3 Wise Monkeys (Edited)

Sermon

3 Wise Monkeys

Good Morning, Welcome to Harvest!

My Name is Junior and I’m the Asst. Pastor of Discipleship here at harvest.

*Bibles & bulletins available

*Harvest Kids Available.

We are back into our series in the book of Proverbs called “get smart”; we hope that you’ve been getting smarter and wiser through those last four topics that we covered. Because Pastor Al mentioned in the opening message that

Knowledge – Is the accumulation of information.

Understanding – Is the interpretation of information.

Wisdom – Is the application of information.

In the last few weeks the speakers before addressed the themes: Wisdom, Living sexually pure, the righteous vs. the wicked, and last week we covered relationships.

The theme I’m covering today is “vices”.

And as you can see the topic given to my message today is “the 3 wise monkeys”.

Now you’re asking, what’s the correlation here junior? I thought we were coming to church to hear from God! What’s all this monkey business?

A closer look at the word vice helps us to understand that it is the same word in the OT and NT translated Evil or wicked.

The word is found in NKJV of the bible in “ For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.

If you look in your bibles the ESV translation, the same passage reads:

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

So it’s the same word used there for evil.

The 3 wise monkeys are a Japanese pictorial maxim/saying (a general truth) showing the principle “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”. The three monkeys are Mizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil; Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil; and Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil.

It is believed that the intent of the saying was to convey 3 general principles: "Look not at what is inappropriate; listen not to what is inappropriate; speak not what is inappropriate; make no movement which is inappropriate".

In other words stay away from what is evil!

Interesting enough, most of us use one or more of these monkey characters on our phones everyday for one reason or another!

3 Monkeys emoji

Recognize these? This Japanese maxim is where the concept came from for your emojies

However I don’t think we usually use them for their original intent.

But the idea, at least at the outset, were to communicate that we should maintain an upright moral standard.

Stay away from evil!

The Holy Spirit through the book of proverbs communicates this same principle over and over again:

My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.

Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Proverbs has much to say about shunning evil, and we would do well to take heed.

So here’s the main idea; Let’s say it in a sentence:

As a Christian the general pattern of my life should be a constant turning away from evil acts, to righteous living.

Let’s us pray...

Today I’m just gonna zero in on a specific passage

The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life.

Here are 3 principles we derive from this verse:

Point number 1 on your outline

1. Purify my heart, because evil conduct comes from evil hearts vs. 17a

One of the most common characteristics in the book of proverbs is its use of parallelisms; biblical Parallelism is placing truths side-by-side so that the second statement expands, completes, defines, and emphasizes the first statement.

So here we see these two phrases saying the same thing, but the nuance in the second phrase expands the idea of the first. But both lines are calling for us to avoid evil and by extension its consequence.

Look at our verse; it says “the highway of the upright turns aside from evil”. That word highway means “a course of conduct, our lifestyle”, how you generally behave, it’s not a rare, far and in between type of action, it’s an every year, every other month, weekly, a daily course of conduct.

Now we tend to think of this backwards, we tend to think that having right behavior makes us upright, makes us Christian, we think “I go to church so therefore I’m a Christian”, I got baptized so therefore I’m a Christian”, but that’s not what this passage nor the rest of scripture teaches.

Anyone who is a Christian knows that he is not a Christian because of his own work! What makes a person a Christian is not church attendance! It’s not serving in a ministry! It is not small group participation! It’s not because I give 10% or more of my money to the church!

These things are indeed good don’t get me wrong. But if these are your thoughts, you’ve gotten it all wrong! Because the bible says in

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

So what makes a person a Christian?

The moment you genuinely repent of your sins and place all your trust, all your faith in the finished work of Christ you become a Christian.

The upright in this passage is the Christian, and out of that saving relationship with Jesus Christ he turns aside from evil, out of this relationship with Jesus comes the fruit of good behavior.

So it’s not I’m a Christian because I behave well, it’s the other way around; I behave well because I’m a Christian.

The genuine desire of a Christian is; Lord purify my heart! Make me clean! Turn me away from evil.

So here is the question;

If the fruit of my Christianity is good works, good behavior, am I still a Christian when I don’t behave well?

Pastor James Mac Donald has a book called “I want to change” in his preface he says, “let me save you some time yow”,

“This is a book to help people actually change. This is not for people who want to debate different strategies for change. It is not a book to argue about how to do it best and why the “other guys” are doing it wrong.”

“This is a book about you changing, not others. It’s about personal transformation. It’s not intended to give you ammunition against the character flaws of those around you.”

“This book is about change according to God’s Word, the Bible, not about personal reformation.”

I like that! Because at the end of the day, Christians live with this daily desire “ I want to change” I want to change” I want to change”.

I don’t just want to go to church and check the attendance sheet!

I don’t want a pat on the back because I jumped through some religious hoop!

I want to be different! I want to change.

I’ve been hooked on porn for so long!

I’ve been sleeping with my girlfriend, I’ve not been generous with what God has blessed me with, I’ve been gossiping about others.

