Song of the Drunkards

JESUS FACED A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF OPPOSITION FOR HIS HARD WORDS AND UNFLINCHING DEVOTION TO YAHWEH. NO SURPRISE THEN IF WE FIND OUR NAME FESTOONED IN BARROOM BALLADS (CF. PS 69:12).

The Crisis of Unbelief in the Church

September 16, 2018 in Bible - OT - Proverbs, Judgment, Meditations, Postmillennialism, Sovereignty of God

Proverbs 10:23–25: To do evil is like sport to a fool, But a man of understanding has wisdom. 24 The fear of the wicked will come upon him, And the desire of the righteous will be granted. 25 When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.

It is important to understand that increasingly we live amongst a people who act as though there is no God. We live amongst fools; for it is the fool who says in his heart, “There is no God.” He runs up debt with no intention to repay; he makes promises and does not fulfill them; he commits sexual immorality, performs lewd acts, divorces his spouse, violates his oaths. He does not believe there is anyone who will call him to account, “I am my own master.”

Consequently, in Solomon’s words, doing evil is like sport to a fool. Life is just a game where decisions are not a matter of life and death; not a matter of heaven and hell; everything will turn out fine. “It’s all good,” so the saying goes.

A man of understanding, however, has wisdom. He understands that his choices have consequences – not only in the next life but also in this life. God is the Lord, rewarding the just and judging the wicked. The wise man lives his life aware of this fact; lives his life in the fear of the Lord.

Though the fool may claim that there is no God who rules in the affairs of men, the wise man knows better. God does rule; God does see; and He shall reward the righteous and judge the wicked – both in this life and in the next. The fear of the wicked will come upon him, and the desire of the righteous will be granted. When the whirlwind passes by – when God’s judgment falls – the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation. As Solomon reminds us in Proverbs 11:31,“If the righteous will be recompensed on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner.” God is just and His justice will manifest itself in the course of human history.

Today Christians are facing a crisis of unbelief: it’s not that we don’t believe in God, it is that we do not believe that God’s justice will triumph in human history; we do not believe God executes justice in space and time. As a result of pessimistic end-times teachings about the nature of history, we have become convinced that wickedness is going to triumph in history. “The world is going to hell in a hand basket and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

It is understandable that unbelievers think this way. The unbelieving worldview is cynical by nature. This week Peter Hitches wrote a review of Game of Thrones, highlighting the way in which it basks in this unbelieving cynicism. He writes:

In [the author’s] imaginary country, virtue and trust are always punished… almost everyone associated with honesty, selfless courage, and justice is doomed…. Bravery and charity toward others are rewarded with death or betrayal. The simple poor are raped, robbed, enslaved, and burned out of their homes. Chivalry… is… a fraud. All kinds of cruelty and greed, typified by the House of Lannister, flourish like the green bay tree. Treachery and the most debauched cynicism are the only salvation, the only route to safety or advantage.

While this debauched cynicism is not surprising in unbelievers, believers should know better. The Scriptures assure us that God’s justice will triumph in history. Though the wicked may temporarily triumph, God shall cause their fears to come upon them.

So what of you? Have you become cynical, believing that God’s justice will sleep forever? Have you become discouraged, longing for God to reveal His justice on your schedule? Do not give way to this unbelief but be a man, a woman of wisdom. Trust in the Lord. Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Reminded that the wise man lives His life in the fear of God, knowing that God’s justice will triumph, let us confess that we have often been cynical, often been discouraged. We will have a time of silent confession, followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin. As we confess our sins, let us kneel before the Lord as we are able.

The Blessing of Riches

September 10, 2018 in Bible - OT - Proverbs, Law and Gospel, Meditations, Wealth

Proverbs 10:22 (NKJV)

22 The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.

Marcion was an early church heretic who pitted the god of the Old Testament against the god of the New. He claimed that the god of the OT, whom he called the Creator, was evil and dictatorial while the god of the NT, whom he called the Father, was good and merciful. While Marcion’s teaching was condemned as heresy, the temptation to pit the OT against the NT has persisted throughout church history. One of the areas this has been repeatedly done is in the area of wealth.

Many are tempted to say that while the OT presents a positive view of wealth , the NT gives us a negative view of wealth and urges us to forsake our wealth for the kingdom of God. Didn’t Jesus tell the rich young ruler to sell all that he had and give it to the poor and to come follow Him? Didn’t Paul say that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil? The answer to those two latter questions is, of course, yes. Jesus did tell the rich young ruler to sell his belongings and Paul did declare that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. But they did so because the OT declared the same things.

