Instead of Many Words - Group Discussion Proverbs 6-9

The children’s Sunday school department was undertaking a study of the Book of Proverbs. To illustrate what proverbs are, Miss Daisy collected the first phrase of a bunch of traditional ones and asked the children to creatively complete them. Here are some results:

Better to be safe than…punch a fifth-grader.

Strike while the…bug is close.

Don’t bite the hand that…looks dirty.

The pen is mightier than the…pigs.

A penny saved…is not very much.

Children should be seen and not…spanked or grounded.

Proverbs are generalizations about life. There are SOME great promises found in the Book of Proverbs but that’s not the point of the book. The point of the book is to provide practical wisdom for daily living. This book can provide guideposts of wisdom as we navigate the day to day issues of life.

Your first assignment was to read chapters 1-5. Let’s recap what we learned in the first 5 chapters.

Chapter 1 tells us that the theme of the book will be wisdom which is the ability to use knowledge in the right way. in the opening verses we find our that the

“fear of the Lord” is the beginning of knowledge. We find this statement 11 times in proverbs.

What is the fear of the Lord?

To recognize God’s character and respond by revering, trusting, worshiping, obeying, and serving Him.

The foundation for all wisdom and knowledge is how we respond to God.

Chapter 2 tells us that the benefit of wisdom comes in knowing the Lord Jesus as our Savior.

We are told what to do with this wisdom we find in Christ: Receive it, hide it in the heart, turn the heart toward it, apply it to our lives, cry out to God for wisdom, and search the Word to find God’s will.

Chapter 3 tells us that God will direct our paths. He directs us only when we listen to the Word, Obey the Word, Submit to the Word, and Treasure the Word.

Chapter 4 tells us how to STAY on God’s path for our lives. Seek after wisdom, avoid temptation and sin, and Guard your heart.

Chapter 5 is a reminder that the Lord is examining our lives. We would be wise to remember that the Lord cares about how we live because He doesn’t want us to walk down the path of destruction.

That’s a very broad recap from last week. Your assignment from last week was to read through chapters 6-10. I want to pull out some verses to discuss. I don’t think we can cover all 5 chapters but there are a few verses that I feel deserve some in depth study.

There is a tendency in our world to avoid the negative. People just want to hear the good news; they are not interested in the bad.

Who are some of the most well known preachers in America?

Joel Osteen and Rick Warren are very successful because they tell people how to live a better life. They have a positive message. I love listening to them both because they are so encouraging. I have nothing bad to say about their ministries, but I will say that other less popular preachers are important too because they say the things folks don’t always want to hear.

It’s like the difference between hanging out with your cool uncle vs. spending a day with your mom and dad. It’s way more fun to listen to a guy who just wants to have fun and tell you the good stuff.

As a pastor, we have a responsibility to mention the super encouraging ways to live a good life, but we also have a responsibility to bring the wisdom found in the scripture.

Chapter 6 is kind of like taking your medicine. It doesn’t taste good, but you know you need to take it because you’ll be better off for it!

Imagine you had cancerous tumor in your body and your doctor said, “Well, that tumor needs to come out, but surgery is just so negative. Let’s leave it in there for a while and see what it does to you.” You wouldn’t go for that. You would demand that your doctor get negative with you and get that tumor out of your body.

The same is true spiritually. A lot of us are walking around with spiritual cancers in our souls. Those cancers need to be exposed and rooted out so we can live more positive lives for the glory of God. That is what this chapter 6 will lead us to do.

There are three things dealt with in this chapter:

how we handle money

how we discipline ourselves

how we build community

The writer uses negative examples to teach us positive wisdom.

I want to focus on the third portion of the chapter since we have limited time. I feel it’s important for us understand these verses because they expose some sinful attitudes and actions that God hates. If God would declare His hatred for these sins, and He does in verse 16, then we must be sure we hate these sins as well.

We must be sure that these sins are not a part of our lives. Practical application of wisdom.

What feels like a negative message in these verses can have a positive influence on our lives, if we will adopt the changes He has in mind.

Proverbs 6:16–19 NKJV

16 These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.

When we read this verse, there are two words in it that bother us. Those words are “hate” and “abomination”.

How does it feel to know that God “Hates”?

Those words bother us because they are the opposite of how we have been taught to think about God. We are taught that God is love.

1 John 4:16 NLT

16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

That is the clear statement of the Bible, 1 John 4:16. Yet, here we are allowed to see the other side of God’s character.

There would be no need for up if there was not also a down.

There would be no need for in if there was not an out.

There would be no need for good if there was no evil.

There would be no need for Heaven unless there was a Hell.

And, there would be no need for love if there was no hate.

How can a loving God also hate?

We are clearly told that while God is defined by His love; God also has the capacity to hate. God’s hatred of some things arises out of His love for His Own glory and holiness. Even His hatred of sins is an expression of His perfect love.

We should define the word Hate:

How do you define Hate?

Hate—“An emotional attitude toward persons or things which are opposed, detested, despised and with which one wishes to have no contact or relationship”.

