Proverbs 12

Just speaking for myself, I've found studying the Proverbs more closely has been just such an amazing blessing and I pray that we would see that these Proverbs are spiritual Proverbs. The Word of God is spirit and it is truth and therefore in its the understanding that God brings, it is a spiritual, these are spiritual lessons for us. And these spiritual lessons speak of the Lord Jesus Christ and speak of what we are.

And if I read through this, you'll see that in each proverb, there's a comparison in each line of the proverb. And the comparison is a comparison of grace and works, a comparison of what we are in the Lord Jesus Christ and what we were in Adam, and a comparison that reveals the wonders of God's salvation.

I remind you that you could, as the Pharisees no doubt thought they did, they could go through these Proverbs and they could tick the box on all the things they have to do and tick the box on all the things they couldn't do. Paul said that before the law I was blameless. You can be blameless in your own eyes before the law and not know who the Lord Jesus Christ is at all and know his word. These are the words of God Almighty, and only God Almighty can open them up to us.

And so we come, as Simon said, completely and utterly dependent upon the Spirit to be our teacher. And that's how this proverb begins, whosoever loveth instruction. And that's love being chastened, love being Corrected, that's what that word means. It means to be chastened by God and love knowledge. Well, there's the knowledge. All the wisdom and knowledge of God is tied up in the Lord Jesus Christ. To know God is to know him, the one he has sent.

But he that hateth reproof is brutish. It's the same word. He who loves these words that chasten and correct and discipline us, and he that hateth these same words, is brutish. That just means that someone is stupid. They are foolish. They are, in the words of Jude, they are just a natural man. And then, who was the one that really loved instruction? Who's the one? Who's the one that really loved knowledge?

These are a glorious declaration of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come with me to verse 2. A good man obtaineth favour. Who's the good man? Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life, said a man who thought he was good. It's the only reason he ever asked a question. It's the only reason he made the statement, because he thought he was good. And the Lord rebuked him and said, there's no one good but God alone. Who's the good man?

The Lord Jesus Christ. He obtaineth favour of the Lord. But a man of wicked devices will he condemn. A man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved. What is the root of the righteous? That's what Job said in Job 19. He said, the root of the matter is where? It's in me. What's the root of the matter? Christ in you, the hope of glory.

The same word is used in Isaiah chapter 11. I'll just read it to you very briefly. You don't have to turn there unless you're quicker than me, and you people that have machines are much quicker than me. But there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. This is the root of the righteous. It's the Lord Jesus Christ.

And listen to what this root, and it shall not be moved. There's no need for him to move, there's no need. He cannot change. Therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. He changes not, our God. He who moves everything, it cannot be moved by the things of this world. Isn't that wonderful? He moves all things. He is the first cause, as my friend Owen used to say. God is the first cause of absolutely everything. A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband. Who's the virtuous woman? It's the bride of Christ. And she is the crown to her husband. But she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

The thoughts of the righteous are right. Who's the righteous one? The thoughts of the Lord Jesus Christ are right. Isn't that wonderful? What an amazing thing to think, that his thought life was perfect. Mine is just a jolly mess, I promise you. I'm so, so pleased that what goes on in my mind doesn't get out into this world.

Isn't it a mercy from the Lord that he covers these things? It's a mercy from him that he causes us to know how wicked they are, and it's a mercy from the Lord that he causes us to forget them. But the thoughts of the righteous are right in everything the Lord Jesus Christ thought. was perfect and upright.

That's what that word means. But the counsels of the wicked are deceit. The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for blood. You know what that means. But the mouth of the upright shall deliver them. mouth of the upright. By your words you shall be justified. What are the words that justifies? That the Lord Jesus Christ is all about justification. He's all, he's all, he's all in all. The wicked are overthrown and are not, but the house of the righteous shall stand.

I will build my church, says the Lord Jesus Christ. As Joshua said, Joshua who led the people into the promised land, he said, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. He was speaking as the Lord Jesus Christ there, as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, that Joshua. He and his house, they will serve the Lord. By his grace and by his mercy and by his power, they shall be willing in the day of his power. They'll be volunteers. They shall stand.

A man shall be commended according to his wisdom. Well, we know who the wisdom of God is, don't we? What's his wisdom? I keep saying, I'm looking at some extraordinarily wise people and you can go on the internet and go on television and you can see some people that are very, very wise in the eyes of this world and you can hear some people, religious people, who are extraordinarily wise, but they don't have Christ. They're just fools. And all of their wisdom is just vanity, as God says. Vanity means almost nothing, isn't it?

