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Proverbs 20:9 (KJV) Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?

We All Need The Lord

It’s all the fashion now to get on the Internet through your “smart phone”, then to rant and rave over the phone via a video – usually about politics. I had to laugh out loud at a young black woman in her car. She went to a drive up ATM at bank, and got $60 in cash out (three 20 dollar bills). She suddenly had what my mama called a “conniption fit” because someone had stamped on the back of one of the 20’s, right over the picture of the White House, in red letters “Trump Lives Here”. She said she was so mad she wanted to throw the money away. I support that. Throw the money MY way.

The Internet has amplified self righteousness & virtue signaling. God says no one is clean

I know a lot of people do not like Trump, but he’s the President of the United States whether you like it or not. Yes, he lives in the White House. President Trump has his failings, but also his good points. Beloved, no one makes themselves clean. Shouting into your phone doesn’t make you clean, but stupid looking. If this nation was settled not by White Europeans, but Black Africans, I suspect we’d STILL have had a problem with slavery – only in reverse. We’re all a mess.

The heartbeat of Christianity is that “all sin, all fall short of God’s glory” (Romans 3:23). King Solomon wrote:

Ecclesiastes 7:20 (ESV) Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

It is a sign of a deluded person who thinks they are righteous and perfect, but all others have flaws. Sadly when that young lady screamed and hollered about nothing, all this proved was that she is delusional. Those who are deluded stay in a perpetual child-like state. They never mature, and often become those in society who create more trouble than they contribute. The next verse …

Proverbs 20:10 (KJV)DIVERS WEIGHT, [and] DIVERS MEASURES, both of them [are] alike ABOMINATION to the LORD.

… ties into this verse. In the ancient world people used a balance with two pans. They would put a known weight, usually a stone, in the left pan, and then the item they were selling in the right pan. When the balance was horizontal, the weight was supposed to be accurate. Yet thieves would manipulate the left pan weight, making it lighter, so that they could steal from the customer. Or crooked salesmen would use undersized cups to measure out grain, again stealing.

What I see in the world today, amplified by the Internet, is what God calls an “abomination”. When we do wrong, we manipulate the left pan weight to make it heavier so when our sin is weighed in the right pan – well, it doesn’t seem so bad. But when someone else does wrong, we put the light weight in the left pan, so when their sin is weighed it seems so much heavier. This is false weights. This is self righteousness!

Self righteousness is so hypocritical! God says that manipulation of truth is an “ABOMINATION” {Hebrew tôʿēḇâ}, something that disgusts Him. God uses this same word to describe homosexual behavior (Leviticus 18:22), idolatry (Deuteronomy 7:25), shallow worship of God (Deuteronomy 17:1), transgender dress (Deuteronomy 22:5), and the seven deadly sins (Proverbs 6:16).

“Only vain people can boast that they have pure hearts. But the boast, far from showing their goodness, demonstrates their blindness. Man is so depraved that he cannot understand his own depravity.” (Bridges)

The Apostle said, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). We cannot cleanse ourselves – but Jesus can. The Apostle went on to say, “If we CONFESS OUR SIN, HE {Jesus} is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). When we recognize we are all broken, and that we all need the Savior, when we come to God with empty hands and open hearts, Jesus will cleanse us. We can hide our sins, and look good on the outside – but only God can cleanse our hearts. Our Lord Jesus chastised the Pharisees and Scribes, who rather than admitting their sins, covered them up with religion and ritual. Jesus told them:

Matthew 23:27-28, 33-35 (ESV) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. [28] So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. … [33] You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? [34] Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, [35] so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

What Does Your Life Prove?

Proverbs 20:11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

If someone says “I love the Lord Jesus”, how can you tell if they love Jesus or not? Watch them. Quietly see how they live their lives. The Bible is very clear that we cannot make ourselves sinless nor righteous – God must do this. The Bible is very clear that:

Titus 3:5-7 (KJV) Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; [6] Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; [7] That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Salvation is a supernatural work of God. We do not save ourselves – God saves us. But once we are saved, once we become “children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26), then our works prove that we are “new creations in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). The Apostle wrote:

1 John 3:10 (KJV) In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

1 John 5:2 (KJV) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

Watch a child, and you will see their heart. If you are a child of God, your actions will reflect the Lord. The works of the true Christian will be Christ-like.

