Words to Die By

ME: Intro - Scrooge’s Greed

In his play, A Christmas Carol,

Charles Dickens tells the story of a wealthy banker named Ebenezer Scrooge,

Who did not celebrate Christmas because of how much it cost him.

I am certain most all of you are familiar with one of the many renditions that have been made over the years.

Scrooge pushed away all who loved him over his pursuit for money,

He refused to give any money to others,

And he begrudgingly gave his only employee Christmas day off.

The story is really a parable on greed.

Scrooge’s greed was slowly and unknowingly destroying his life,

Just like it did his partner, Marley’s life.

Marley visits Scrooge from the afterlife,

Carrying the chains he acquired for his greed,

Warning Scrooge of three visitors who would come to reveal to Scrooge the consequences of his greed.

By the end of his visitors,

Scrooge discovered the all-too-common outcome of greed is his own destruction.

This story is one of many examples of this reality.

Greed fools you to death.

And sadly,

We in the western part of the world,

Are living in a culture of greed.

Many are ruined by the pursuit happiness,

Believing happiness is money or stuff.

I heard one comedian joke,

“They say money can’t by happiness, but I have never seen someone frowning on a jet ski.”

I had 98.1 hawk on not too long ago,

And the song, Buy Me a Boat, came on.

The chorus sang;

“I know everybody says money can’t buy happiness,

But it could buy me a boat,

It could buy me a truck to pull it...

Yeah, and I know they say, money can’t buy everything.

Well, maybe so,

But it could buy me a boat.”

You see,

Our culture makes light of the destructiveness of greed.

The problem is that we think this is a problem for the people who have more than us.

That is a rich person problem,

And I ain’t rich!

We all see ourselves as the standard of acceptable.

Our pursuit for money and things is normal and healthy.

And that is because we are blind to our own greed.

Greed, like we see with Scrooge,

Is a subtle and sneaky assassin.

We are all susceptible to being destroyed by the desire to accumulate more.

I have never had anyone reach out to me and say,

“Josh, my greed for money or stuff is destroying my life.”

It is not until the consequences of greed cause the destruction that we become aware of our greed problem.

Because Greed fools us to death,

We are too foolish to see the trap that we set for ourselves because of our greed.

This morning we come to Prov. 1:8-19,

Where Solomon warns his son of sinners enticing him toward greedy gain.

The words of Proverbs are Words to Live By,

But the words of these sinners are Words to Die By.

So, our outline this morning begins with...

The Pronouncement (vs. 8-9)

The Parable (vs. 10-16)

The Prey (vs. 17-19)

Greed fools you to death.

We ended last week with the key to wisdom in Prov. 1:7, which says,

Proverbs 1:7 ESV

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

These are the two paths of Proverbs,

The path of knowledge or wisdom,

And the path of folly.

WE: The Pronouncement (vs. 8-9)

The path of wisdom does not have the flashy appeal the path of folly does.

The path of wisdom does not offer material prizes,

But it does offer hard-earned beauty and goodness.

While the path of folly entices with glamour,

But ends with a painful sting.

Immediately after the prologue and the key to wisdom in vs. 7,

The first thing Solomon addresses is a warning against the enticement of greed.

This warning begins in vs. 8-9 with The pronouncement.

Proverbs 1:8–9 ESV

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

Ancient Near Eastern instruction would begin with a pronouncement for attention.

That is the way Solomon begins his instruction in our text this morning.

Hear, my son, he says.

He wants our attention.

He wants to make sure we focus and comprehend what he is about to say.

He is telling us to listen to the instruction of your father,

And to not reject the teaching of your mother.

Do not neglect the teaching of your parents, he says.

This command is repeated throughout Proverbs.

This teaching is the Hebrew word, torah.

Solomon is saying that wisdom’s instruction is different from the law,

But it is no less authoritative than the law.

As a parent teaching a son,

Solomon is implying an authoritative relationship,

Where the person in authority is passing down moral guidelines.

