Sovereignty of the Lord Over Human Society/Socio-Economic Hierarchy

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that you may gain wisdom in the future.

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,

but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

What is desired in a man is steadfast love,

and a poor man is better than a liar.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

In this world, depending on where you are,

on the socioeconomic ladder,

which realm you occupy,

you get treated differently.

When you enter a shop,

if you look like a wealthy patron,

you will receive preferential treatment

from sales associates who are called for a purchase.

But if you are perceived to belong

to a lower socioeconomic class,

instead of a glowing welcome,

you might get a cold shoulder,

or worse, suspicious glances,

and perhaps even a security guard that is shadowing you.

Proverbs 18.22-19.22

acknowledges this harsh reality,

but teaches us as God's people instead

that those who desire what is good

should conduct themselves with the fear of the Lord

amidst various socioeconomic realities.

And so first we see how we have to function in light of the economic realities,

verse 22 to chapter 19, verse 7.

And then we have to function in terms of society and its order in chapter 19, verse 82, verse 22.

And fittingly in a passage dealing with social relations,

chapter 18, verse 22 begins with the most intimate of social relations.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.

Often literary units in Proverbs begin with an exhortation to listen to or to find wisdom,

to acquire wisdom.

And in this passage, verse 22 functions as that kind of introduction.

Because we've seen throughout the book that Solomon frequently personifies wisdom as a woman.

Lady wisdom.

And so in chapter 8, verse 35,

Lady of Wisdom said something very similar.

She said,

Whoever finds me finds a good thing.

Whoever finds me finds life, rather,

and obtains favor from the Lord.

Very similar to chapter 18, verse 22.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.

So here, the God-fearing, prudent wife, the wise wife,

acquiring such a wife is compared to finding God's wisdom.

This is because, as we'll see later in chapter 19, verse 14,

a prudent wife is from the Lord.

Finding a wise wife, a wise spouse,

like finding God's wisdom,

is God's gift.

An expression of God's favor.

And it says,

Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing.

The word good is a key word that recurs throughout this passage.

Chapter 19, verse 1 says,

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity

than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.

That's literally,

Good is a poor person

who walks in his integrity

than one who is crooked.

So every time you see the word better,

it's the same Hebrew word that's occurring in this passage.

Similarly, 19.22 says,

What is desired in a man is steadfast love,

and a poor man is good compared to a liar.

Better than a liar.

And it's used again in chapter 19, verse 2,

to begin the next subsection.

And so, in other words,

this passage is about finding what is good.

Every day, the world bombards us with messages

of what is good and what is not good.

But as Christians,

we must not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewal of our mind.

That by testing,

we may discern what is the will of God,

what is good,

and acceptable,

and perfect.

And that's what we're doing this morning,

asking ourselves,

What does God say is good?

How can we conform ourselves to this good

in our dealings with people

in various socioeconomic standing?

And after this introductory verse,

this passage dives right into

human relationships complicated by money.

It says in chapter 18, verse 23,

The poor used in treaties,

but the rich answer roughly.

People who are impoverished cry out for relief,

but the haughty rich answer them roughly.

As I've mentioned in this series before,

the word poverty is used consistently

throughout this book in a negative way.

But the word poor is used consistently

in a positive way.

Poverty in wisdom literature

is a result of divine judgment for sins

such as slothfulness, stinginess,

or love of luxury.

But the poor are so because of circumstances

that are outside of their control,

such as societal injustice,

and because of that,

they receive God's special compassion

throughout the book,

His care.

And so here, what's in view

is the undeservedly poor

crying out for relief,

but the undeservedly rich person

rebuffs Him.

And then it says in chapter 18, verse 24,

A man of many companions may come to ruin,

but there is a friend

who sticks closer than a brother.

The rich, as it later says in chapter 19, verse 6,

have many friends.

In contrast to the poor person

who is answered in a rough manner.

But this verse warns us,

A man of many companions may come to ruin,

but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

The implied message is this,

that's the kind of friend

that a poor person needs.

In a world where the rich answer roughly,

the poor person needs a friend

who sticks closer than a brother.

Not a fair-weather friend,

but a friend who is there through the thick and thin.

Being poor is hard,

but nonetheless,

chapter 19, verse 1, insists,

Better is a poor person.