The Reformer Martin Luther hated the Book of James, because he thought it taught salvation by works. Martin Luther was wrong. James wrote:

James 2:17-24 (ESV) So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. [18] But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe–and shudder! [20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; [23] and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”–and he was called a friend of God. [24] You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

A person is saved by genuine faith. But if a person is genuinely saved, you will see it reflected in their lives. I have known too many so called Christians who hatefully gossiped and maligned myself and others. I have known so many so called “Pastors” who manipulated their flocks, molested the sheep, and made merchandise of the city of God. I have know many so called “Christians” who lived in sexual sin, justifying their fornications and adulteries as if the Blood of Christ made it all right. Beloved, it does not. The great preacher C.H. Spurgeon said:

“Faith and works are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God trusts God; and he that trusts God obeys God. He that is without faith is without works; and he that is without works is without faith.”

How did we know that Jesus was the Messiah? Did His works make Him the Messiah? No, but His works proved He was the Messiah.

When John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus this question: “Are You the One – The Messiah – Who is to come, or shall we look for another One?” (Matthew 11:3). Notice how Jesus responded:

Matthew 11:4-6 (ESV) And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: [5] the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. [6] And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

John’s disciples could not look into Jesus’ heart to see if He was the Messiah – but they could look and see what Jesus DID. God made Jesus the Messiah. God caused His virgin birth. God worked through Christ. We know He was the Messiah because He did the works of the Messiah. Jesus said in another place:

John 14:10-11 (ESV) Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. [11] Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

The works Jesus did proved He is the Messiah. The works of the genuine Christian proves that he is a child of God.

God Must Awaken Us

Proverbs 20:12 (KJV) The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.

It is God – not evolution or chance – but God Who gave us ears and eyes. Psalm 94:9 (ESV) says “{God} Who planted the ear, does He not hear? {God} who formed the eye, does he not see?” Everyone has ears and eyes, but it is God Who opens our ears so that we can hear, and opens our eyes so that we can see. The Prophet Moses told Israel:

Deuteronomy 29:2-4 (NKJV) … You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land– [3] “the great trials which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great wonders. [4] “Yet the LORD has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this [very] day.

God must give us the HEARING ear, the ear that will listen to and respond to His truth, His command. When Jesus preached, He often said, “He that has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15; 13:9; Mark 4:9; Luke 8:8). God must open the ear, that we might be blessed. God will not bless those who are self centered, rebellious. God told the Prophet:

Ezekiel 12:2 … you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.

Those who are unrepentant, who will not stop and look Godward, will never see nor hear in a productive Kingdom way. The reason that David was a man after God’s own heart is because he sought the Lord. David prayed, “Open my eyes {O Lord}, that I may see, wondrous things from Your Law” (Psalm 119:18). God must open our eyes and ears. No one is saved through their own efforts. Those who are supernatural, children of God, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit to “guide us into all truth” (John 16:13). But those who are unsaved, the Bible declares:

1 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV) …. the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

Since the unsaved or natural person has not RECEIVED Jesus as Lord and Savior, that person is bound to satan by the chain of sin. If you do not surrender your life to Christ, God will not send His Spirit to you. You must REPENT and RECEIVE the Gospel, RECEIVE the Son and you will RECEIVE the Spirit. I pray that the next generation of young people repent, and that God gives them the eyes and ears to hear the Gospel.

Honesty In Life

Proverbs 20:13 (KJV) Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be SATISFIED with bread.

I often meet people who are miserable with their lives. They blame everyone else for their present condition. In reality, with few exceptions where you are reflects what you did before this moment. I have never seen a generation like this one. No one wants to work. They want to play on their “Smart Phones”, but they don’t want to have to PAY for their “Smart Phones”.

