Permanence of the Righteous vs. Transience of the Wicked

Please turn with me to Proverbs chapter 10, starting in verse 23, and we're going all the way to chapter 11, verse 31.

Proverbs 10 · chapter mention

Proverbs chapter 10, verse 23 to chapter 11, verse 31.

Proverbs 10:23

Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.

What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever.

Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the slugger to those who send him.

The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the ears of the wicked will be short.

The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers.

The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.

The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.

A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with a humble is wisdom.

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.

When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of wealth perishes too.

The righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked walks into it instead.

With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.

When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there are shouts of gladness.

By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.

Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.

Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps the thing covered.

Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm, but he who hates striking hands and pledge is secure.

A gracious woman gets honor, and violent men get riches.

A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself.

The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.

Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live, but he who pursues evil will die.

Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the Lord, but those of blameless ways are his delight.

Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.

Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.

The desire of the righteous ends only in good, the expectation of the wicked in wrath.

One gives freely yet grows all the richer.

Another withholds what he should give and only suffers want.

Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it.

Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it.

Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.

If the righteous is repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

In this world, there is much sin and injustice, and sometimes the innocent are condemned and the guilty are acquitted.

Sometimes bribes blind the eyes of the judge.

Sometimes false witnesses rise up to imperil the falsely accused.

And if you have been the victim of such injustice, you've grown.

And if you've been an observer of such injustice, you've grown with the rest of creation under the weight of it all, as Romans 8 speaks of.

But Proverbs 10, 23 to 11, 31 reminds us that this is not the way it's supposed to be.

It gives us a picture of God's perfect order of justice, and teaches us that we should live righteously, trusting that God's justice will ultimately prevail.

That's the main point of this passage.

First, we're going to look at the permanence of the righteous versus the transience of the wicked.

Chapter 10, 23 to chapter 11, verse 8.

And then we'll look at the advantage of the selfless versus the disadvantage of the selfish in chapter 11, verses 9 to 31.

The whole section, this whole first collection of Solomon's Proverbs is divided into two subsections I mentioned last week.

And this first subsection goes to 1529, and is a series of contrasts between the righteous and the wicked, as we saw today as we were reading the passage.

And so he's emphasizing here the permanence of the righteous versus the transience of the wicked.

And that's trying to motivate us to live righteously, trusting in God's justice.

It says in verse 23,

Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.

A joke, a laughing matter, a mockery.

To the fool, wrongdoing is like a joke.

It brings pleasure and amusement.

It's not only sociopaths who laugh at the expense of others' suffering.

People who advance themselves at the expense of others.

People who hate others.

They smirk and laugh at the downfall of others.

And their ghastly smiles reflect their foolish heart.

But in contrast, for a man of understanding,

it's not wrongdoing, but wisdom.

That is the object of his pleasure and enjoyment.

And the parallel between doing wrong and wisdom shows that wisdom is not merely theoretical,

but concrete and practical.

The wisdom that Proverbs offers is a skill of right doing or right living.

The wise person finds joy and delight in the wisdom of God, in obedience to God.

Though the fool finds pleasure in wrongdoing,

this doesn't mean that a sinner lives a life of pleasure without a care in the world.

Verse 24 tells us that there is a deep-seated insecurity in the fool and the sinner.

It says,

So God has given every human being a conscience,

a sense of right and wrong,

as well as a sense of divine justice.

And wrongdoers, even if they get away with wrongdoing,

live with the sense of foreboding and dread

that they will eventually get what is coming to them.

Notice the contrast in the language that is used to describe how these things come.

What the wicked dreads will come upon him.

It will overtake him.

It will catch up to him.

The phrase communicates this inevitability.

It will come upon him.

In contrast, the desire of the righteous will be granted.

It's like a gift from our God.

The graciousness of God rewards those who follow him.

And as verse 25 confirms,

verse 25 confirms his contrast.

This is,

When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more,

but the righteous is established forever.

However, the tempests of life, the troubles of life,

inevitably come,

and when they do, the wicked is no more.

They are like a house built on sand,

or a tree with a shallow root that is uprooted by the tempest.

However, the righteous is established forever,

like a house built on a rock,

like an oak tree with deep roots that fears not the tempests that come.

In God's ultimate justice,

the wicked sprout up for only a moment,

but the righteous flourish forever.