Solomon reminds us today that wealth in itself is not a problem. The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He [i.e., the Lord] adds no sorrow to it. Abraham was a wealthy man and a model of faithfulness. David was a wealthy man and a man after God’s own heart. Barzillai the Gileadite was a very wealthy man and provided for David when he was fleeing from Absalom. Joseph of Arimethea was a wealthy man and prepared a tomb for our Lord’s body. Wealth in itself is not a problem; it is a gift from God.

But like all blessings, wealth is susceptible to misuse. Wealth is a tool; a tool that is to be used in the service of our Creator and Redeemer. As a tool, as a gift, it is something for which we are to give thanks to God and use to the glory of His Name. We are to give thanks for it and use it to the glory of His Name. We are to beware lest it ever come between us and Him – as it had with the rich young ruler. We are not to set our heart on our riches. We are to hold our wealth with an open hand – permitting God to give and to take as He sees fit. To have God and wealth is an incredible blessing; to have God and no wealth can be borne with contentment. But to have wealth and no God is hopeless misery.

So consider a couple ways that we can be tempted to sin in regard to wealth. First, we can permit others to make us feel guilty for our wealth. Social justice warriors will happily do so. Many in our political arena will flog you and make you feel guilty and try to use that false guilt to steal your freedom. “You shouldn’t have so much; think of all those poor people with so little; vote for higher taxes, more regulation.” But if wealth is such a bad thing, then why in the world would we want to distribute it to others? They might catch the infection! The reason that we want to share wealth freely through charity not through state enforced redistribution is because we know it is a blessing. It is a gift from God – so the righteous man shares it freely but never feels guilty for having it. So repent of your false guilt.

Second, have you permitted your wealth to intrude between you and your God? The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Augustine spoke about disordered affections. Our affections are disordered when we love God’s gifts more than God Himself. This is idolatry. It is to make God a means to an end rather than treating God as our great end. What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. So repent of making wealth more important than God.

Reminded that we often view wealth and use wealth in a sinful manner, let us confess our sins to the Lord and seek His forgiveness. And as you are able, let us kneel together. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin.

The Lips of the Wise

September 2, 2018 in Bible - NT - Ephesians, Bible - OT - Proverbs, Meditations, Tongue

Proverbs 10:18–21 (NKJV)

18 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, And whoever spreads slander is a fool. 19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise. 20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; The heart of the wicked is worth little. 21 The lips of the righteous feed many, But fools die for lack of wisdom.

Throughout Proverbs and the rest of Scripture we are frequently exhorted to keep watch over our tongues. Though the tongue is small, it has immense importance and tremendous impact. So we must learn, as God’s people, to control our tongues.

So take note of the contrasts in our text today. On the one hand we have the tongues of the wicked and the fool. Not all fools are wicked; but all wicked men are fools. We are told two things about the tongue of the wicked. His tongue speaks lies and it speaks lies because what comes out of his mouth emerges from his heart. And, Solomon tells us, the heart of the wicked is worth little. The heart of the wicked is corrupt and so their lips speak corruption. For their part, fools spread this slander. They pick it up from the wicked and then spread it abroad rather than locking it away. Rather than restrain their lips, they repeat whatever they hear. They are fools.

On the other hand, we have the tongue of the wise. The wise man restrains his lips. He exercises self-control over his tongue. He is aware that just because he knows something, or feels something, or thinks something, that doesn’t mean that those things need to be shared. Before speaking, the wise man weighs matters in his heart and so he speaks with discretion. Consequently, his tongue is as choice silver. His words have value because he chooses carefully when and what to speak.

Notice, therefore, that while the tongue of the wise feeds others, the tongue of the foolish can’t even sustain the fool himself. The lips of the righteous feed many – the lips of the righteous bring blessing, encouragement, and edification to those they meet – but fools die for lack of wisdom ­– the lips of fools bring discouragement and destruction, blight and famine in their wake so that fools no longer have relationships, food to sustain themselves.

So what of you? How have you used your tongue this week? Have you wickedly slandered others? Have you foolishly repeated the slanders of the wicked, listened to their lies and shared them with your neighbors? Have you multiplied words without knowledge? Or have you restrained your lips and considered carefully in your heart each time you speak? This is the mandate Paul gives us, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers” (4:29).

Reminded that we are called to exercise self-control over our tongues that we may give life to others, let us acknowledge that we often speak when we should be silent and that, even when we should speak, we often tear down what is good rather than build up others in the truth. We often behave like fools and so sin in the multitude of words. Reminded of this, let us confess our sin to the Lord and seek His forgiveness. We will have a time of silent confession, followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin. As we confess our sin to the Lord, let us kneel as we are able.