20260208 Proverbs 16.25-33 Sunday Sermon Mike Dickmann

Let's pray once more. Heavenly Father, we're

thankful to be your children. We're thankful

to be under your care. We're thankful for the

confidence and the boldness that we have to enter

into your very presence because of the finished

work of Jesus Christ. We come now to confess

our great need of you. Once again, we'd ask that

you would open your word to us, enable us to

hear it, enable us to assimilate it into our

lives. Don't allow us to turn away, don't allow

any stubbornness in us to hinder the work of

your Holy Spirit, but may you have a free course

in our lives to accomplish all your perfect will.

We pray for the lost that they would be found

of you this morning. I ask for myself that you

help me as I present the word, that I would present

all that you've given, that it would be honoring,

glorifying unto you and helpful to all who hear.

And we ask in Christ's name, amen. Amen. Okay,

well, we're still in Proverbs. I don't know for

how much longer we will be in Proverbs, but we're

there this morning. And I only got about halfway

through the verses that I wanted to cover last

week. So we're going to continue on in this 16th

chapter, but I'm going to... start reading this

morning at verse 16 once again so it says how

much better is it to get wisdom than gold and

to get understanding rather than silver the highway

of the upright is to depart from evil he that

keepeth his way preserve with his soul pride

goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit

before a fall Better it is to be of an humble

spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil

with the proud. He that handleeth a matter wisely

shall find good or shall prosper, and whoso trusts

in the Lord happy is he. The wise in heart shall

be called prudent, and the sweetness of the lips

increaseth learning. Understanding is a wellspring

of life unto him that hath it, but the instruction

of fools is folly. The heart of the wise teacheth

his mouth and addeth learning to his lips. Pleasant

words are as an honeycomb sweet to the soul and

health to the bones. There is a way that seemeth

right unto a man, but the end thereof are the

ways of death. He that laboreth, laboreth for

himself, for his mouth craveth it of him. An

ungodly man diggeth up evil, and in his lips

there is a burning fire. A foward man soweth

strife, and a whisperer separateth chief friends.

A violent man enticeth his neighbor and leadeth

him into the way that is not good. He shutteth

his eyes to devise foward things, moving his

lips he bringeth evil to pass. The gray head

is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way

of righteousness. He that is slow to anger is

better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his

spirit, then he that taketh the city. The lot

is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing

thereof is of the Lord." So it should be, I suppose,

I think it is anyway, obvious to us that this

particular portion of Proverbs really gives to

us the Christian life. It doesn't speak to us

of the way of salvation, but it does speak to

us of the way of... sanctification or the way

of conforming our lives to Christ. So last week,

as I said, we covered the beginning of it and

we saw there that wisdom is an understanding

or the chief desires of men or of Christian men.

And the question that we asked ourselves, was

this true of us? What do we prize in our life?

We were reminded that we have the mind of Christ

according to the New Testament. In other words,

we have wisdom and understanding because of Christ.

Christ is wisdom and understanding. And in Christ

we can order our lives right. We can cultivate

this knowledge and wisdom and understanding because

of the Spirit's work, the Spirit of Christ's

work in us. We saw that we learn by using, we

improve in these areas by using what we know.

You don't use it, you lose it. If you don't apply

what you have knowledge of, you really don't

know it. Then we saw that we're on the King's

Highway, is the way I put it. We're on the road

to heaven. And we're on that road, there's no

doubt. You stay on the road, and you get to heaven.

It leads straight to God. It's the King's Highway.

While we're on there, we shun evil. We don't

go after evil. We don't love evil. We don't want

anything to do with evil. So we don't go on the

Broadway. Those are two cities, or two streets

in the city of Saint Louis. King's Highway and

Broadway. You want to be on the King's Highway,

but you don't want to be anywhere near the Broadway.

It's funny, I laugh every time. I don't go by

there much anymore, but there's a Baptist Church

on Broadway. You know what the Baptist Church

name is? Broadway Baptist Church. I can't explain

it. So, we saw also that humility is a must.