And because the wicked take pleasure in wrongdoing,

and their doom is sure,

because the wicked are transient,

they are unreliable,

and should not be trusted or employed.

That's what verse 26 is speaking of.

It says,

Like vinegar to the teeth,

and smoke to the eyes,

so is the slugger to those who send him.

In the ancient Near East,

the messengers who conveyed the words of the sender,

and represented the sender in negotiations,

had a very important role in society.

However,

the wicked sluggard should never be employed in such a role,

because they will surely bring trouble to their sender.

The vinegar in view here is the undiluted acidic form of vinegar

that's corrosive to your teeth.

It weakens the enamel on your teeth.

And without the benefit of the advanced dental care we now enjoy,

and people still have teeth trouble nowadays,

but imagine people back then,

what kind of teeth they would have had.

If you're drinking some acidic vinegar,

that would be a very unpleasant sensation.

That's what's in view in this imagery.

Be very sensitive to that.

Similarly,

smoke is an irritant to the eyes.

When you're camping out,

or you're barbecuing,

and you get smoke in your eyes,

it causes a burning,

itchy sensation,

and it can make you tear up.

And so in those ways,

like vinegar to the teeth,

and smoke to the eyes,

the sluggard cannot be tolerated for long.

He will corrode the reputation of his sender,

he will frustrate the interests of the sender,

and he will irritate the sensibilities of the sender.

And that's the warning.

And after that brief aside,

Solomon returns again to the theme of the permanence of the righteous

versus the transience of the wicked in verses 27 to 30.

The fear of the Lord prolongs life,

but the years of the wicked will be short.

The hope of the righteous brings joy,

but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless,

but destruction to evildoers.

The righteous will never be removed,

but the wicked will not dwell in the land.

So the hope of the righteous endure and it's fulfilled,

and for that reason it brings joy.

But the expectation of the wicked perish,

so they do not experience the joyful fulfillment of the righteous,

that the righteous do.

Even though at times it seems the wicked linger longer than we would want.

In truth, they are short-lived.

And this theme is continued with an emphasis on speech in verses 31 to 32.

The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,

but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable,

but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.

The righteous speak what is appropriate or acceptable,

while the wicked speak what is inappropriate and perverse.

And for that reason, the mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom.

That word literally means to bear fruit.

The mouth of the righteous are like trees that bear fruit, good fruit.

And they're like vines that grow sweet clusters of wisdom grapes.

But the mouth of the wicked, in contrast,

is like a vine that grows sour grapes

and will therefore be cut off.

It is useless.

And an acceptable speech of the righteous

is connected to the acceptable deeds of the righteous.

And that's the transition to chapter 11, verse 1.

It says,

A false balance is an abomination to the Lord,

but a just weight is His delight.

The word delight is the same Hebrew word

that's translated in chapter 10, verse 32 as acceptable.

So a just weight is acceptable to God.

The righteous say what is acceptable in their conversations.

And the righteous use an acceptable way

in their commercial activities.

Scales and weights were widely used in the ancient world.

And deceitful sellers and buyers

used tampered scales or forged weights

in order to take advantage of others,

to exploit others for unjust gain.

So for example, some merchants used a false balance,

a tampered scale that they would manipulate

to their advantage when they're negotiating.

And traders also used forged weights.

So people back then carried these stones

that weighed a certain amount.

It would be written on the stone that it weighs this much.

And that was used for commercial activities.

However, a deceitful trader,

when purchasing grain,

he would use a false weight

that is, for example, marked 15 pounds,

when in reality it was only 10 pounds.

So that he would receive payment

for 15 pounds of grain

while giving only 10 pounds of grain.

And of course, they would do the opposite

when they're buying grain.

And in doing these things,

they exploited others

and gained unjust wealth.

And the use of these false weights

is condemned repeatedly throughout Scripture.

And this is contrasted with using the just weight,

the full weight,

which is the Lord's delight.

It's acceptable to him.

And we might deceive our neighbor

through these practices.

And there's a number of ways we might do that,

whether it's the way we do taxes

or the way we present things in ads

or the way we talk to people

in negotiating on Craigslist

or whatever it might be.

We might defraud our neighbor,

but we can never fool God.

We can never deceive God.

And the Lord who hates a false balance

will surely punish the wicked.

And these exploitative practices,

it stems ultimately from pride.

And that's why it says in verse 2,

when pride comes,

then comes disgrace.