I came in here a few weeks ago and it was a cold morning and I left a cup of tea on the bench near Norm over there and I went to the bathroom and I came back and just in the sunlight, just at that perfect time, there was just this little wisp of mist coming up from my cup of coffee and cup of tea. And I thought, what an extraordinary picture. It's only seen as a little wisp of vanity in the light that was shone at that time. You couldn't see it any other time. It takes the light of God shining in a particular way at a particular time to show that our lives are just vanity, aren't they? Just emptiness. But in him, in him is all of our wisdom.

But he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised. He that is despised and has a servant is better than he that honoureth himself and lacketh bread. The Lord Jesus Christ was despised And he had a servant, he came to serve and be served. And he blesses his people with the grace gift of being his servants in this world. A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast. The righteous man's tenderness goes over all of the things of this creation in wonderful ways, doesn't it? But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. The tender mercies of the wicked, according to God, are cruel.

If you love this creation more than the creator, you will despise this creation and you will treat it with utter contempt. I lived in India. 1.4 billion people over there worship and serve the creation. And the way they treated that creation was just unbelievable. The way they treated the animals of that creation were just extraordinary. The most unkept animals, cows and dogs and goats and sheep and things I'd ever seen. It was just a shocking thing.

Anyway, he that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread. That is the manner that comes down from heaven, the bread of life. And he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding. This is just, they're empty. If you follow them, you're void of understanding. You're void of Christ, who is your wisdom, and he's our understanding. The wicked desireth the net of evil men. Isn't it extraordinary how evil people want to take others captive to their will? And we've seen it throughout history and we see it in this world here. The wicked desireth the net of evil men.

But the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit. We talk about in verse 3, we looked at the root of the righteous. The root of the righteous shall not be moved. The root of the righteous yieldeth fruit. What does the Lord promise? I create the fruit of lips that sing praises to my name, Isaiah 54. I create the fruit. It's all the fruit. What is the fruit? It's the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It's the fruit of love and faith and believing. It's the fruit that comes. Those verses in Isaiah 43 are just so wonderfully powerful, aren't they?

But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. That's John 10, isn't it? He calls his own sheep by name and they come out and they follow him. I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. That's one of the most wonderful phrases in all of the Bible, isn't it? God says there's a people here, they're mine, they're mine. It is this virtuous woman.

And then he says in verse two, when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, and they shall not overflow thee, when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

What happened to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? They were thrown into that fiery furnace, weren't they? Who was there with them? That fourth man was there, wasn't he? And when they came out, what was the one thing that was missing? The cords that bound them, their clothes weren't singed, their hair wasn't singed, and the fire was so hot that those that threw them in died. You're going to pass through the fires. Expect the Lord to, in grace and mercy, try your faith. The flame shall not kindle upon thee. the just shall come out of trouble.

Verse 14, a man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth. What's our mouth? It's our confession of the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? The confession that we need him. The confession that he is our Lord and Saviour. Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. You are my Lord and my God, and the recompense of a man's hand shall be rendered unto him.

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. There is a generation. There is a generation that does everything and everything seems right in their own eyes and they've never been cleansed from their own righteousness. What an extraordinary statement. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. but he that hearkeneth to counsel. This goes back to verse one, isn't it? He that loveth instruction, loveth discipline, loveth chastening. The Lord chastens those he loves. He chastens those he loves.

And it doesn't seem pleasant at the time. It doesn't seem pleasant to have us exposed before him as what we are and how weak and how frail we are. And what's the end result of it in the lives of his people? We have no confidence in the flesh. We have no confidence in the flesh. We just want to cling to him. We just want to know him. We just want to be with him. We want to be found in him. A fool's wrath is presently known, but a prudent man covereth shame. I can't help but think of Noah's two sons when he had been exposed as a drunken, just after nothing changed. 12 months on the ark. Nothing changed. Noah was still Noah. Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it wonderful?

And what of those two sons of his after he'd been exposed by Ham? And those two other sons, they walked in backwards and covered the shame of their father. That's a glorious picture of what the Lord's people, what the Lord did to his people. He covers all of their shame. He covers their shame. And we endeavour to cover other people's shame, our brothers and sisters.

