual wealth, material poverty and spiritual poverty.
    • While he may gain material wealth, he will end in spiritual poverty without a relationship with Christ and distanced from God, lost in unforgiven sin.
  • Revealed Truth: Spiritual poverty can be avoided only in this life time. Once physical death occurs, it is too late to change your spiritual status.
• ^“He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue.” (23)
  • Key words: rebuketh (remove evil).
  • The Christian friend that confronts you with the truth about a sin in your life seeks only to remove evil for your spiritual benefit. God will bless him for his love for you.
  • The friend that only flatters you with pleasant words is no friend at all.
  • Revealed Truth: True Christian friendship based on love deals in honesty.
• ^“Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer.” (24)
  • Key words: transgression (lawbreaker).
  • Of course the destroyer is Satan.
  • In Exo 20:12 the law tells us to honor our parents.
  • A child that takes advantage of his parents does not give them the honor that God says they deserve is actually breaking the Law of Moses.
    • If he does not honor his parents in the attitude of his heart, he will not honor them in his actions.
    • Robbing his parents of material wealth is a sin but to rob his parents of honor is the greatest hurt.
  • It is interesting that the destroyer’s greatest victory is the destruction of the family, and this child does not realize he is a companion of Satan.
  • Revealed Truth: A child first learns respect and submission to authority in the home. If he does not learn it in the home, he will find himself a rebel in other areas of his life.
• ^“He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat.” (25)
  • A proud heart is in contrasting parallel with putting your trust in the Lord.
    • Therefore, pride is the opposite of trust.
    • A proud heart is puffed up with one’s self.
      • Pride says you can do it without God. According to Proverbs that is the definition of a fool.
      • Trying to live your life without God causes all kinds of problems in life. That is why so many people that come to Christ come because they have messed up lives.
  • The phrase “shall be made fat” refers to all the best blessings of God. It does not mean to be made physically fat!
  • Revealed Truth: God abundantly blesses those who put their trust in Him.
• ^“He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.” (26)
  • Key words: fool (no God for me); wisely (See Wise = believer in Christ).
  • The unbeliever that does not know God trusts in his own fallacious thinking, but he does not think he can be wrong. That is the ultimate pride.
  • The believer in Jesus Christ that is living correctly, continually walking in God’s ways, will experience how God delivers him from:
    • The presence of sin when he was born again through Jesus Christ in the past.
    • The power of sin when he is confronted by temptation in the present.
    • The penalty of sin when he will escape the judgment of the unbeliever and live eternally with Christ in the future.
  • Revealed Truth: The wise believer in Christ will have an eternal perspective in every decision in his life.
• ^“He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.” (27)
  • When a believer belongs to Jesus Christ he will gradually gain God’s perspective of life. For example:
    • That means he will hate sin as God hates sin.
    • That means he will love the poor as God loves the poor.
  • To gain God’s perspective of life means that we live with God’s priorities guided by the Holy Spirit.
  • When the believer hides his eyes from the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he quenches the Spirit. (1The 5:19)
  • Luke 6:38 tells us to give and God will give to us more abundantly.
  • Revealed Truth: God will not be indebted to the believer without repaying beyond expectation.
• ^“When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase.” (28)
  • Key words: wicked (lawless evil); righteous (pure life).
  • This verse talks about evil people that rise to governmental power and then die.
  • It will be in the millennial kingdom of Christ that the righteous will rule.
    • When Jesus Christ comes back at the second coming, believers will reign with Christ.
    • Christ’s kingdom will be one of holiness and righteousness.
  • Revealed Truth: In this world evil may seem to win, but Christ and holiness will reign for eternity.

Homework
Proverbs 29

• Application of Pro 28:13-28
  • It is not sufficient just to confess our sins. What more must we do? (13)
    • We must repent which means to forsake sin by going in the opposite direction.
  • What happens when a person hardens his heart? (14)
    • The heart becomes hardened gradually with every denial or rejection. The result is that he cuts himself off permanently from God.
  • How do Rom 1:28 and Psa 81:11-12 relate to verse 18?
    • Perversion occurs when man hardens his heart to the ways of God. Then God gives man over the consequences of his own lust and perversion.
  • According to what you have learned in Proverbs, how does one walk wisely (26)
    • The believer must continually walking in God’s ways, will experience how God delivers him from:
    • The presence of sin when he was born again through Jesus Christ in the past.
    • The power of sin when he is confronted by temptation in the present.
    • The penalty of sin when he will escape the judgment of the unbeliever and live eternally with Christ in the future.
• Preparation for Pro 29:1-27
  • Read Pro 29:1-27
    • What do you think is the snare in transgression? (6, 8, 25) (Read 2The 2:11)
    • What do you think is the vision? (18)
    • Pick one verse from this section of scripture to explain its meaning.
• Memorize the verse you chose.