It is something that both parents participate in.

Not only that,

It is something both parents are responsible for,

Teaching their children to have a knowledge of good and evil,

Instructing them in the way the world works according to God’s design.

Parents, you can not contract out this responsibility to teachers, coaches, or children’s ministry workers.

This is your job,

To teach your children God’s Word.

In order to teach them how life works according to God’s design,

You must learn God’s Word for yourself.

Why is it so important for parents to teach and children to listen?

Because the instruction from parents are garland and pendants.

These metaphors portray how wisdom adorns one’s life with beauty.

These items are symbolic of honor, guidance, and protection.

The Pronouncement is to heed these teachings,

And they will grant you a good life.

GOD: The Parable (vs. 10-16)

After the pronouncement,

Solomon turns to a specific lesson he wants his son to learn.

This lesson is The Parable, recorded in vs. 10-16.

Proverbs 1:10–16 ESV

My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”— my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths, for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

The Parable is written in a structure that is similar to ancient formal education.

He begins with two conditional “if” statements,

Defining situations to which wisdom applies.

After defining the situations where wisdom applies,

He gives a command in vs. 15,

Which is then supported with the reasons in the verses that follow.

The first “if” statement is related to the enticement of sinners.

He says do not let sinners persuade you.

Do not cooperate with the enticements of sinners.

The second “if” statement is related to a murderous ambush of an innocent person,

Just for fun!

Literally for no reason whatsoever!

These sinners invite us to join in on their murderous ambush.

The Parable is essentially about a gang who is inviting you to join them in killing someone to take their money.

Solomon is pleading with his son not to be enticed by their invitation.

This gang lifestyle is an extreme example of this.

But there are similar and more subtle forms of peer pressure.

For example,

Halos oranges did an ad campaign that displays this in a comical way,

Check them out.

*Insert Halos “Good Choice, Kid” ads here.

When considering these examples,

Or someone joining a gang,

It is easy to think that you would not be tempted.

But the enticements Solomon is warning of are more appealing than you may first think.

The initial offer seems attractive.

It is an offer of wealth which appeals to your greed.

It is a tempting path,

Because it is paved with the exciting possibility of power.

But in addition to that,

The invitation feels like an appeal to belong,

To be accepted as one of them.

This pressure is extremely dangerous.

And Solomon is concerned about this pressure,

Because, he says, accepting this invitation leads to death.

The enticement of sinners are words to die by.

We know this based on the reference to Sheol in vs. 12.

This is the first of many references to Sheol in Proverbs.

Sheol is the poetic title given to the realm of the dead.

Often it is personified in frightening ways.

For example,

Here it is saying that Sheol swallows its victims alive.

Job refers to it as the realm where corruption is its father,

And a land of no return.

The Psalms describe it as a place of silence and darkness.

Later in Prov. 9:18, it is described as the grave.

It is not necessarily the same eternal torment that hell is described as,

But it does make it clear that this is the place where fools go who have lost the possibility for a relationship with the living God.

In Proverbs life does not speak to our mere existence,

Rather, it characterizes a true relationship that conforms to God’s created order.

Therefore, death is not necessarily a reference to the end of physical life,

Rather, it refers to an irreversible descent in immorality and disorder.

The prophet Isaiah uses Sheol to prophesy about the realm of the dead.

It portrays the residents as these shadowy figures who have descended into the lower regions.

It is a poetic illustration of the underworld more than it is a theological discussion of the afterlife.

The Pit in the second part of vs. 12 is understood as the opening to the grave.

But both Sheol and the Pit symbolize death.

They portray the destiny of the wicked,

The destination of those who join the sinners on their path of foolishness.

Our problem is that we fail to live out Solomon’s warning.

We have all walked this foolish path one time or another.

We are tempted to bypass this text and say,

Well, I have never been tempted to join a gang,

Or to kill and rob someone,

So, this passage does not apply to me.