But with the humble is wisdom.

Why do these things come from pride?

Psalm chapter 94 verses 4 to 7

Psalms 94:4–7

capture what this looks like.

It says,

They pour out their arrogant words,

all the evildoers boast.

They crush your people, O Lord,

and afflict your heritage.

They kill the widow and the sojourner

and murder the fatherless.

And they say,

The Lord does not see.

The God of Jacob does not perceive.

That's at the heart of all wickedness,

isn't it?

People believe that they could get away with it.

People believe that God does not see.

They believe that justice

will not catch up to them.

And that's the essence of their pride.

And so they use false balances and weights,

pridefully thinking that they could escape

God's judgment.

But when pride comes,

then comes disgrace.

This is the inevitable,

inescapable law of divine justice.

If you invite pride into your heart against God,

disgrace will soon come against you in your life.

The two are joined together at the hip.

They always come together.

In contrast with the humble is wisdom.

The humble recognize that they are under the authority

and governance of God.

They live under His watchful eyes.

They live in submission to His rule.

They know their place

and accept their limits.

The wicked may pride themselves in being shrewd

or being imagined that they're wiser than the righteous.

But in truth,

it's the humble who possess wisdom.

Submitting under the bounds of God's law.

And verses 3 to 8 tell us that this humility toward God

is what produces integrity toward men.

It says,

The integrity of the upright guides them,

but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,

but righteousness delivers from death.

The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight,

but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

The righteousness of the upright delivers them,

but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.

When the wicked dies,

his hope will perish,

and the expectation of wealth perishes too.

The righteous is delivered from trouble,

and the wicked walks into it instead.

There's a recurring contrast

between what is straight and upright

versus what is crooked and treacherous.

The straight or upright people,

they are guileless.

There's no deception in their ways,

unlike the crooked who are devious in their ways.

And this is the principle that this section of Proverbs

hammers home again and again,

that in the end,

there will be justice.

Even unjustly gained wealth do not profit in the day of wrath.

Only righteousness delivers from death.

And this is what Martin Luther King Jr. had in mind when he said,

the arc of the moral universe is long,

but it bends toward justice.

In the end,

cheats never prosper.

It's honest work that pays.

The arc of the moral universe is long,

but it bends toward justice.

We should live righteously,

trusting that God's justice will ultimately prevail.

In one sense,

then living righteously,

righteously is one of the most self-serving things that a person can do.

Because it ultimately is what is most beneficial to oneself.

And in verses 9 to 31,

Solomon then elaborates on that paradox

by contrasting the advantage of the selfless

versus the disadvantage of the selfish.

The righteous person,

according to Proverbs,

is someone who disadvantages himself

in order to serve the community.

But the wicked person is someone

who disadvantages the community

in order to serve himself.

However,

in the end,

it's the selfless,

not the selfish,

who gain the edge.

It says in verses 9 to 11,

This is pretty straightforward, right?

The wicked seek to destroy their neighbors.

And for that reason,

the neighbors don't applaud them,

are not happy about their prospering and their success.

But the righteous, however,

bless the people,

bless their city,

and they deliver their neighbors.

And for that reason,

when it goes well with them,

the city rejoices.

Because they serve others,

the righteous are celebrated by others.

And the wise not only benefit others by what they say,

but they also benefit others by what they don't say.

It says in verses 12 to 13,

Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,

but a man of understanding remains silent.

Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets,

but he who is trustworthy in spirit

keeps the thing covered.

We should never yield to the temptation

of belittling a neighbor.

Even the neighbor that is closest to you

in your own family,

your household.

Every human being is created in the image of God.

And because of that,

has intrinsic worth and dignity,

no matter how debased they are

by their sins and by their environment.

So when we belittle other people,

it's a way of kind of exalting ourselves, isn't it?

We aggrandize ourselves.

We make ourselves seem bigger

by making others seem smaller.

We lift up ourselves by putting down others.

And that's such a subtle sin sometimes,

such an insidious sin.

And it can pass with a lot of,

it masquerades a lot of different things,

but it destroys community.

Instead of belittling a neighbor,

a man of understanding,

it says, remains silent.

It reminds me of James chapter 3,

James 3:8–10

verses 8 to 10,

which says,

no human being can tame the tongue.

It is a restless evil,

full of deadly poison.