Literally, good is a poor person

who walks in his integrity

than one who is crooked in speech

and is a fool.

This is an example of imprecise parallelism,

where a precise antithetical parallel

would have compared or contrasted

a poor person's righteousness

from a rich person's unrighteousness,

but this verse contrasts

a poor person's integrity

from the fool's crooked speech.

And parallels that are intentionally imbalanced like this

invite us to fill out the picture.

So what's in view then is

a poor person is who is wise

and walks in integrity

and speaks forthrightly,

and the fool who is rich

but walks in unrighteousness

and speaks deviously.

And if we were to assess the lives

of these two people,

which of them, would you conclude,

has the good life?

By many people's standards,

it's the rich person

that has the good life.

But God's assessment is different.

He says,

not the haughty rich

who seem to be enjoying

God's material blessings,

but rather the humble poor person

who holds onto his integrity

is better, is good.

That's because the righteous poor

are miserable only for a moment,

but the crooked rich

are miserable forever.

The poor person is the one

who is in the will of God.

And this imagery of walking in integrity

and the word good in verse 1

connects it to verse 2.

Desire without knowledge is not good,

and whoever makes haste with his feet

misses his way.

In the Hebrew,

there's an escalation

from the first to the second clause

in verse 2.

The New International Version,

the translation captures this.

It says,

Desire without knowledge is not good.

How much more

will hasty feet miss the way?

This proverb can simply mean

that if you desire

to get to a destination,

but you don't know how to get there,

just hasting to get there

is going to get you even more lost.

But the immediate surrounding context

suggests that there's a deeper

layer of meaning.

In Proverbs,

the word knowledge

invariably refers to

the knowledge of God.

So Solomon is saying here,

if even desire without knowledge

of God is not good,

how much more will the one

with hasty feet miss his way?

Desiring to be rich

apart from God is not good.

Rather, we saw in verse 1,

good is a poor person

who walks in integrity.

But if even the desire itself

is not good,

how much worse is the fool

who hates to get rich

quickly using devious,

crooked means?

Now this distinction

between desire and action

is helpful

because acting on one's

sinful desires

is worse

than simply having sinful desires.

but having the sinful desires

is nevertheless evil.

It's sinful.

There is a difference

between being tempted

to sin and sinning.

So for example,

in Genesis chapter 39,

Genesis 39 · chapter mention

when Joseph is tempted

by Potiphar's wife

to,

she tries to seduce him,

he runs away,

he flees.

So he was tempted

but he did not sin.

So because of this distinction

between temptation and sin,

I think sometimes Christians

think that desiring sinful things

is okay

as long as you don't do

something about it.

But that's not true either.

There's a reason why

one of the Ten Commandments

is you shall not covet

your neighbor's house.

You shall not covet

your neighbor's wife

or his male servant

or his female servant

or his ox

or his donkey

or anything that is your neighbor's.

Even desiring for yourself

something that belongs

to another is sinful.

This is why

1 Timothy chapter 6

1 Timothy 6:9

verses 9 and 10

say this,

But those who desire

to be rich

fall into temptation,

into a snare,

into many senseless

and harmful desires

that plunge people

into ruin and destruction.

For the love of money

is a root of all kinds of evils.

It is through this craving

that some have wandered away

from the faith

and pierced themselves

with many pains.

Getting rich

as a byproduct

of your industriousness

and faithfulness

to God

is one thing.

But desiring

to be rich,

loving money,

is something

entirely different

and the Bible

calls it sin.

We should nip

such desires

in the bud

long before we act on them.

Desire without knowledge

is not good.

And whoever makes haste

with his feet

misses his way.

Verse 3 continues

this metaphor

of walking in the way.

It says,

When a man's folly

brings his way to ruin,

his heart rages

against the Lord.

Now,

when a foolish person

seeking gain,

quickly,

quick wealth,

through gambling,

pyramid schemes,

smuggling,

dealing,

or stealing,

when he gets busted

by the authorities,

his heart rages

against the Lord.

We've seen this

in our own lives.

People blame God

for what they have

brought upon themselves.

The word rage here

is typically used

exclusively

to refer to

kings and God

who rage.