Just because you have not been tempted in these specific ways does not absolve you of any guilt.

This is a parable,

And what is at the heart of this parable’s lesson?

Vs. 13-14 teach us that it is giving into peer pressure for greed gain.

It is doing something wrong to be accepted.

It is wanting to overcome loneliness by finding relationships is the wrong places.

It is using or manipulating people to get what you want.

It is lying or cheating to make a profit.

It is cheating on your taxes because the Government steals from you anyway.

It is sneaking money out of your parents wallet,

Your husbands wallet,

Or your wife’s purse,

Without them knowing.

It is using company funds to pay for lunch or something you want.

Why?

Because the invitation in Prov. 1:13-14 says;

Proverbs 1:13–14 ESV

we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”—

Planning to find precious goods is only thinking of value and wealth in this world.

It is greedy for an abundance of material possessions and resources.

Now, Proverbs does not forbid wealth,

In fact, it does not discourage wealth either.

Lord willing, we will talk about that on a later date in Proverbs.

But the point Solomon is making here is that it is wicked to use evil means to acquire wealth.

It reveals a heart that is motivated by greed.

A greedy heart has wants,

When wants go unmet,

They become needs,

When a need goes unmet,

You murder to get what your greedy heart wants.

This is the progression of the parable.

James outlines this progression in James 4:1-2

James 4:1–2 ESV

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

You see,

This means the reason you snap or blow up on people,

Is because you do not have something that you want.

This is our problem.

None of us can say that we have never desired things this way.

We cannot try to make ourselves feel better by saying,

Well at least I have never acted on that desire.

James and Solomon are both saying,

The motivation is already there in your heart,

If the opportunity to do it with no consequence presented itself,

You likely would do it.

This problem is in all of us,

We must be humbled by its presence.

We see this natural inclination displayed in children.

We don’t teach one child to hit their sibling,

Or to scream at the top of their lungs to get something they want.

That is part of our sinful nature.

We see something we want,

We do what we have to do to get it.

That may include violence,

It may include a verbal beating,

It may be relentless pressure,

It could be name calling,

Or threats,

It can manifest itself in temper tantrums,

Or envy,

Or slander,

Whatever it takes to get what we want.

Whatever it takes to be wealthy.

The sad irony of it all is that God wants us to be wealthy.

But ultimate wealth is not money or stuff or precious goods,

Ultimate wealth is wisdom!

The invitation in vs. 14 sounds like an invitation to share in wealth.

But what they do not realize,

Is that they are inviting you to share in their destiny of destruction.

Once again,

We see the two paths in Proverbs.

The path of wisdom which leads to life,

Or the path of folly which leads to death.

So, after the extended “if” statements in vs. 10-14,

Solomon again addresses his son in vs. 15 to reinforce his command that follows.

The command is to essentially avoid these evil, foolish, and greedy people.

Do not travel down that path of destruction with them.

In fact, do not even set a foot on their path!

Withdraw from them!

The lifestyle of a person indicates their destiny.

So, you should not be tempted to even try out a wicked lifestyle,

For that leads you down the path of wickedness.

As a good teacher, Solomon explains the reason for his command in vs. 16.

He does not just say,

Because I said so.

He says, do not follow this gang because the feet of these greedy fools run toward evil.

They intend to cause harm,

They are in a hurry to shed blood.

Paul quotes this vs. in Rom. 3:15.

YOU: The Prey (vs. 17-19)

At first glance,

It seems like Solomon is talking about the gang being in a hurry to shed the blood of their innocent victim.

Vs. 17-19 show that it is not only the innocent whose blood is shed,

But their greed makes them The Prey.

Proverbs 1:17–19 ESV

For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird, but these men lie in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.

Solomon uses an illustration in vs. 17 to strengthen the reason for his counsel.

The saying is that it is pointless to spread a net when a bird is aware of the net.

The idea is that even a dumb bird has enough sense to avoid a trap once it sees it.