With it, we bless our Lord and Father,

and with it, we curse people

who are made in the likeness of God.

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing,

my brother,

these things are not to be so.

If we have a proper respect for God,

we wouldn't dare to hold in contempt

people who are created in the image of God.

Every single one of our neighbors,

regardless of their educational attainment,

regardless of their socioeconomic status,

regardless of the complexion of their skin,

regardless of their history or background,

regardless of their political affiliation,

they bear the image of God Almighty,

and he who belittles his neighbor

can only be described as someone who lacks sense.

But we have to do this even when it's hard.

It's especially hard to be silent

when we are ourselves insulted

or reviled by our neighbor.

But even then,

out of respect and reverence for God,

we are to hold our tongue

rather than respond in kind.

So the wise person does not go about

slandering and revealing secrets.

He says,

What has been confided to you in secret

should not be broadcasted in public.

This too is a way that the wicked

disadvantage others

in order to advantage themselves.

By speaking ill of others,

they seek to speak well of themselves,

to present themselves in a better light

by comparison.

They seek to elevate their own standing

in their community

and improve the way others perceive them

by speaking ill of others.

In contrast,

he who is trustworthy in spirit

keeps the thing covered.

The trustworthy person restrains

rather than loosens his tongue,

rather than divulging a secret

to damage one's neighbor.

The trustworthy person covers it

in order to protect his neighbor.

Like we saw last week in chapter 10, verse 12,

hatred stirs up strife,

but love covers all offenses.

And continuing this line of thought,

verses 14 to 15 contrast the way

the wise provide counsel and guidance

to their community

and benefit their community.

And the fool, however,

bring themselves under the authority

of a stranger

by putting up security for him.

It says,

Where there is no guidance,

the people falls,

but in an abundance of counselors

there is safety.

Whoever puts up security

for a stranger

will surely suffer harm,

but he who hates striking hands

in pledge is secure.

The wise speak words of wisdom

to guide their community.

The foolish speak words of folly

and get entangled

in the affairs of strangers

by becoming a surety for them.

And this talks about

how there's strength in numbers.

There's strength in numbers

in warfare, of course,

but there's also strength

in numbers in wisdom.

It says,

Where there is no guidance,

a people falls.

A people refers to a people group,

a nation.

Even nations fall

for the lack of guidance.

But in an abundance of counselors,

there is safety.

We have a similar proverb in English,

two heads are better than one.

It's saying,

Don't make important decisions

in your life by yourself.

If you're in the habit of

being the master of your own faith,

you only make decisions yourself

and don't listen to others,

then don't get out of that habit.

Consult with others.

Seek out many people's advice

because there's strength in numbers

and getting an abundance of counselors.

And the reason for that

is because it's in the interplay

between arguments

and counter arguments

in the weighing of competing ideas.

That's where truth is discovered

and winning strategies are formed.

This is why it's so important

to listen to people

who don't think exactly the way you do.

So let's not get used to

enjoying the sound of our own voices

and the logic of our own opinions

and listen to competing ideas.

Read conservative and liberal newspapers.

Talk to old people and young people.

Find fair-minded people of all stripes

who disagree with you.

And don't be consumed only with being heard.

Seek to listen.

And if we never leave our own echo chambers

and dig our heels into

our own confirmation biases,

we will falter.

That's inevitable.

It's in the abundance of counselors.

There's safety.

And verse 15 functions as a transition

from the topic of right speaking

to right living again.

And then verses 16 to 22

form a new subunit

bracketed by verses 16 and 22.

Very colorful proverbs

which speak of the woman who gets honor.

These verses continue to contrast

between the advantage of the selfless

and the disadvantage of the selfish.

But it says in verses 16 and 17,

A gracious woman gets honor

and violent men get riches.

A man who is kind benefits himself

but a cruel man hurts himself.

So look at the gender,

the number,

and the reward of these two verses,

how they all vary.

And I think intentionally.

First notice the contrast in gender and number

in verse 16.

Woman singular and men plural.

This shows the interplay

between individual responsibility

and collective responsibility

that we saw last week also.

Chapter 10 verses 45 taught us that

a slack hand causes poverty

but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

He who gathers in the summer

is a prudent son

but he who sleeps in harvest

is a son who brings shame.

So that's the message

of personal individual responsibility

that conservatives would embrace.

If you're poor, they say,

that's because you didn't work hard enough.