And so here,

it kind of conveys

the pride

of this fool

who is raging

against the Lord.

He has this sense

of indignation

against God

saying,

Well,

I deserve better.

God isn't alone.

He owes me something.

When in reality,

God owes him nothing

and it's he

who has brought

this upon himself.

We've all done this

in some ways,

haven't we?

Imagine you're having

one of those

very bad days.

Perhaps after

the service this morning,

I guess it's Sunday

so maybe this won't happen,

but you return

to your car.

A car driving by

had locked

off your side mirror

clear off the car.

No notes on it.

And then,

right after you

examine that,

you see that you

also got a ticket

for not feeding

the meter in time.

And then,

you get angry

so you kick the tire

as hard as you can

and you break your toe.

And then,

you raise your fist

at God and say,

God,

why me?

I blame you.

Why have you

brought this about?

Why is my life

so hard?

Why do bad things

happen to me?

If you're harboring anger,

indignation,

or resentment

against God

in your heart,

ask yourself

this question

deep down inside.

Do you blame God

for your past,

for your sin,

for your pain,

for your disappointments,

for your lie in life?

Surely,

there's pain

that others

inflict on us,

but most,

our vocational troubles,

our health troubles.

And often,

the consequences

of our own folly

and the wise person

accepts that responsibility

and seeks

the knowledge of God

and the community of God

to bring correction

and reformation.

Verses 4-7

continue to teach us

what it looks like

to conduct ourselves

with the fear of the Lord

amidst various

socioeconomic realities.

It says,

wealth brings many new friends,

but a poor man

is deserted by his friend.

A false witness

will not go unpunished,

and he who breathed out lies

will not escape.

Many seek the favor

of a generous man,

and everyone is a friend

to a man who gives gifts.

All the poor man's brothers

hate him.

How much more

do his friends

go far from him?

He pursues them

with words,

but does not have them.

The word friend

occurs four times

in these four verses,

and behind this

is a generic Hebrew word

for the word friend,

which usually has a neutral

or a negative meaning.

If you look at

Proverbs 18-24

for a minute,

it's the same word

that was translated there

as companion,

but it's not the same word

as the one translated friend

in chapter 18-24,

the true friend.

A man of many companions

may come to ruin,

but there's a friend

who sticks closer

than a brother.

In other words,

the friends that wealth

brings are not

true friends.

They are fair-weather friends

and gold-dating friends.

Friendship with them

is not relational,

but transactional.

And this is why

a poor man

is deserted

by his friends.

When the man's wealth

is gone,

he has nothing to offer,

but he treats,

words,

to pursue them,

and it's not enough.

They leave.

And this unfortunate reality

has implications

for justice

because a rich man

will have many

pseudo-friends

willing to take

his side in court,

even to the point

of bearing false witness,

thinking that they

will not be caught.

Verse 9 warns,

a false witness

will not go unpunished,

and he who breathes out

lies will not escape.

So he's warning us,

don't be a pseudo-friend

to the rich

and the powerful.

Currying the favor

of such people

betrays our lack

of faith in God

because we're thinking

that the way

to improve our lives

is by curing favor

with the rich,

taking their side

even when they are

in the wrong.

But instead,

we have to seek

the favor of God

by being a faithful

and true witness,

living with integrity,

even if that means

being poor.

Verses 6-7

continue the same thing.

Many seek the favor

of a generous man,

and everyone is a friend

to a man who gives gifts.

All a poor man's

brothers hate him,

how much more

do his friends

go far from him,

pursues them with words,

but does not have them.

It says,

this is a sad reality,

even the poor man's

brothers hate him.

Even his blood-related

siblings despise

and deserve the poor man

when the demands

that he makes on them

become too burdensome.

how much more

than will these

pseudo-friends

deserve him.

And this reality

accentuates the importance

of chapter 18,

verse 24.

Yet again,

for the poor person,

a man of many companions

may come to ruin,

but there's a friend

who sticks closer

than a brother.

Since even the brother

deserves a poor person,

the poor need a friend

who sticks closer

than a brother,

and that's the kind

of friend we are

to aspire to be

to one another

and to those in need.

Those who desire

God's good gifts

should conduct themselves

with the fear

of the Lord

amidst these

socioeconomic realities.