I want to change. My heart cry is the same as David’s Lord purify my heart!

Write these down...

Three genuine desires of a Christian:

1. I want to change

- This was the heart of David in psalm 51:10 when he said, “Create in me a clean heart”

2. I want to change God’s way -

“Have mercy on me O God, according to your steadfast love according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions”; he asked that the mercy and blotting out of sins be done in God’s way.

3. I want to change urgently

- Repentance is of such a nature that when a Christian sees his evil actions, he immediately confesses it, and forsakes it.

Three genuine desires of a Christian, it not 1 and 2, it’s a composite of all three.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers of all time says this:

The nearer a man lives to God, the more intensely has he to mourn over his own evil heart." -Charles Spurgeon

The desire and continual prayer of every heart that loves Jesus is: “purify my heart oh Lord”, because evil conduct comes from evil hearts.

Principle no.2 from our passage:

2. Guard my way, because evil conduct constructs evil paths vs. 17b

The second section of our text says, “Whoever guards his way preserves his life”

This thought here expands upon the previous one; turning aside from evil denotes a change of direction, however guarding our way shows an action of standing in defense of something, protecting our conduct.

Because here’s the thing; we are not always going to be in a position to run the other way, sometimes we need to stand and face evil head on.

The word guard here in the Hebrew means to “to maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger”

So what are we maintaining? Our walk with Christ! It’s amazing how we can burglar-proof our homes, put in security systems in our cars, take out a life insurance policy, exercise regularly to maintain healthy bodies, paying thousands of dollars for education, but fail to invest that same time, money, and effort in guarding our relationship with Christ.

Some of us never miss a meal but we can go days, or even weeks without feeding our souls!

Let me remind you, our relationship with Jesus Christ is strengthened by a continual nourishment on God’s word, fervent dependence on God through prayer, and consistent Christ-honoring fellowship with other believers.

What does the psalmist say?

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

When we feast on the word of God we grow in strength, we set up fences to protect us from evil.

Illustration #1 my transformation through God’s word.

Guard your way because evil conduct constructs evil paths

Illustration #2 Our Church’s role in our guarding our way

3. Evil paths lead to evil destinations, so preserve your life vs. 17b

A necessary result of the man who turns from evil and guards his way leads to the preservation of his life. But this also means the opposite is true; if you don’t do these things, practice these principles, the result is hell, your life won’t be preserved!

The verse says it “whoever guards his way preserves his life”

The thing you need to understand here is that there isn’t a neutral ground, it’s not “if I don’t guard my way, everything will work itself out” no! Not guarding your way is a death warrant, a bounty on your head!

It’s basically saying I don’t care where I end up!

Christianity is not Let go and let God, you can’t find that idea anywhere in the bible unless you insert it, Christianity is a daily taking up of your cross, dying to self, dying to my fleshly desires, and growing more and more into Christlikeness.

This is the Idea of

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

God is at work in you, every righteous act that you do is a product of the Holy Spirit in you, the more you yield yourself to the Holy Spirit the more you do what God wants.

But this is opposite is true as well, the more you yield yourself to sin, the more sin takes over your life, until you become unrecognizable.

I think the misconception for us with sin, is that, we think sin is dangerous because of the acts of sin, but sins danger is not primarily in the act but in its imprisoning nature.

The more you do it, the more you don’t want to stop doing it. It’s paralyzing!

This was what Paul was talking about in . Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

I’m often saddened by the actions of some Christians:

It pains me because we don’t seem to remember what it cost Jesus when he died for the sins that we presently enjoy.

It pains me because you seem so ignorant about what his death bought for you.

It pains be because your blind to the world of joy that comes from pursuing a holy life.

It’s sad because you don’t seem to be aware that sin has no power over you, that you are free from sins power!

It’s sad because if you continue down this path, it’s not that you were saved and you lost your salvation, it’s that your habitual sinful life is evidence that the Holy Spirit does not live in you, that you were never saved, just another tare in the midst of the wheat.

So how do we preserve our life?

3 practices for life preservation:

1. Practice Discernment

the simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.

- Discernment is the sound judgment, which makes possible the distinguishing of good from evil, and the recognition of God’s right ways for his people. It is necessary for the understanding of spiritual realities and, on a practical level, for right government and the avoidance of life’s pitfalls. This was what Solomon prayed for in . So you need to develop an attitude of holding up everything in contrast the teachings of scripture.

2. Practice Contentment

The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite, but the belly of the wicked suffers want.

Contentment is Internal satisfaction, which does not demand changes in external circumstances. Practice reliance God.

3. Practice temperance

fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.

Self-control/Temperance is physical and emotional self-mastery, particularly in situations of intense provocation or temptation.

So my question to you is; are you getting wiser or more foolish? What is evidence of that?

If you are a Christian the general pattern of your life will be a constant turning away from evil, to righteous living.

1. Purify my heart, because evil conduct comes from evil hearts vs. 17a

2. Guard my way, because evil conduct constructs evil paths vs. 17b

3. Evil paths lead to evil destinations, so preserve your life vs. 17b