Hate is the polar opposite of love. Hate literally means “to exclude from fellowship.” It means that God cannot bear to fellowship with those people who exhibit certain tendencies.

What tendencies? Well, the scripture tells us the things that are an abomination to him. Abomination is a word that refers to something that causes disgust. Something that a person is absolutely against.

What does God hate? What is God opposed too? What does He detest? What will He have absolutely no relationship with?

The scripture list specific things, but all those things have one thing in common. They are SIN.

We need to remember that God is NOT ok with sin. Those who are guilty of these things will experience the wrath and judgement of God.

Psalm 50:22 CEV

22 You have ignored me! So pay close attention or I will tear you apart, and no one can help you.

Numbers 32:23 CEV

23 But if you don’t keep your promise, you will sin against the Lord and be punished.

Galatians 6:7–8 CEV

7 You cannot fool God, so don’t make a fool of yourself! You will harvest what you plant. 8 If you follow your selfish desires, you will harvest destruction, but if you follow the Spirit, you will harvest eternal life.

What are the things listed in Proverbs 6 that God hates? Seems like we should know the things that God hates.

1. A proud look: Haughty eyes deals with pride and God hates pride. The eyes are the windows into pride. The phrase, “That person looks down on me!” That’s the haughty eye and its full of pride. Pride is the original sin that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Man wanted to be like God (notice the pride) more than he wanted to be with God. He looked down on God.

2. A lying tongue: A lying tongue is a reminder that all words count. All words have consequences and that all our words will be judged by God. This is why in Proverbs 18:21 we are warned: life and death are in the power of the tongue. When we lie, we trample on the greatness and dignity that God has placed in all humans.

3. Hands that shed innocent blood: Innocence does not imply sinlessness. But to shed innocent blood is to take the life of one who has done nothing worthy of death. God loves and wants us to protect the innocent.

4. A heart that devises wicked schemes: Throughout Scripture, God reminds us that He alone searches the heart. God knows what we think and he sees the plans and purposes that are conceived in the souls of all people.

5. Feet that are quick to rush into evil: To rush into evil is to demonstrate a great delight and enjoyment of evil and an eagerness to participate in it. God hates the enjoyment of evil. A lot of people like to witness evil and yet they would never think of doing it themselves. God says no.

6. a false witness who pours out lies: This deals with perjury. But when the Proverbs writes about a false witness, the principle is so much deeper than the mere avoidance of lying. This is talking about making right confession. The word confession is a word that literally means to speak truth that is revealed by God.

7. a person who stirs up conflict in the community: The climax of wickedness is the one who purposefully causes division. It is the kind of conflict that is done in secret and done by one who won’t appeal through proper channels and who does not submit to proper authority. It is someone who stirs up conflict for the sole purpose of stirring up conflict.

That’s the list! Do you see any of that in your life? It’s here whether we admit it or not!

Romans 3:23 CEV

23 All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.

What can we learn from these verses?

• First, these are the traits that characterize Satan. If you will take the time to read Isa. 14, you will find that Satan exhibited all these sins and more in his rebellion against God.

Jezebel, the wicked Queen of Israel, also manifested every single one of these sins in her life. If that is true, and it is, then we must do everything in our power to make sure that those things are not found in us!

• Second, God hates these things. They are an abomination to Him. If He hates them, we should hate them also. Not a single one of these things should ever be true of any child of God.

Now, if God hates these things in this passage (and He does!), then it stands to reason he loves just the opposite.

In other words, if God hates haughty eyes that means he loves the eyes of humility.

If God hates a lying tongue what does he love? A tongue of integrity.

If God hates those who shed innocent blood, he loves those who defend the innocent.

If he hates the heart that devises wicked schemes, how much more does he love the one who works towards virtue?

If God hates feet that rush to evil, how much does he love feet that run towards goodness?

If he hates a false witness, he must love a true witness!

If he hates those who sow discord, how much more does he love those who sow unity and peace?

• Third, Jesus Christ died for every one of these sins. He shed His blood to redeem His people from the influence of these things. Why would any saved person who understands the price Jesus Christ paid in the cross allow these sins in his or her life?

If you can do these things with no remorse or sense of a need for repentance, I would say that you could not be saved.

Why? When we do these things, we are manifesting the works of the flesh and not the fruit of the Spirit, Gal. 5:16–25

Galatians 5:16–25 CEV

16 If you are guided by the Spirit, you won’t obey your selfish desires. 17 The Spirit and your desires are enemies of each other. They are always fighting each other and keeping you from doing what you feel you should. 18 But if you obey the Spirit, the Law of Moses has no control over you. 19 People’s desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds. 20 They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are 21 envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God’s kingdom. 22 God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, 23 gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways. 24 And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires. 25 God’s Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit.

How can we continue in these sinful ways when it would go against our confession of faith in Christ?

At the end of the day, the Proverbs writer is asking us to consider: What kind of people are we striving to be? We should strive to be those who practice what God loves!

These verses can bring you down if you see your life apart from Christ.

Matthew 11:28 CEV

28 If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest.

John 3:16 CEV

16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die.