Now but that's qualified

by chapter 13 verse 23

which we also looked at last week.

The fallow ground of the poor

would yield much food

but it is swept away through injustice.

That's the message

about systemic injustice

and societal responsibility

that liberals would rally behind.

If you're poor,

that's because of a system

that is rigged against you.

According to Proverbs,

both aspects are true

and must not be neglected.

And we see a similar interplay here.

A gracious woman

because of her own virtue

gets honor.

That's the way it should be.

Unfortunately, it's also true

that violent men get riches.

Do they deserve it?

No, they don't.

But men who are generally stronger

and hold more systemic power

seize the riches

by their violence.

through injustice.

But make no mistake

that honor is the far better reward.

Proverbs chapter 22 verse 1 says,

Proverbs 22:1

A good name is to be chosen

rather than great riches.

And favor is better than silver or gold.

So the relatively powerless woman

that is in view here,

by her righteousness,

by her virtue of graciousness,

gets the greater reward.

And this is in stark contrast

to the woman at the end

of this subunit.

It forms a bracket,

these two proverbs.

Look at verse 22.

Like a gold ring in a pig's snout

is a beautiful woman

without discretion.

This is the worldly way.

I can't help but laugh

when I read that proverb.

It's such a colorful proverb.

This is the worldly way

of gaining honor and power

for women.

It's physical beauty

and external adornment.

Despite all the progress

touted by feminists,

women have become

more sexually objectified

now perhaps than ever before.

In the name of sexual revolution

and feminine liberation,

women have been told

to wield their sexuality

as a weapon to their liking

without the fear

of getting pregnant,

without the fear

of being condemned

by prudish crusaders.

But this is nothing new.

Women used beauty

and outward adornments

as instruments

for seducing and subduing men

in the ancient world as well.

And there's plenty

of ancient literature

that testify to that.

So they say,

do you want to be noticed?

Do you want to gain power?

Do you want to matter?

That's what the TV ads,

magazine covers,

and the movies

tell the women

of our generation.

Well then,

you have to wear tight pants,

short skirts,

low-cut shirts,

adorn yourself with makeup,

hairdo,

and shiny jewels.

But unfortunately,

and perhaps unsurprisingly,

this lack of chastity

and modesty

plays right into

the sinful desires

of lustful,

immature,

selfish,

and manipulative men.

That's because

these are the principles

and values

of a sinful world.

That's because,

and that's why the Bible

in both the Old

and New Testaments

consistently resists

the sexual objectification

of women.

Like a gold ring

in a pig's snout

is a beautiful woman

without discretion.

What good is a gold ring

that adorns a pig's snout?

The pigs rolling around

in the mud,

and in the ancient world,

they were usually fed swill.

That's kitchen compost,

waste.

That's what they grew up

and that's what they ate.

For these reasons,

they had a reputation

for being dirty.

What good is outward adornment,

outward beauty

for a woman

who for her lack

of inward graciousness

and judiciousness

rolls around

in the mud of sin

and eats the swill of sin?

What good is that?

Her outer beauty

forms a grotesque contrast

with her inner ugliness.

And while the gracious woman

of verse 16

forms a contrast

with the violent men,

she forms a complementary pair

with the man who is kind

in verse 17.

It says,

a gracious woman gets honor

and violent men get riches.

A man who is kind

benefits himself,

but a cruel man

hurts himself.

So then this parallel

between verse 16 and 17

invite a comparison

between the second halves

of these verses

that qualify one another.

Because verse 16

does concede

that violent men

get riches,

but then verse 17

qualifies that

by telling us

that in the end

a cruel man

hurts himself.

Those who do violence

to others

in the ultimate calculation

of things

are doing violence

to themselves.

If you want

any lasting benefit,

if you want

true honor,

then you must be

gracious

and kind.

because there will be

divine justice

for those who cause

the loss of others

for their selfish gain.

Verses 18 to 21

continue to reassure us

of this truth.

It says,

the wicked

the wicked

the wicked

earns deceptive wages,

but one

who sows righteousness

gets a sure reward.

Whoever is steadfast

in righteousness

will live,

but he who pursues evil

will die.

Those of crooked heart

are an abomination

to the Lord,

but those of blameless ways

are his delight.

Be assured,

an evil person

will not go unpunished,

but the offspring

of the righteous

will be delivered.