He that speaketh truth showeth forth righteousness. What's the righteousness? The Lord Jesus Christ is the righteousness, isn't it? He's all the righteousness. To speak the truth is to speak the truth of who the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the truth. He's the truth of all of what's going on in this world. He's the truth of all of what's happening in salvation. He's the truth of all of what happens in redemption. He's the truth of all about righteousness. He is all of our righteousness.

We have no other righteousness. Oh, what a wonderful thing that the Lord Jesus Christ robes his people in his robe, and it's the very righteousness of the saints. But a false witness deceit. False witness deceit. There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise is health. The Lord is the great physician and he knows exactly what is good for our spiritual health and he is wise and he's wise in what he speaks to our spiritual health. The lip of truth shall be established forever. That which comes out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be established where his word is settled in the heavens forever. Forever, he stamps over his word, forever true. But a lying tongue is but for a moment.

Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil, but the counsellors of peace is joy. What are the counsellors of peace? Who's the one that came and spoke peace to his people? Satan speaks a peace which is no peace. All it does is deceit and evil. But in the counsellors of peace, in the messengers of the peace that the Lord Jesus Christ won on the cross of Calvary is joy, is joy. For the joy set before him, the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross and endured the shame of it. God rejoices over his people. I just wish the Lord would imprint that on my mind, that the Lord is joyful with his people. He rejoices over his people with singing. He rejoices over them.

There is, there shall be no evil happen to the just, but the wicked shall be filled with mischief. No evil came upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He was perfect in everything he did. No evil came. He's the just one, isn't he? He's a just God. Thank God for the justice of God. I love the fact that our God must be just. He must be just. It's impossible for a just God to punish his son in justice and then punish any of his children ever again. This religious world wants to tell people that you have to be very careful and watch out.

You're going to have to give a count on the day of judgment. Brothers and sisters, if your judgment hasn't been finished on the cross of Calvary, then you've got every reason. You won't be saying a word on that day. You'll be standing there absolutely silent. Our justice was meted out on the cross of Calvary. And our justice, the justice and holiness of God, is our great comfort and defence.

All of the attributes of God are the cause of the rejoicing of all the children of God. We love the fact that he's holy. that he cannot punish sin twice, he must be just, he must be righteous, he must rule, he must love and his love must be returned to him. We love him because he first loved us. We love his wisdom We love everything about, every attribute of God declares wonderful things for all of the children of God in this world. They're the counsellors of peace. He has many, many counsellors of peace. He has many, many words of peace that he brings to his people. There no evil shall happen to the just, but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.

This is a verse I want to spend some time on, but we're running out of time and I just want us to think about it for a little bit, but lying lips are abomination to the Lord. Lying lips are abomination to the Lord. That word abomination means disgusted. There are words that are said about the Lord Jesus Christ which God finds abomination and disgusting.

But they that deal truly are his delight. To deal truly is to do and act in faithfulness. Who dealt truly? He's all about dealing, isn't he? They deal truly, lying lips, disgust the Lord. I want to know what disgusts the Lord. I want to know what disgusts him. And I want to avoid what disgusts him. And I want to know what it is to be his delight. To deal truly is to deal in faithfulness. It's the faith of Christ that is faithful to his word and it's faithful to his word of truth.

And what are the lies? What are the great lies? We know where the lies come from. Satan is the father of lies. the father of lies. And Satan has a religion in this world, which is the religion of lies. And listen to what the Lord Jesus Christ said about those people in John chapter eight. You are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. What was in him? You can read about it in Isaiah chapter 14. I will, I will, I will.

Then he said to Eve, you will, you will, you will. You'll stand in judgment of God. You'll stand in judgment of God's word. You'll stand in judgment of God's justice. And you can go to the knowledge of this tree of good and evil. You can go to the law and you can work out what's good and what's evil. And then you will have some worthiness for your obedience.

They're the lies. They're the lies, aren't they? And they are in all of Adam's children. Lies about Christ. God hates. God is disgusted with lies about the Lord Jesus Christ. Lies about him as Christ, the anointed one of God. Lies about his deity. Lies about his faithfulness. Lies about him being the covenant. Lies about his gospel. lies about the eternal union that the Lord Jesus Christ had with his people.

They were a people given into his hands and they became one with him in a covenant of grace and peace. And he wins them to himself as the gift of his father, as the conquest of his love, as his blood-bought redeemed ones. And he's the surety. He's to surety.

God the Father looks to his Son for absolutely everything that he requires from his children. And God the Father looks to his Son and he says, my Son deals truly. And all of God's children deal truly as well. They declare the same things that God declares. They're looking in the same place. Where does God find satisfaction and faithfulness? He finds it in his son. Where do his children find satisfaction and affection? That's what that word delight means. It means acceptance. It means satisfaction.