This is the complex

reality created

by money.

And then in chapter 19,

verse 8,

to verse 22,

it instructs us

on how to navigate

the complex realities

in society,

in societal order.

Now just as the

preceding subsection

began with the

exhortation to find

what is good,

the good thing,

chapter 19,

verse 8 begins

with the idea

of finding good.

Whoever gets sense

loves his own soul.

He who keeps

understanding

will discover good.

Whoever acquires sense,

the understanding of God,

the knowledge of God,

his wisdom,

is a person who

loves his own soul

because the knowledge

of God presents

one's soul

unto eternity

and produces

what is truly good.

And then verse 9

repeats verse 5

word for word,

but it means

a slightly different

because it's

a different context.

This is a false witness

will not go unpunished

and he who breathes out

lies will perish.

In the former context,

the proverb warned

against bearing

false witness in court

as a favor to the rich.

But now in this new context,

the emphasis is on

the senselessness

and the incongruity

of a false witness.

If society is to be

rightly ordered,

we must rid it

of false witnesses

who pervert justice.

And God threatens

that he will ultimately

punish those who bear

false witness.

The perjurer

will ultimately perish

and therefore

he who lies in court

lacks sense.

He does not love

his own soul.

He will discover evil

instead of good.

The perjurer

doesn't belong

in the court of justice

any more than

an incompetent slave

belongs in the royal palace.

It says in verse 10,

it is not fitting

for a fool

to live in luxury,

much less for a slave

to rule over princes.

Slavery in Israel

back in those days

was an economic institution

that did not make

distinctions based on

the color of someone's skin.

And neither was it

sourced through kidnapping

nor enforced for life

like transatlantic slavery.

Slavery back then

were indisputable by race

and they made similar wages

as other people.

And they usually

bought their own freedom

when they had accumulated

enough money

to repay their debt.

So in that sense,

ancient Israelite slavery

is more akin to

modern day contractual servitude.

For example,

a cadet that graduates

from the military academy

owes five years of service

to the military

for his free education.

He is essentially

a servant of the state.

And if he does not

discharge his duties,

he has to pay back

all of his tuition

and room and board.

Often,

slaves back then

were highly educated

and educated and competent.

So Proverbs chapter 14,

Proverbs 14:35

verse 35

speaks of a servant

who deals wisely

and therefore has

the king's favor.

And in chapter 17,

verse 2,

spoke of a servant

who deals wisely

who will rule over a son

who acts shamefully

and will share the inheritance

as one of the brothers.

So there's clearly

a very accomplished

and competent

and servants

who are well deserving

of acclaim.

But what's in view

in chapter 18,

verse 10

is not that kind

of wise,

loyal,

competent servant.

He is here,

as the parallel indicates,

a foolish slave.

It is not fitting

for a fool

to live in luxury,

much less for a slave

to rule over princes.

It is unsuitable,

incongruous

to have the fool

be sated with luxury

and the slave

rule over the noble prince.

Proverbs chapter 30,

Proverbs 30:21

verse 21 and 22

is a close parallel

and it says

that the earth trembles

and cannot bear up

under a slave

when he becomes king.

When a person

who does not have

the character

and the competence

to rule

takes the throne,

he becomes intoxicated

by his newfound

privilege and power

and becomes overbearing.

He abuses his power,

perverts justice,

his rule is erratic,

his temper is uncontrollable.

In contrast,

when the rightful king,

a person of noble character,

reigns,

it looks like

verses 11 and 12.

Good sense

makes one slow to anger

and it is his glory

to overlook an offense.

A king's wrath

is like the growling

of a lion,

but his favor

is like dew

on the grass.

A person with noble character

has good sense,

which makes him

slow to anger,

is a vice.

It's the vice of cowardice

and vice of indifference.

It's not a virtue.

But though he does not

get angry at times,

so he does get angry

at times,

this righteous person,

he is slow to anger.

Anybody can,

you know,

floor the accelerator

and get into a huge wreck.

But it takes

a NASCAR driver

to control the car

at such high speed.

The wise person

controls his anger,

channels his anger,

and he is slow

to get angry.

It is in fact

his glory

to overlook an offense.