So, Solomon is saying,

Birds are smarter than this gang,

These people lack the sense to avoid the trap of their own greed,

No, they march right into it!

So, you now have been warned about the temptation of greed.

He says you have been informed about the destruction of this foolishness.

Therefore, if you fail to heed his warning,

Then you too are no smarter than a bird.

You have been told that a wicked lifestyle is self-destructive,

But if you continue living in wickedness,

Then you have less sense than a bird-brain!

Do not be foolish,

Understand that this path ends badly,

Being greedy will wreck your life!

Greed fools you to death!

This is the wisdom principle from our passage,

Getting money or stuff the wrong way will destroy you.

Using people, abusing people, cheating people,

Will end poorly for you.

This ravenous appetite for money or stuff will never deliver what it promises.

Greed will fool you to death.

This is the point Solomon makes to bring everything together in vs. 19.

Everyone who is greedy for unjust gain are fools,

Plain and simple.

They acquire wealth or possessions by violent means.

And they invite others to join them.

The problem of greed is that it takes your life.

It is self-destructive.

The loss of life for the greedy is an observable consequence of our world for many.

Their path is the path of destruction.

It is the idea Jesus speaks of when He asks,

What good it does to gain the whole world,

If it costs us our soul.

Yet, at the same time,

This passage does raise a potential problem for us.

Because, as they say,

It is a dog eat dog world out there,

So, many of you have likely been robbed, or cheated, or used,

And the person who did it got away with it.

There are almost certainly wealthy business people out there who have accumulated their wealth through unethical practices.

People who lie, cheat, and steal, and they never got what was coming to them.

Or perhaps you have been that person and you have gotten away with it yourself.

Or on the flip side,

You said no to a bribe,

You refused to lie, cheat or steal,

You handle your business with integrity,

And as a result you suffered a greater loss.

You missed out on a chance for more wealth.

Experience seems to be contradicting our text.

How can some cheat and never face consequences?

While other are honest and it costs them dearly?

How are we to understand this passage?

Is this true?

On one hand,

We could give the common answer that proverbs are general observations,

So there are some exceptions to a proverb,

But those are exceptions, not the rule.

In other words,

Do not take this text to be a promise,

But rather understand that it is saying this is how things should work out most of the time.

I understand where people are coming from when they say this about Proverbs,

But I would say that is a partial understanding of Proverbs.

I would contend that we should understand that Proverbs are promises,

And Proverbs will always come true.

You see,

They seem to generally come true in the here and now,

But they will always come true in eternity.

In other words,

Though they are generally true in this life,

They are absolutely true in eternal life.

In time, everything Proverbs says will come true,

Even if it is not in this life.

Why?

Because wisdom is God’s created order.

This means greed will destroy you,

Sometimes in this world,

But always in the end.

Unethical business practices can be exposed in this world,

And result in imprisonment.

Stealing from your job can get you fired,

Cheating on your taxes could lead to being audited.

Your greed may run your family to the ground,

You may be blind to the toll it takes on them for years,

But eventually, one way or another, you will be made aware.

At the same time,

None of these things may ever be exposed in this life,

But they will be on judgment day.

So, perhaps you do feel a tinge of conviction or discomfort from your greed,

If so, please lean into that feeling.

Because that feeling is but a tiny sample of the ultimate judgment that comes for your greed.

This cannot be overstated,

The biggest problem is not the money or things in and of themselves.

The gain Solomon talks about in vs. 19 is a neutral term.

Gain can be good or bad,

Depending on how it is acquired,

And how it is used.

If money and things are gained by a good work ethic and integrity,

And it is used generously toward God’s Kingdom,

Praise God!

That is a righteous gain!

But using unjust means to gain wealth is sinful.

Scripture condemns this,

Proverbs warns about the destructive consequences of this.

Despite this truth,

We all are foolishly greedy for unjust gain.

We all just find different ways to justify it.