We have to be humble before God, and we have

to give place to our brothers and sisters in

Christ. Humility. Christians are all about humility.

Proud Christian is an oxymoron. We were told

to listen to sound instructions. Sound instructions

from God through His Word. Sound instructions

from God through His people. We should expect

to hear from God from one another. That's what

we saw last week. So the way we speak matters,

right? The way we say something, that matters.

So pleasant words, the scriptures say, profit

very much. So we can expect to accomplish God's

will when we speak pleasantly. We saw that doesn't

have anything to do with not telling the truth.

We are telling the truth. That's what we Christians

are all about. But we're to put it as pleasant

away as we possibly can. We don't, in other words,

beat each other over the head. We make it as

pleasant as we can when we have to give instruction

or rebuke or whatever it is. Pleasant words are

good words. You want to make it as clear as you

possibly can. And you want to use as few words

as possible. Many a sermon is great for the first

20 minutes the second 20 minutes is nothing but

putting people to sleep Because it's got to be

a certain time Hopefully we don't ever hear that

here You say what you have to say clearly But

you don't go dragging it on and on and on and

on and if you're teaching If you have the opportunity

to teach, and this goes for teaching your kids

or a Sunday school class or when you're here,

you should never ever be boring. There is nothing

boring about the Lord. He's not pleased with

boring words. It's just imperative. There should

never be a boring worship service. We're all

responsible for that. You come here and you contribute

to the worship service, you have a testimony,

you have a hymn, you have a psalm, and it's never

boring. Okay, so that's what we, well, understanding

we saw is life abundance. That's what the abundant

life consists in. and the best understanding.

So we're going to continue on then today and

we're going to pick it up in verse 25 where it

says, there is a way that seemeth right unto

a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

So there is no right way apart from God's. You

can only be going the right way if you're going

according to God and His Word. It may seem perfectly

right to you. You may have devised and planned

and purposed the whole thing. But if it's not

done in God, through Jesus Christ, through His

Word, then you shouldn't have any confidence

in what you're doing. If you haven't sought the

Lord for it, and you haven't consulted the Word,

you haven't prayed, there's no confidence in

going forward. It may seem right, it may seem

good, but if it's not according to the Word,

it's not. And so it's not going to lead to your

death if you're a Christian, but it is going

to lead to heartache. It is going to lead to

trouble. You don't want that. You don't want

to be at cross purposes with God. And there is

a way that God has for us to go. And that's what

we should be seeking out. That's what we should

want. We have to acknowledge God is smarter than

us. He does know what he's doing. He will lead,

guide, and direct you. But if you don't want

it, you won't have it. You can go your own way.

And then you'll be subject to discipline and

repentance. sorrow and problems and heartaches,

but you will be brought back onto the King's

Highway. So remember that. Don't make it a second

clause or don't make it a second option. Make

it the first option of your life when you come

to a crossroads or you come to a decision. Seek

the Lord. Seek him first. Before you even consult

with anybody else there's nothing wrong with

seeking advice from other people and so on and

so forth but first the Lord Relying on him trusting

him To do what he's promised to do and that is

to lead and guide and direct your way In 26 he

that laboreth laboreth for himself or his mouth

craved of him I'm sure you've got a better translation

than that, or at least a more understandable

translation, but it's all the same. This is King

James English that I read it in. But an appetite

is good. Guess what it's saying? An appetite

is a good thing. So physically, for a physical

person, an appetite is good. I went through some

sicknesses and some treatments and said, I don't

have any appetite. And it was real easy to lose

weight. I didn't even have any desire to eat.

But I needed to eat. And that's what your appetite

is telling you. You need some food. You need

some nourishment. And so the proverb here is

that because of that, you're laboring for yourself.

You labor. You've got to get some money. till

the garden or however you obtain your food, you've

got to work. And that's another good thing. But

that's all physical, and it's all good. But like

we said last week, if you don't have a spiritual

understanding here in the Proverbs, you're missing

all of the really important things in life. So

a spiritual appetite is a good thing. This is

a physical appetite. What's the temperature or

what's the gauge? How do you view your spiritual

appetite? Well, do you have a good appetite?