1 John 1:9 CEV

9 But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away.

The take away for chapter 6 is that God can’t abide sin. He sent His Son to redeem us and set us free. Wisdom says to take new steps of faith, repentance into responsibility, opportunity, and unity, for the sake of Christ.

Now chapter 7 deals mostly about sexuality.

Why does our Sexuality Matter to God?

He is way up there, we are way down here. How much difference can our lives make to him?

Our sexuality certainly matters to us, even intuitively. For example, when you are walking down the street, maybe going to the Post Office, and you happen to notice someone out of the corner of your eye, what is it about that person you notice first, without even thinking about it? Don’t you notice whether that person is a man or a woman? And if you cannot tell, don’t you take a second look? Or when you meet someone with a newborn baby, you ask, “Is it a boy or a girl?” Sexual identity matters to us. We know that our manhood or womanhood means something, it is worth something, it says something glorious. Think of all the songs and novels and poems and movies about romance. All of this matters to us, and it matters to God too.

In Proverbs 6:20–7:27 the writer tells his son about this massively significant area of life. The wisdom is addressed to a son but applies equally to women. There are two major sections. In 6:20–35 the father warns us about the consequences of sexual foolishness. In 7:1–27 the father warns us about the strategies of sexual temptation.

We could spend a lot of time talking about this, but to me it reminds me of the purity we find in our relationship with Christ.

The concept of “accepting Jesus” is Biblical (John 1:12), but it is often misunderstood.

Many have “accepted Jesus” in the sense that they have allowed him into their lives, up to a point.

Becoming a Christian is the joining of two into one. It is trust and surrender such that we give ourselves entirely to Christ.

Here is what it means to be a Christian. You become joined to the Lord Jesus Christ, in body and spirit, through his finished work on the cross. He gives himself to you completely by grace, and you give yourself to him completely by faith.

Proverbs 7 talks of adultery in the flesh, but I think of the adultery we have when we aren’t fully commited to Christ.

God is concerned with our sexuality, married or single, because you are married—to Christ. You have been joined by grace to the Lord. You have been brought into union with the most loving Person in the universe. He is giving his love to you with all his passionate heart. He is so close to you, he identifies so intensely with you, the Bible is saying he and you have become one spirit, the way a married man and woman become one flesh.

In chapter 8 is about the greatness of Christ. His relevance to all life. We are being taught about creation.

I want to point out two verses in this awesome chapter:

Proverbs 8:15–16 CEV

15 By my power kings govern, and rulers make laws that are fair. 16 Every honest leader rules with help from me.

Even in the world of human leadership, Christ is the secret to success.

We underrate his abilities and resources when everything is on the line! And for a church, success does not require human rules. Rules do not make people thrive. Success requires wise, seasoned, humble, mature, Christlike leaders.

He is in charge. He calls us to work with Him to accomplish His goals in the kingdom.

I love that He wants us to be on the same page and work at His side. We just need to seek Him.

Proverbs 8:17 NKJV

17 I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.

If we want success in this life and the life to come we need to seek the one who created all life! He wants to be found.

AS WE COME TO PROVERBS 9, we are confronted with a choice. The passage portrays two houses, one on either side of the road. On one side, a house stands open, with an elegant lady named Wisdom inviting us in. On the other side of the road, another house stands open, with a seductive lady named Folly inviting us in. Which way will we turn?

The “right” answer is easy—in theory. But in reality we are running back and forth between these two houses all the time. The right choice is obvious, but we ourselves are complicated.

Romans 7:19–25 CEV

19 Instead of doing what I know is right, I do wrong. 20 And so, if I don’t do what I know is right, I am no longer the one doing these evil things. The sin that lives in me is what does them. 21 The Law has shown me that something in me keeps me from doing what I know is right. 22 With my whole heart I agree with the Law of God. 23 But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do. 24 What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die? 25 Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me. So with my mind I serve the Law of God, although my selfish desires make me serve the law of sin.

When we read this chapter we are reminded that we are being called into wisdom, but we are also being called to wickedness.

We are reminded to make the right choice because it’s the only way to live a good life.

Proverbs 9:10–11 CEV

10 Respect and obey the Lord! This is the beginning of wisdom. To have understanding, you must know the Holy God. 11 I am Wisdom. If you follow me, you will live a long time.

This chapter is a clear reminder that our eternal destiny will rest on the choice you make in Christ. Thankfully God is a God of grace. He forgives our sins and welcomes us to His family.

James 4:14 NKJV

14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

James tells us that our life is nothing more than a mere vapor. It is here for a time and then it is gone! We only receive on life, so we need to spend it wisely, doing the will of the Lord and preparing ourselves to meet Him when this life is over.

Even as you sit here tonight, the vapor of your life is dissipating into the thin air of eternity.

If you were honest, would you say, “I am living a life based on the word and will of God! I walk in the fear of the Lord and I serve Him with all my heart.”?

Or, would you have to admit, “I go my own way, do my own thing and never think about what God wants from my life.”?

Those are the two extremes! I suspect that most of us are somewhere in the middle of the two. If this message is anything, it is a challenge to begin the process of moving your life closer to the way God wants you to live it.