This illustrates

the principle taught

in many places

in scripture

and especially

Galatians chapter 6

Galatians 6:7

verse 7

which says,

do not be deceived.

God is not mocked

for whatever one sows

that will he also reap.

You will reap

what you sow.

If you sow sin,

you will reap trouble.

If you sow righteousness,

you will reap a sure reward

from the Lord.

So don't be deceived

by the appearances

of things.

Yes,

for a little while

the wicked might appear

to prosper,

but there is injustice

in this world,

but none of it

escapes God's notice

and none of it

will escape God's

final judgment.

So be assured,

an evil person

will not go unpunished.

And if you sow righteousness,

that's to scatter

the seeds of righteousness,

it says in verse 21,

the offspring of the righteous,

that's literally

the seed of the righteous,

will be delivered.

You will bear much fruit

and plant,

I mean,

and reap

or reach a rich harvest.

And this principle

of divine retribution

should govern

the way we live

and also,

more specifically,

what we do

with our money.

It says in verses

24 to 26,

one gives freely,

yet grows all the richer.

Another withholds

what he should give

and only suffers want.

Whoever brings blessing

will be enriched

and one who waters

will himself be watered.

The people curse him

who holds back rain,

but a blessing is on

the head of him

who sells it.

This is paradoxical,

isn't it?

It's because

from a worldly,

just financial perspective,

the more money

you give away,

of course,

the poorer you become.

But because of God's justice,

one gives freely,

yet grows all the richer,

while another withholds

what he should give

and only suffers want.

I can witness this fact

that every Christian

that I've known

who has given generously

can corroborate this reality.

You cannot outgive God.

2 Corinthians 9,

verse 68 says,

Whoever sows sparingly

will also reap sparingly.

Whoever sows bountifully

will also reap bountifully.

Each one must give

as he has decided in his heart

and not reluctantly

or under compulsion,

for God loves

a cheerful giver.

And God is able

to make all grace

abound to you,

so that having all sufficiency

in all things,

at all times,

you may abound

in every good work.

To those who give generously

for the needs of others,

God makes all grace abound,

so that you have all sufficiency

in all things,

at all times.

Sometimes people illustrate

this principle

with the example

of the nursing mother.

The more the mother

nurses her child,

the more her milk supply grows.

It's counterintuitive.

But the more she withholds

her milk from the child,

the sooner her milk supply

runs dry.

Wealth is like that.

God gives it so you might

steward it

and give much of it away.

In his wisdom and justice,

God has embedded

a general principle

of reciprocity

to the order of the universe,

so that the generous

enjoy prosperity

while the stingy

are beset with scarcity.

Scarcity.

Verse 28 further develops

this idea.

It says,

Whoever trusts in his riches

will fall,

but the righteous

will flourish

like a green leaf.

Whoever trusts

in his riches

relies on his riches,

sets his hope

on his riches,

and for that reason

is tight-fisted

because money

is not a tool for him

but is God.

And that leads

to his downfall.

But those who are

open-handed

with his riches,

the righteous,

they flourish

like a green leaf.

Verses 29 to 31

keep driving this point home

and then verse 31

concludes,

If the righteous

is repaid on earth,

how much more

the wicked

and the sinner?

This can be misunderstood,

this verse.

It's an argument

from the lesser

to the greater.

So he's saying,

Even the relatively righteous

are repaid

for their misdeeds

on earth.

Do you think then

God will spare

the wicked

and the sinner?

Of course not.

That's the logic

of this last verse.

Even the righteous

will get what's coming

to them,

then how much more

the wicked

and the sinner

who have done

much more wickedness,

committed many more sins.

And so this is

what we're trying

to motivate.

We should live righteously,

trusting that God's justice

will ultimately prevail.

Let me ask you,

how does that make you feel

about your future prospects

in light of God's justice?

If you're like most people,

hopefully not in our church,

but if you're like most people,

including unbelievers,

you probably feel pretty good

about your future prospects.

There's an article entitled

The Illusion of Moral Superiorty

published in Social,

Psychological,

and Personality Science

a few years ago.

It documents the phenomenon

called the self-enhancement effect,

which is people's tendency

to overestimate

their own qualities

and abilities

in relation to

the same qualities

and abilities

in others.

We naturally think

more highly of ourselves

than we ought to.