A wise person

considers his magnanimity,

his mercy,

his forgiveness

to be a badge of honor.

He relishes

the opportunity

to forgive

and extend mercy

when he has been

offended or hurt.

It brings him glory

because

it shows that

his character

resembles the character

of the glorious God

who revealed himself

this way

in Exodus 34.

The Lord,

a God merciful

and gracious,

slow to anger,

abounding in

steadfast love

and faithfulness,

keeping steadfast love

for thousands,

forgiving wickedness,

rebellion,

and sin.

But the passage

continues in Exodus 34.

He who will by no means

clear the guilty.

Growing in godly character

not only involves

patience,

being slow to anger,

and mercy,

but it also involves

justice.

So verse 12 says

a king's wrath

is like the growling

of a lion,

but his favor

is like the dew

on the grass.

The king reserves

his intense wrath

for the wicked

and shows his gentle

life-giving favor.

for the righteous.

This is what

a rightly ordered

society should look like.

And then in verses

13 and 14,

Solomon turns to

what a rightly ordered

family should look like

and should not look like.

He says,

A foolish son

is ruined to his father,

and a wife's quarreling

is a continual

dripping of rain.

House and wealth

are inherited from fathers,

but a prudent wife

is from the Lord.

A son should bring

prosperity and honor

to the father,

but a foolish son,

it says,

is his father's ruin.

A wife should be

the husband's

most trusted confidant

and helper,

but a quarrelsome wife

is her husband's

most tiresome enemy.

In this part

of the ancient world,

roofs were made

of crisscross layers

of wooden boards

and sticks,

and then it was covered

with layers of clay,

water, chalk,

and chaff.

And unfortunately,

like everything else

that human beings make,

such roofs

eventually deteriorate

and they crumble.

And it gives way

to dripping rain.

This is an appropriate image

because a leaky roof

makes the home,

which is supposed to be

a place of rest

and refuge,

a work field

that perhaps even feels

like a battlefield.

A wife's quarreling

is a continual

gripping of rain.

Brothers and sisters,

some of us have

quarrelsome households.

Whether it's with

our housemates

or with other

family members,

but a home is supposed

to be a place

of rest

and refuge.

We call Proverbs

Proverbs 17:1

chapter 17,

verse 1,

Better is a dry morsel

with quiet

than a house

full of feasting

with strife.

Maybe your house

is full of strife

because you're trying

so hard

to put together

a feast

that will impress

other people.

A dry morsel

with quiet

is better.

Maybe your house

is full of strife

because you're always

getting into arguments

about your children

and the unrealistically

high expectations

you have for them.

perhaps more basic

expectations

and activities

with quiet

in the home

is better.

Maybe you think

your house

is full of strife

because you don't

have enough feasting.

Your spouse

doesn't earn enough money.

But that's

not true either.

He says there are

houses full of feasting

with strife.

But it's possible

to have peace

in your home

with the meager

portion of dry morsel.

Some of you

have formed

new households

or you have

recently moved

in with your

housemates.

We ought to all

be people

who offer peace

and rest

to those

in our household.

And verse 14

offers the ideal picture.

House and wealth

are inherited

from fathers.

So one obedient son

instead of

ruining his father

honors and

offers him

so he can inherit

house and wealth.

But while we can

inherit material wealth

from earthly fathers,

it says a prudent wife

is from the Lord.

This verse echoes

chapter 18

verse 22.

He who finds a wife

finds a good thing

and obtains favor

from the Lord.

Once again,

like wisdom

which we can only

receive from God,

a wise wife

is a gift

from God.

It's an expression

of his favor.

So I want to

encourage every single

man and woman

in our church.

If you desire

to get married

instead of

serving the Lord

in your singleness

with single-minded

devotion,

pray

and seek

the Lord

like you seek

his wisdom.

Make the pursuit

of the Lord

your first priority

and not the pursuit

of a husband

or a wife.

Because your

fulfillment

in this endeavor

depends not on

how many

available singles

there are

in your pools

of friends,

not on how

attractive

or well-established

you are financially,

not on how

active you are

on the dating apps,

but it depends

on the grace

and favor

of the Lord

if what you

really want

is a prudent,

wise stop.

Verses 15 and 16

then continue

to explain

the difference

between the foolish

son who ruins

his father

and the wise son

who inherits

house-in-law

from his father.

Slothfulness

casts into

a deep sleep

and an idle

person

will suffer

hunger.

Whoever

keeps the

commandment

keeps his

life.

He who

despises

his ways

will die.

Deep sleep

that's speaking

of is similar

to a coma.

It's a picture

of death

and it is

paralleled here

at the end

of verse 16

by he who

despises

God's ways

will die.

Idleness

and slothfulness

lead to hunger

and eventually

to death

and God

commands instead

for us

diligent

and honest

work.

And not only

does a righteous

person provide

for himself

through hard

work,

he also

provides for

others who

are in less

fortunate

situations.

So verses

17 to 22

return to the

teaching about

how we should

treat the

humble poor.

This begins

and ends

with the mention

of the poor

in verse 17

and verse 22.

It says in verse 17,

whoever is generous

to the poor

lends to the

Lord and he

will repay him

for his deed.

In this passage

about the right

ordering of society,

this is a startling

verse because the

poor by any measure

are at the bottom

of the socioeconomic

ladder.

They are often

despised and

deserted as we've

seen throughout

this chapter.

And yet,

this low class

of people

God associates

with himself.

He's associated

with the most

high God.

If you are

generous to the

poor,

it's like you're

lending money

to the Lord.

What an amazing

promise.

There are plenty

of people who

are willing to

lend money to

people with

good credit

with the

expectation that

they will be

repaid in full

with interest.

But fewer

people give

generously to the

poor.

Why?

Because they

know that they

will not be

repaid in any

shape or form.

Precisely because

they are poor.

And yet,

this proverb

subverts that

logic.

When you give

to the poor,

you are lending

to the Lord,

the master of

the universe,

the creator of

the cosmos.

Do you think

he...

Do you know

of poorer

brothers and

sisters in the

church that

would be surprised

with the generous

gifts?

Do you have

a poor

housemate or

a neighbor you

can help

out?

Don't ever

fear that you

will not have

enough for

yourself.

Give generously

because when

you do,

the Lord

himself will

repay you in

this life and

in the next.

And in order

to rear such

self-controlled,

hard-working

children who are

generous to the

poor,

discipline is

necessary.

So verse 18

says,

discipline your

son for

there is

hope.

Do not set

your heart

on putting

him to

death.

People

sometimes think

that by

disciplining

their kids

that they

will shatter

their fragile

psyches and

ruin their

prospects for

the future.

But wisdom

literature from

every major

civilization

throughout

history,

and the

book of

Proverbs,

which is

God's holy

and authoritative

word,

strongly

enjoys

corporal

discipline.

And humanity

has not

crumbled under

this supposedly

bad advice

in the many

millennia of

people doing

it, of

parents doing

it.

And I can

guarantee you

that generations

of children

who are growing

up right now

without such

corporal

discipline are

not going to

create utopia

that eluded

previous generations

just because

they supposedly

received better

parenting.

Later in

chapter

Proverbs 23

Proverbs 23:13

verse 13

it says,

do not

withhold

discipline

from a

child.

If you

strike him

with a

rod,

he will

not die.

Contrast

this with

verse 18

of our

chapter which

says that

if you don't

discipline your

children,

you're

extinguishing

all their

hope and

you are in

fact setting

your heart

on putting

them to

death.

It's

counterintuitive

but it's

true.

I will

elaborate on

this further

when we get

to chapter

22 but

for today

it's sufficient

to note that

discipline

is never

to be a

form of

abuse,

verbal or

physical.

Biblical

discipline is

always meted

out in

love,

not in

hatred or

uncontrolled

rage.

Abuse does

ruin children's

lives but

that's a

world apart

from the

biblical

discipline

that is

in view.

If you do

not discipline

your child,

he says,

you will

not learn

good sense

that makes

him slow

to anger,

which verse

11 spoke

of.

And then

Solomon warns

us in

verse 19,

a man of

great wrath

will pay

the penalty

for if you

deliver him

you will

only have

to do it

again.

At some

point the

child will

be beyond

correction

and he

will pay

a costly

price for

his

undisciplined

life.

And he

won't learn

his lesson

but you

will need

to bail

him out

again

and again

and again.