There is nothing wrong with helping those who are, so to speak, “Down on their luck”. Sometimes people hit bad patches. God told Israel:

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 (ESV) If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

We are to help our brothers in Christ, to those in need, to aid the impoverished. But as Christians we are not to be lazy, but are to WORK HARD. The Apostle Paul told us:

Acts 20:35 (ESV) In all things I have shown you that by WORKING HARD in this way we must HELP THE WEAK and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”

We are to help the weak, the impoverished. But we are not to help the lazy person. God made us to work. Even in Paradise, Adam was commanded to work. The Apostles gave us a very clear mandate:

2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 (ESV) Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. …

We are to find honest work – but not be con-men!

Proverbs 20:14 (KJV) It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.

There are some who work hardest at stealing what another has. I have come across numerous scams, both telephone as well as Internet, designed to rob me of my money. This proverb is about these con-men. The con-man is looking to buy it – whatever “it” is – as cheap as possible. When told the price, he says “Oh no, that’s good for nothing. No, no, it’s not worth that!” Yet he knows it is worth what the asking price is … he is just greedy and crooked.

I used to watch a show called “Pawn Stars”, where people came into a pawn shop and tried to sell stuff. It was very interesting. Unlike many pawn shops, the owner was an honest man just trying to make a living. I remember one episode where a woman brought in, I believe, a coin. She asked just a little for it – maybe $100 for this old coin. The owner checked, and found out that this coin was worth $10,000 – and he told her about it. He offered her $8000 for the coin because, as he said, he needed to make a living. She refused – and wanted $10,000. He refused. Greed. It is in the heart of so many.

I applauded that pawn shop owner, and was ashamed of the greedy woman. The person who makes a living by lying and undervaluing the goods of others – well, one day they will pay the price. Jesus taught us:

Matthew 12:35-37 (NKJV) A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. [36] “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. [37] “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Proverbs 20:17 (KJV)Bread of deceit [is] sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

You may enjoy getting something by deceit for a moment, but in time you will find that what you are chewing on is gravel. To speak lies, to malign others, to slander – it may seem sweet as you are doing it. But later you will hurt yourself more than you hurt the one you were maligning. Which brings us to this proverb:

The tongue can bless or curse. The tongue driven by the Wisdom and Word of God will always bless – but the tongue driven by the flesh will always demean or curse.

Proverbs 20:15 (KJV) There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

People value gold and rubies, but to God the most precious thing is spoken truth. “The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools” (Proverbs 15:7). The person who guards what they say and who speaks as guided by the Word of God is a cherished person. King David had a counselor called Ahithophel. The Bible says of this man:

2 Samuel 16:23 (ESV) … the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God

Study the Word of God so that it permeates your soul. Read and absorb it, meditate on His Word, until no matter what the culture throws at you, you will heed through the lens of the Scripture. Speak life. Speak to edify, to draw others to Christ.

Proverbs 20:19 (KJV) He that goeth about as a TALEBEARER revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.

The person who flatters you will more than likely stab you in the back when talking with others. I remember one Andy Griffith episode when an undercover news reporter came to Mayberry to try and get the Sheriff fired. She pretended she was a young college student and, through flattery, got Barney to say some bad things about Andy. Of course, he didn’t get fired. But it illustrated how the flatterer seeks to harm a good person.

Those who are “TALEBEARERS” or gossips often get only part of the story right. God told Israel:

Leviticus 19:16 (NKJV) You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.

The gossip loves to talk negatively about others, for it elevates their sense of worth. Often the gossip is the lazy person who will not do as God has called them to do. Paul talked about young widows who, rather than seeking marriage, they …

1 Timothy 5:13 (ESV) … learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.

When people stop using their hands and working, they use their lips to destroy. What we all need to do is to find what God has called us to do, and to do it with our whole hearts. Stay busy for Jesus while you can, for eternity is coming.

May God the Holy Spirit draw you to His side this very day.