We're just declaring to God what God says about his son. We're declaring to God what the Holy Spirit says about his son. We're declaring back to God the very words that God declared to us. They are truly his delight, the Lord Jesus Christ in Psalm 40.

And we must close. I'm sorry for going over time, but anyway, we'll speak a little bit longer, but if you give me a few more minutes. But he says, I said, then said I, lo, I come in the volume of the book, it is written of me. This is Psalm 40, and it's quoted in Hebrews. I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. And listen to what the Lord Jesus Christ does. He's the preacher. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation. If you've heard the voice of God, the Lord Jesus Christ has been the preacher.

The ambassador just has words and he has a treasure in a vessel of clay and if you look closely at the clay it'll look more and more and more unsightly the closer you look at it. But it's the treasure. It's the treasure inside. It's Christ in you, the hope of glory.

I have preached righteousness in the great congregation. Lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart. I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy lovingkindness, that's grace, and thy truth from the great congregation.

How does the great congregation know the truth? Why are they called a great congregation? God calls them great. Why are they great? If you, like Elisha's servant, had the veil of this creation pulled back and you saw the angels of God encamped around the assembly of God's people, and you could see the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of his assembled congregation that are gathered by him because of his glory and his name, you would be amazed. You'd call it a great congregation and a heartbeat, wouldn't you? And you, like those the children of God in Revelation 4 that we began our service with, you just bow down and worship and you say you're worthy. You're worthy of all the disgrace.

Listen to what he goes on to say, withhold not thy tender mercies from me, O Lord, let thy loving kindness and thy truth continually preserve me. This is exactly what these Proverbs are saying, aren't they? Again and again. And then he says, this is a reason why for innumerable evils have come past me about, they've surrounded me. This is one of the most amazing words in all of the scriptures. This is the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He says, mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up on the cross of Calvary. He bowed his head because he was guilty. And he was suffering the just, righteous punishment for what he called mine iniquities. Any denial of that is the lying lips that God says he's disgusted by.

That's what God said. You can read it in Psalm 40. Go home and study it for yourself. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me, O Lord, make haste to help me. Let's just read these last few proverbs in light of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop, but a good word maketh his glad. Here's the good word. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he comes and he brings his word, he makes his people glad.

The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour, but the way of the wicked seduces them. Take note of it. They are seduced by their own wickedness. The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting, but the substance of a diligent man is precious. What's the substance of a diligent man?

You have Christ. That's all you have. If he's all you have, he's all you need, and you wouldn't need anything else. Listen to how it finishes. In the way of righteousness is life. Who's the way? The Lord Jesus Christ. Who is the righteousness? The Lord Jesus Christ. Who is life? The Lord Jesus Christ. And in the pathway thereof, there is no death.

Isn't that a glorious gospel? Isn't it lovely that the Proverbs are the gospel, aren't they? And I love the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ not only was the Proverbs, but he preached the Proverbs and he lived the Proverbs. And if he is merciful, he'll bring the word of those Proverbs to our hearts. and we will be turned away from the lying lips, which are an abomination, and that we'll be those that deal truly, because he is truth, and we're in him who dealt truly, and his faithfulness itself. And we are, those people are the delight of our God.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your spirit. that makes that word speak so wonderfully. And I trust and I pray powerfully of our Lord Jesus Christ and pray Heavenly Father that you would bless your words to the hearts of your people, that we would have our eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the author and the finisher of faith. And maybe we'd be reminded, Heavenly Father, that he is a God of joy and a God of delight in his people. Oh, our Father, we thank you for the forgiveness of sins. We thank you for blood redemption. We thank you most of all, Heavenly Father, that you cause your people to know you and the Lord Jesus Christ, Him you have sent. And this is life eternal.

Oh Heavenly Father, may we eat and drink in remembrance of Him, declaring is worthy. He is worthy. Make him worthy, Heavenly Father. Make his blood precious. Make his bread to be the very manner from heaven to our hearts this day. May we go into this world, Heavenly Father, knowing we have a great God and a Saviour. And he says of his people, they are mine. Oh, our Father, how precious are his words. How precious are they when they are signed and sealed and brought to us by your Spirit. Bless us for Christ's sake, heavenly Father. We thank you in his precious name. Amen.

Proverbs 12

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Proverbs 12

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