So verses

20 to 22

adjure us.

Listen to

advice and

accept instruction

that you may

gain wisdom

in the future.

Many are

the plans

in the mind

of a man

but it is

the purpose

of the Lord

that will

stand.

What is

desired in

a man

is steadfast

love and

a poor

man is

better than

a liar.

Humanity

has its

own desires

and plans

but ultimately

it is the

purpose of

God that

will stand.

So it's

in our

interest

to align

our purposes

and priorities

with God

rather than

stubbornly

insisting

on our

own way

because God's

will will

prevail.

Because

and though

many people

in our

world

shun

steadfast

love and

faithfulness

in exchange

for wealth

Christians are

to stand

firmly on

the truth

that a

poor man

is better

than a

liar

because

God

takes

interest

in the

plight of

the poor

because God

involves himself

in the

affairs of

the

holy.

Because

as verse

17 says

whoever is

generous to

the poor

lends to

the Lord.

God

delivers the

poor and

this is true

in a material

sense but

especially and

most importantly

in a spiritual

sense.

Luke chapter

Luke 16 · chapter mention

16 says

blessed are you

who are poor

for yours is

the kingdom of

God.

Blessed are you

who are hungry

now for you

shall be satisfied.

Blessed are you

who weep now

for you shall

laugh.

Throughout his

gospel Luke

makes a

connection

between material

poverty and

spiritual poverty.

The poor

who will be

blessed by

God are

those who

humble themselves

before God

and acknowledge

their sinfulness,

their neediness,

their spiritual

impoverishment

before God.

Brothers and

sisters,

we are

spiritual

paupers.

There is

quarreling in

our homes.

We have not

been slow to

anger.

We have

lied.

We have

been slothful.

We have

answered the

weak and

the poor

roughly.

We have

been disobedient

children toward

our parents.

We have

raised our

fists at

God and

blamed him

for the

consequences of

our sins.

And in

this dire

spiritual

poverty,

we have

no hope.

There are

no friends

who will

come to

our aid.

But there

was one.

There was

one friend

who stuck

closer than

a brother.

The rich

God of the

universe,

instead of

entering us

roughly,

sent us

his son,

Jesus Christ,

as a

faithful friend

and deliverer.

And Jesus

left behind

his glory

as of the

Son of God

and he

took on

human flesh

so that he

might live

the life

of obedience

that we

failed to

live.

And so

that with

his perfect

life and

righteousness,

he might

die on

the cross

in our

place to

pay our

insurmountable

debt of

sin.

And then

he rose

from the

dead to

give us

eternal life

and to

declare that

his sacrifice,

his payment

for our

debt of

sin on

the cross

has been

accepted by

God,

his Father.

And it's

because Jesus

paid this

ultimate price,

Paul reminds

us in

2 Corinthians

8, 9,

for you

know the

grace of

our Lord

Jesus Christ

that though

he was

rich,

yet for

your sake

he became

poor,

so that

you by

his poverty

might become

rich.

That's what

Christ has

done for

us.

We had

no hope

of saving

ourselves,

yet Christ

gave himself,

made himself

poor,

that we

might be

rich,

and that's

wonderfully

captured in

this hymn,

entitled,

Thou Who

Was Rich.

Thou Who

Was Rich

Beyond All

Sanger

Didst

Surrender,

Sapphire

Paid

Courts

For

Stable

For

Thou

Who

Was

Rich

Beyond

All

Splendor,

All

For

Love's

Sake

Becomes

Poor.

Thou

Who

Art

God

Beyond

All

Praising,

All

For

Love's

Sake

Becamest

Man,

Stooping

So

Low,

But

Sinners

Raising,

Heaven

Worth

By

Thine

Eternal

Plan,

Thou

Who

Art

God

Beyond

All

Praising,

All

For

Love's

Sake

Becamest

Poor.

Let us

put our

faith in

this Christ,

who became

poor for

our sake.

It's only

by doing

that that we'll

be able to

live more

like him

in this

world

and relate

as he did

toward the

poor in

the power

of the

Holy Spirit.

Let's take a

moment to

reflect on

that and

then we're

going to

respond

hopefully

together by

praying

our

love.

Hey,

after

that

for

talking

to