My company doesn’t need this as much as I do,

I may seem like a workaholic but I need to provide for my family,

It is my money, the government can’t tell me what to do with it.

Do not follow this path,

This American Dream is more of a nightmare.

Greed will fool you to death.

Casting Crowns has a song titled American Dream,

About a man whose greed led him to relentlessly chase the dream of giving his family finer things.

So, he worked long hours in his own strength,

Building a castle made of sand.

He had no time to play with his kids or go to their games,

He continuously reassured his wife that things will get better,

He often would call home saying he had to work late.

By the end of the song,

It says he works all day and cries at home alone all night,

Because the kingdom he built out of sand,

Came crashing down.

Greed fooled him to death.

This drive for success tears families apart far too often.

Tragically, they never see it coming,

Because they are fooled into thinking money and success will make themselves or their family happy,

But all it does is drives them down the path of destruction.

Greed fools you to death.

It can cause you to lose your job, your reputation, your family,

Or your freedom in this life.

WE: Jesus Can Save You

But the most frightening thing of all,

Is that it will lead you to judgment when standing before God.

Because when that day comes,

Your greed will be fully exposed.

If you do not walk the path of wisdom,

Greed will fool you to death.

1 Tim. 6:9 warns:

1 Timothy 6:9 ESV

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

Friends,

We’ve got a problem,

We are headed down a path of death,

We are easily fooled into being unable to see our own greed,

Something we can so easily spot in others.

This path is not good,

It will destroy us,

It will destroy our families,

It has destroyed so many already,

Yet we never seem to see when we ourselves are on this path,

Greed will fool you to death.

But the Bible makes it clear,

That Jesus can save you.

Jesus is wisdom.

1 Cor. 1:24, 30 say that Jesus is the wisdom of God for us.

He can rescue us from our foolishness,

He is wisdom for us,

And He can make us wise!

This parable-like Proverb we have studied this morning,

Played out in the life of Christ.

One of His closest friends,

Judas,

Was enticed to join a gang,

To set a trap for the innocent Man,

Jesus Christ.

Why would Jesus do this?

For money,

For precious goods,

For unjust gain.

So, the gang set the trap,

And they took the innocent Man’s life.

Jesus is executed on a cross among thieves.

At that moment,

It seemed like the promise of this Proverb would not come true.

The innocent man died the death that the greedy man deserved to die,

While the greedy man was rewarded with money!

Christ was in the grave,

Judas was alive.

But days later,

The Scriptures reveal Judas was fooled to death by his greed,

And Christ rose from the dead.

Judas was in the grave,

Christ is alive!

Because Christ is wisdom,

And because He has risen from the grave,

He can certainly rescue us from our own foolish greed.

He was an innocent man,

But He took the punishment that the guilty and the greedy deserve,

So that we greedy fools can be forgiven!

He took the punishment for our greed, for our desires, for our quarrelsome hearts,

So that we can be free!

He gives us His Holy Spirit to guide us down the path of wisdom.

He empowers us to avoid dishonest gain,

To know the joy of contentment,

To use our money for His Kingdom.

And He gives us a community.

A community unlike this gang that entices toward destruction.

A community that spurs one another on toward love and good works.

He gives us one another,

He gives us the church.

The wealth of wisdom is far greater than the unjust gain of the worlds precious goods,

That fade and lose value,

And ultimately lead to our destruction.

The wealth of this world is never worth it.

Sure, some people will cheat and get away with it in this life.

And absolutely,

It may be a great cost to do business with integrity.

But if you wait on the Lord,

Persevere through the injustices of this world,

And the temptations of our greedy culture,

Christ will turn the tables.

The Gospels showed Him turning the table in just three days,

Other times,

He waits longer.

But in the end,

He will do it.

Greed will fool you to death,

But Christ,

Christ can save you.

Confess your greedy heart to Christ,

Ask for His wisdom so that you will not be fooled by greed,

And be freed to live in Christ!

Pray