An appetite, in the physical sense, drives you

to food. In the spiritual sense, it drives you

to God. You need to gauge your spiritual appetite.

There's nobody else that can do it for you. Nobody

else can really see what's inside of you. Of

course, God knows, and you know. Do you have

any care, any appetite? Are you interested in

learning? Are you interested in growing in the

nurture and admonition of the Lord? Are you interested

in becoming a better example of Christ to your

children and to your neighbors? That's an appetite.

I want to learn. I want to grow. So, you know,

hopefully you have that, at least some measure

of it. And the more that you learn, as we've

said many times, the more it increases. And if

you never learn, there's a real problem. If you

never grow, there's a real problem. Things that

are alive grow. They increase. I've got plants

at home that I started that ginormous They're

alive That's what we should expect for ourselves

because that's what God says he's going to do

Draw near to me. What does it what what comes

next? I will draw near to you You get you getting

anything out of your devotions You hearing from

God in your word? Is it just letters on the page?

Well, why aren't you getting anything? Because

you're not drawn near to God. All you're sitting

there is reading the book. You're not reading

it for understanding. You're not reading it for

knowledge. You're not reading it for the love

of God. You're not reading it to experience God.

And because of that, God's not interested. You're

wearing out God he's tired of your sacrifices

as they used to say in the Old Testament So It's

a true statement if you do draw near to God he

will draw near to you think of that What does

that mean is that is that is that the most wonderful

statement that you ever heard or water is God

of the universe is going to draw near to you

simply because you are attempting to draw near

to him It doesn't get any better than that folks

it does not another there's not a better promise

in the Word of God than that Your spiritual appetite

think about it What do we got next we've got

here we've got a series of uh warnings and i'm

not going to reread them but bad company corrupts

good morals that's the that's a private not here

but that's true you want to you want you want

to go down into into grief and sin and sorrow

just hang around hang around the wrong people

that's all you want to stay away from Bad people.

In any way that you can. The most difficult thing

to do is to stay, if you work, is stay away from

the bad people when you work. I work in a factory

with 500 people and there's plenty of bad people

all over the place. And they just love to drag

you down. And they will. We got the, we got the

scoundrel. We got the perverse person. We've

got the gossip. We've got the violent man. And

we've got the deceiver. I think that just about

covers everything. And there's some of these

people everywhere. I had a whole bunch of friends

when I was converted. And I was just the same

way, with the same characteristics. Well, obviously,

I couldn't hang around with them anymore. And

we became bitter enemies for a while because

they resented the fact that I wouldn't hang around

with them anymore. There wasn't any going over

to the tavern or anything else with these people.

So, you must choose your friends wisely. Choose

your company wisely. We shouldn't try to avoid

every unconverted person. I'm not saying that.

We want to have opportunities to share the gospel.

But that's why we should want to associate with

some unconverted folks. So that we do share the

gospel. So I had all manner of... When I was

working in the factory, I could share the gospel

every day. Every day of the week. No problems.

I didn't have to look for people. They were all

around me. It was the greatest time. I grew a

lot during those years. Hopefully you'll experience

some of that. So then we go on then to verse

31. And it says, gray hair is a crown of glory,

if it be found in the way of righteousness. So

just because you're old, that doesn't mean anything.

It's all kinds of old wicked people. There's

all kinds of old people that maybe they're probably,

I'm sure there's some old people that are Christians

that never grew, you know, or grew slightly,

let's put it that way. And so they don't have

any wisdom just because they have gray hair.

The Bible's not saying anything like that. The

Bible's saying that a person who has attained

an age that has gray hair associated with it

and has lived his life in the Lord seeking the

kingdom first and his righteousness that person

there that has they have some wisdom so those

are the people that you want to look out for

those are the people that you can that safely

hear what they have to say and so The Bible is

also telling us here that you don't have to spend

a lot of money on hair coloring. It's okay to

have great hair. It's fine. It's a glory. It's

a mark of age and wisdom and experience. And

that's how you should view it. God doesn't care

about your hair color. But that's what we should

all be striving for. We should be striving and

desiring to be helpful to others, to put some

of our experiences to use, to be able to help

the younger generation. We've been through it.

