2019 Mar 19 Proverbs 19, Colossians 3
2019 Mar 19 Proverbs 19, Colossians 3
A warm welcome, desiring you a fine day! Let’s conclude Proverbs 19 with verses 27-29:
“27 My son, if you stop listening to discipline, You will stray from the sayings of knowledge. 28 A worthless witness mocks justice, And the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil. 29 Judgment is in store for ridiculers, And beatings for the back of the stupid ones.”
Prove 19:27 What would cause one to “stop listening to discipline”? Well, for one, hopefully they’re receiving the right kind of discipline, which we should know by now is not simply “punishment,” but rather loving counsel and guidance to right living. But what if someone becomes prideful, believing they’ve received enough knowledge and discipline to know how to live and do not need anything further from anyone? A truly wise person is also humble, willing to listen. “A wise person listens and takes in more instruction,” says Proverbs 1:5. After we think we’ve gained enough knowledge, we don’t lose one ear and gain an extra mouth, do we? We have two ears and only one mouth, and we should listen perhaps twice as much as we speak. James 1:19 says “19 Know this, my beloved brothers: Everyone must be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.” So let us always remain humble, willing to listen and accept needed counsel from others, that we may never “stray from the sayings of knowledge.”
Prove 19:28,29 Jesus himself, in Revelation 1:5, in his description, opens by calling himself “the Faithful Witness.” Jesus never ‘mocked justice,’ but said that not even one speck of the Mosaic Law should not be carried out as long as it was in force. At Matthew 5:17-19, he said: “17 “Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I came, not to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 Truly I say to you that sooner would heaven and earth pass away than for one smallest letter or one stroke of a letter to pass away from the Law until all things take place. 19 Whoever, therefore, breaks one of these least commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in relation to the Kingdom of the heavens. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in relation to the Kingdom of the heavens.” So it is a “worthless witness” who mocks true justice. Even the wicked, by what they say, often shows they “gulp down evil,” greedily desiring to practice it. Jesus said, at Luke 6:45, “45 A good man brings good out of the good treasure of his heart, but a wicked man brings what is wicked out of his wicked treasure; for out of the heart’s abundance his mouth speaks.” Of course an evil person desires to speak about what he considers his “successful conquests,” but being also deceptive, he will not do so usually before righteous ones. He waits until he is with one of his evil cohorts. God, however, is aware of such ones, and as Proverbs 15:29 says “29 Jehovah is far away from the wicked, But he hears the prayer of the righteous.” Likewise Psalm 138:6 says “ 6 Though Jehovah is high, he takes note of the humble, But the haughty he knows only from a distance.” Ridiculers likewise criticize or mock what is good, and “judgment is in store” for such ones if they do not repent. “Stupid ones” scripturally does not refer to those getting bad grades in school, or refuse to hold a job, but instead they do not hold to divine moral standards. They instead pick and choose, not fearing Jehovah and hating what He knows is truly bad for us. They thus reap “corruption” and a bitter harvest, for “God is not one to be mocked,” and “whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap.” (Galat 6:7,8). May all such wrongdoers repent of their evil, that they may have an everlasting hope that God still holds out to repentant ones, before it is too late. (Isaiah 55:6-9).
Colossians 3:12 highlights some of the most important virtues of true Christians, which should be cultivated, though among those who have a healthy relationship with God, and seek to remain “holy” in His sight. The verse reads as follows: “12 Accordingly, as God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, humility, mildness, and patience.” Thus “holy and loved,” God says to His clean people, at 1Peter 1:14-16, “14 As obedient children, stop being molded by the desires you formerly had in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all your conduct, 16 for it is written: “You must be holy, because I am holy.”” We should know and recognize the love God has for each one of us, and then accordingly clothe ourselves with the tender affections here mentioned, thereby being equipped to act as an extension of God’s loving hand toward others, humbly treating them with compassion, showing gentleness and loyal patience in dealing kindly with them. Thus we may contribute to the accomplishing of God’s will as He “28...makes all his works cooperate together for the good of those who love God.” (Romans 8:28).
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Between Winchester, Virginia, and hopefully, Washington D.C., having confidence that our thankful trust in God will not fail to inspire us to the peace He has purposed via His Kingdom!