And this study

shows,

it demonstrates

that actually

that self-enhancement effect

is most pronounced

when it comes to

assessments of our own morality.

We all tend to think

that we're especially,

when it comes to morality,

that we are better

than others,

that we're more righteous

than others.

In other words,

this is something

the Bible has been saying

for thousands of years,

we're all self-righteous.

Now,

but the Bible presents us

with a more

sobering and accurate assessment

than our own

personal assessment.

Romans 3 verse 10

Romans 3:10

tells us,

none is righteous.

No,

not one.

And this is a problem

because Proverbs 11 chapter,

1131 told us

that if the righteous

is repaid on earth,

how much more

the wicked

and the sinner?

Even the righteous

get what's coming to them

for this little sense

here and there perhaps,

but we are not

in the righteous

category

as much as we would like.

in the ultimate sense,

in light of God's

perfect standard,

we are all in the wicked

and sinner category.

And how then

can we be saved?

As the psalmist says

in Psalm 130,

if you,

O Lord,

should mark iniquities,

O Lord,

who could stand?

No one could stand

before God.

No one could stand

and be acquitted

at the court

of God's justice.

And this is how

the book of Proverbs

points to

and finds this fulfillment

in Jesus Christ

because that same

chapter in Romans,

Romans 3,

which told us

that no one is righteous

continues in verses

21 and 24,

but now the righteousness

of God

has been made

and has been manifested

apart from the law,

the righteousness of God

through faith

in Jesus Christ

for all who believe,

for there is no distinction,

for all have sinned

and fall short

of the glory of God

and are justified

by His grace

as a gift

through the redemption

that is in Christ Jesus.

Jesus,

the righteous one,

died on the cross

to pay the penalty

of sin

that we should have paid,

that we should have died for.

And through His death

and resurrection,

we are justified.

That means we are counted

righteous.

Not as a wage

that we ourselves

must earn

by our hard work,

but by His grace

as a gift

freely given.

We were not righteous,

but nonetheless,

God counts us

as righteous

on account

of the life

and death

and resurrection

of Jesus Christ.

And that's how

we come to inherit

the eternal life

that this passage

speaks of.

Return with me

one last time

to Proverbs chapter 11.

Proverbs 11 · chapter mention

Look at verse 30.

He says,

The fruit of the righteous

is a tree of life

and whoever captures

souls is wise.

The outcome of a righteous life

is a tree of life,

a symbol of healing

and eternal life

that goes all the way back

to the beginning of creation

in Genesis 2.

And it's the righteous person,

the wise person

in a biblical sense

that captures souls

and shares with them

this eternal life.

The phrase

capture souls,

it's a startling image

because that phrase

occurs six other times

in the Old Testament

and every single one

of those other occurrences

it is translated

to take away life.

It refers to killing someone,

to capture souls.

But here,

it's used in an ironic,

subversive sense

to mean precisely the opposite.

To capture souls

in order to rescue them,

to save them.

It's very similar

to the way Jesus

told His disciples

who are fishermen

in Luke 5, verse 10.

Luke 5:10

He told them,

from now on,

you will be catching men.

Think about it.

Fishermen usually catch fish

in order to kill them.

It's not an encouraging image

if you think about that.

They're trying to go around

and catch men.

And the imagery of catching

is normally used

in the Old Testament

to refer to divine judgment,

catching someone

in one's net.

But Jesus transforms that image

as this proverb does.

Jesus transformed the imagery

in a surprising way

that He said,

those who would follow Him,

those who would be wise,

those who are called

to find those who deserve

to be,

our calling is to find

those who are deserving

of being captured and killed.

That's our calling.

We were all of those

who deserve to be captured

and killed,

but instead,

Jesus says,

you capture now to save.

At the hands of Jesus,

the instrument of death,

the cross,

becomes the instrument

of life and salvation.

We should have been captured

and killed.

That's every single one of us.

But instead,

God turns that around

and says,

capture those souls,

not for death,

but for eternal life

so that they might be saved.

And that's what Jesus did

for He is the righteous one,

the wise one

who captures souls.

That's in view in this verse.

He did it on the cross for us

and now that is our calling

to receive it,

to follow Him

and likewise

become catchers

of men and women

sharing this wisdom

with the world.

Please take a moment

to think about that,

of the reality

of what Christ has done

for us

in spite of our

lack of righteousness.