Category Archives: Proverbs

Blessed or Cursed Of God

Those who are “righteous”, that is, those saved by faith in Jesus, born again children of God, are generally blessed if life. However those who follow their own path, who reject the Word of God in order to be their own gods, in time these people are cursed.

Proverbs 10:6 (KJV) Blessings are upon the head of the just…

God told Israel before they went into the Promised Land,

Slide 2

Deuteronomy 28:1-2 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

The way to blessing is to heed the Word of God, and to DO what He has said. In the ancient world, blessings were always passed on from father to sons by placing his hand upon the head of the child. As Jacob – now called Israel – prepared to die, he called for his sons. Joseph came, bringing his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. The Bible says: Continue reading

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Mountaintop of God

When God gave His Law to Israel through Moses, why did He give it from a mountaintop and not from a valley? Why didn’t God give His Law next to a beautiful stream? Why not in a green pasture? Why on a mountaintop? Pastor Russell H. Conwell wrote in his sermon “Above The Snake Line”:

“In one of his letters the great poet, William Cullen Bryant, who so loved the Berkshire hills {of Massachusetts}, mentioned the fact that when the hills were first occupied by settlers, they found that down in the valleys were very dangerous serpents. The rattlesnake was there, the poisonous adder was there, the copperhead was there. In order to escape these serpents, they built their residences upon the hills. Ancient tradition related that there was a “snake line” above which no poisonous snake ever crept. If a person builded above an elevation of about twelve hundred feet above the sea, no poisonous serpents ever bit his children, or destroyed his property, or endangered his life. But if he built in the valley, he was subject to these deathly dangers. In the old times when the country was settled, every person who approached was advised to build his house “above the snake line.” Above the snake line the early settlers dwelt—those pioneer New Englanders whose emigrants formed the foundation of the middle and western states. The farms were small, the ground stony and difficult to clear for agriculture. The mountains were covered with the primitive forest. The valley soil was richer and more easily worked, but those wise and pious Pilgrim fathers endeavored to build their homes safely “above the snake line.” ”

God offered His Word to Moses “above the snake line”. In order to receive… Continue reading

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

God’s Wisdom Not Man’s Wisdom

Proverbs 8:1-7 Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? 2 She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. 3 She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. 4 Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. 5 O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. 6 Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. 7 For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

To those who say “I didn’t know”, God says “You did know, but refused to listen”.

There will be many who stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment who will say, “I didn’t know”. In fact, I have heard people say “What about the people who never heard the Gospel, never heard the Word of God, never heard of the Old Rugged Cross? Will they get a free pass into Heaven because they haven’t heard?”

Short answer: NO!

Longer answer: God Himself has made clear and plain what He expects. No one leaves this life saying “I never knew”. Christians will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ (Romans 14:20; 2 Corinthians 5:10) where our works for Jesus that we did in this life will be judged. I am sure there of some of you who will say, … Continue reading

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

God’s Wisdom and Understanding vs The Strange Woman

In Proverbs Chapter 7 God contrasts two women, one called Wisdom who is to be your sister and her kinswoman Understanding, to one unnamed STRANGE woman who wants to take advantage of you. The word translated “STRANGE” is the Hebrew zûwr {pronounced zoor} which is used in Scripture for strangers, foreigners, enemies, profane people. The “STRANGE WOMAN” uses her words to “FLATTER” you. This is the Hebrew châlaq {pronounced khaw-lak’}, which means “to separate, to draw away, to divide from what God wants for you”. Let’s look first at … Continue reading

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Seven Sins God Hates

Sin is – properly defined – “a work of the flesh and of self satisfaction, separated from the glory of God”. The Apostle Paul told us that when we walked apart from God that we would default to “the works of the flesh” or sin:

Galatians 5:19-21 (ESV) Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

This list contains 15 types of sin, “works of the flesh” that destroy the Kingdom of God. This list is not extensive. We are told in … Continue reading

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Three Great Truths

As we come to Proverbs chapter 6, Solomon introduces us to several truths that a Wise King led by God wants us to know. John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible notes:

“In this chapter the wise man dissuades from rash suretyship; exposes the sin of idleness; describes a wicked man; makes mention of seven things hateful to God; exhorts to attend to parental instructions and precepts, and cautions against adultery.”