There is wisdom there. And then he says in verse

32, he that is slow to anger is better than the

mighty. and he that ruleth his spirit than he

that taketh the city." So you've got these two

contrasts. You've got slow to anger and ruleth

his spirit on one side. We've got the mighty

and he that taketh the city on the other side.

Now which is stronger? Which would you think

is stronger? Do you think it takes more strength

to take a city? or to control yourself? Well,

again, the Proverbs doesn't ask us our opinion,

he just tells us it takes more strength to control

yourself. He's mightier than the mighty man that

takes the city. So, are you willing? Are you

willing to put this to the test? Patient man,

slow to angry. able to control your spirit. God's

saying, you can do that. He has the power to

enable you to do that. There's nothing more important

in your life, in your marriage, than this, I

think. I don't think I'm over speaking. The person

you're the closest to is going to irritate you

the most. That's all. It's inevitable. You're

going to have irritation in your life if you're

married and if you care, if you're in love with

this person. You can't just shrug off. It has

an effect upon us. Words, actions, they have

effect upon us. It's true. It takes a great deal

of grace in our life, the power of the Spirit

in our life to control our anger and our spirit

to be patient. Put it to the test. So I know,

I know this. I've got gray hair. I know this.

I've lived a long time and I've lived a long

time with the same woman. I know what I'm talking

about. And she can get up here and testify to

the same thing. We can get under each other's

skin really anytime we want to because we know

how to do it. Right Karen? And you just have

to be on guard. You have to realize what's going

on. And sometimes we're so free and easy that

it's like an accident that the irritation happens.

But it does happen. It doesn't mean that I don't

love her or she doesn't love me or life's coming

to an end. But it's not a pleasant experience

to go through that. Control yourself. Count on

the Lord in the power of the Spirit to make you

patient and keep you under self -control. Anger

very seldom accomplishes anything good. Anger

is the enemy. That's all. Yeah, I know the Bible

says be angry and sin not. And that's true. I'm

not denying that. But that's the exception that

proves the rule to me. To get angry is no good.

So then we've got the summation here in verse

33. The lot is cast into the lap but the whole

disposing thereof is of the Lord. Evidently in

Israel they cast a lot of lots. It was a decision

-making process. They would cast lots. I guess

maybe there's some cultures today that cast out

bones or colored stones. I don't know what, you

know, but obviously we don't do that. Well, maybe,

I guess, right? Maybe we do. Maybe there's some

of you that do, or know people that do. But we

do have to make decisions in life. Somehow or

another, we've got to make a decision. Now, cast

and loss is not the way to do it. And I guess

I should say also that there's no such thing

as luck or chance. And a Christian should never

be using those words. Oh, I was lucky. No, you

weren't. Right? Right. We shouldn't talk like

that. That's not a Christian way of speech. Well,

I got a chance. I got a chance to do this. No.

That's not how we talk. What's the overall point

of the passage? The overall point of the passage

is that God is sovereign and controls all providence

according to His will. That's the point of the

passage. Nothing happens apart from the will

of God. Nothing. All providences are produced

to accomplish God's will and purposes. That's

a big truth to grab hold of and to believe. When

I was first converted, I had an old Presbyterian

pastor. That he said that he thought and he believed

that God controlled the color of his socks Every

morning He went to his sock drawer and I guess

he had multiple colors But he believed that he

picked out the exact color of socks that God

wanted him to wear that day That's how he was

teaching sovereignty Providence He's probably

right, but I mean that I would have never considered,

but he's probably right. So what does it mean

for us? How are we going to make decisions? How

are we going to live under the providence of

God and the sovereignty of God? What does he

want us to know? Well, he wants us to know that

all of these things that we've been talking about,

They're all part of God's plan and purposes and

providences He wants us to live in this manner

Now I'm not saying perfectly So you the the foundation

of our life is the sovereignty of God and His

controlling Providence, that's foundational So

on that foundation you live You don't you're

not afraid You're not hesitant. A foundation

makes for solid footing. We want to walk on solid

ground. And we walk on solid ground by having

a firm conviction and trust in the Lord and His

sovereignty. How does it work? Well, it works

by you living your life as far as you can. determine

and practice according to the Word of God, led

by the Holy Spirit. And you can trust then that

you are on the firm foundation of God's sovereignty

and His providences. That's how you do it. You

got to get up in the morning. You got to work.

Is there some doubt in your mind that God would

have you go to work in the morning? Well, that'd

be silly, wouldn't it? You can have total confidence.

Are you confident that God's gonna safely deliver

you to work? Or are you terrified of the highway?

Are you terrified of anything that cripples you?

Again, that's not... That's not pleasing and

that's not honoring, but it is honoring to courageously

and confidently get in your car and go to work.

You're relying on the sovereignty of God, the

providence of God. Is there any doubt in the

morning when you get up that if you got kids

you got to take care of them? You got to do your

best for your kids? You stay at home mom, you

got to take care of your kids. There's no doubt

about it. God gave you the children, He expects

you to take care of them. He expects you to be

His steward over these children whose He's entrusted

to your care. These eternal souls that are going

to live forever are entrusted into your care.

There's no doubt about that, that's the truth.

So you've got to put your best effort, you've

got to pour yourself into those kids. And I don't

mean spoiling them. There's nothing worse than

that, but you've got a poor year strength and

knowledge and love into your children That's

that's that's the sovereignty of God at work

and his faithful providence in your life I Got

to make a decision. I got it. I'm gonna change

jobs. I Think I need to change jobs. I want more

money or I want a better job There you have it

What are you going to do? You're going to sit

around and wait for God to be sovereign in your

life and take you by the hand and show you where

you're supposed to work and that is not how it

works, is it? You go exploring. You go looking

for whatever the job is that you want. The question

that you have to ask is why do you want it? Do

you want it just for the fact that you're going

to have more money? Well, do you need more money?

If you need more money than you're currently

earning, that's a very good reason to change

jobs. And God will honor that. He wants you to

be taken care of. You can trust God then to provide

for that job. Well, the job's going to take me

50 miles away from the church. Whoa, hold on

now. What's the primary purpose and priority

in your life? Serving God, worshiping God, loving

your brothers and sisters in Christ? You might

not be getting the right signals. In other words,

there's a whole bunch of stuff. Well, maybe not

a whole bunch, but there's several... Characteristics

are there several things that have to be met

if you're going to take a job Same with school

same with buying a house Whatever whatever it

is if it's not something that's going to improve

your relationship to the Lord and his people

Enable you to give more perhaps enable you to

spend more time Then stop that's a red flag God

will provide all of those things for you. He'll

provide you a good job that enables you to serve

Him and worship Him in a good church with your

brothers and sisters in Christ. You'd be useful

in the church and in the family. All of that

will work out. And if you want to know, I'll

give you a testimony. I'm not going to spend

time here, but if you want to talk to me about

it, I'll be glad to talk to you about it and

tell you all about it. I've lived it. I got gray

hair. But I'll share it with you anytime you

want to know. So that's it. That's the foundation

of my life and every Christian's life. The sovereignty

of God and the providential leading of God. It

doesn't paralyze us. It invigorates us. It enables

us to live confidently. Desiring the... The glory

of God to enjoy Him always. That's what He wants.

That's what He wants for us. That's what He calls

abundant life. Do you thank God for life? Or

do you thank God for true life in Christ? There

is a big difference. Everybody's here. Everybody's

got life. Not everybody has abundant life true

life in Christ We're in Christ we do have it

and we should be attempting to live it out in

total confidence and trust in the Lord so hopefully

it's been somewhat helpful these this section

of Proverbs and Hopefully we'll be able to apply

it to ourselves and live it out all of our days

until we get to the end of the King's Highway

and see him face to face. Amen.