We’ll look at the first three of these truths tonight. We’ll start with: … Continue reading

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Guard Your Heart

Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues (tôwtsâʼâh, pronounced to-tsaw-aw’, the SOURCE) of life.

The most pushed theme on television today is “Follow your heart”. What is interesting is that this is not what God tells us, but what the devil tells us. God tells us to “Guard your heart”.

Humans Are Three Parted… Continue reading

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Good Fathers Teach The Word Of God

Proverbs 4:1-4 HEAR, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. 2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. 3 For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. 4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

Let’s break this down.

Proverbs 4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

The father as the head of the family teaches his children to love God’s Word. In a section of scripture the Jews call “The Shema” or “The Hearing”, God tells His people:… Continue reading

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Prospecting For Wisdom In God’s Word

Proverbs 3:13-18 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. 14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. 16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

Opening: In Sri Lanka a man had hired a well dug in his back yard. While workmen were digging – looking for water – they found a star sapphire cluster. Since it was on his property, it belonged to him. He had it appraised through a gem trader and found out the 2.5 million carat sapphire is worth up to $100 million. The owner named it the “Serendipity Sapphire”. If you found it in your back yard, it wouldn’t look like anything at all to you. You might have rolled it out to the trash pickup. You’d have been wrong!

Gold is much like this sapphire. The inexperienced may find gold, but never know it’s gold, because it looks like dirty quartz until its refined. What looks like gold when you find it is Iron Pyrite, Chalcopyrite or Fool’s Gold. Gold, which isn’t golden until it’s processed, is worth $2336.30 an ounce as of April 23, 2024. Fool’s Gold is worth .55 cents per ounce.

The miner is a person who has studied gold and it’s value. The miner knows how to prospect for gold, and how to ignore the false. Had the man who discovered the Serendipity Sapphire not been acquainted with gemstones, he would have tossed out this Guinness Book of World Records (largest star sapphire cluster ever found) stone.

As valuable as the Serendipity Sapphire is, there is something much greater in value. It is WISDOM…. Continue reading

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Your Best Life Is In God

There is an easy way to determine if something is false and not from God, or if it is true and from God. Ask yourself, “Does it elevate GOD, or elevate MYSELF, my FLESH?” If the “truth” elevates God, it is from God. If it elevates US, it is from Satan.

Follow Your HEART?

For instance, people say “Follow your HEART. Your HEART will always be right?” Is that true? Let’s put that on the Scripture Scales and weigh it:

Proverbs 3:1-2 My son, forget not My law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

God does not say “Follow your Heart”. In fact, this is what brought sin into the world in the first place. God gave Adam a very clear set of instructions, and a warning against doing what his heart told him to do. Instead of listening to God, Adam listened to his heart. He let his flesh control him, instead of the Word of God. What happened? Paradise was lost.

God said:

“let thine heart keep my commandments”.

Word Study: The word “let” or allow is not in the original text. The word “keep” is the Hebrew nāṣar (pronounced naw-tsar’) which means “to OBSERVE, to PRESERVE as presented, to GUARD from evil, to WATCH CAREFULLY, to DRAW CLOSE TO so as to obey”. We are not to revel or elevate the flesh, our own desires, but are to glorify God our Creator by heeding at doing what He said. We are not to “let” our hearts do God’s Word – that is a poor translation. We are to “KEEP” our hearts focused on God’s Word. We are to put a leash on our hearts, and say to ourselves “What has GOD said and GOD ordered. We will follow GOD regardless as to where our hearts want us to go”. … Continue reading

Posted in Proverbs, Sermons Preached | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment