Proverbs 10:1-22:16

[0:00] that I will take is from chapter 10, verses 1 to 5. Breathe easily. Proverbs 10, beginning at verse 1, the Proverbs of Solomon, a wise son, makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.

[0:20] Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but He thwarts the craving of the wicked.

[0:38] A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

[0:56] This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Well, the joys of summer reading. I don't know about you, but I often am anticipating which books to read during the summer months for leisure, but also for pleasure.

[1:21] And I buy a volume. It's been selected. It's been set aside. And then we read over the summer things that we haven't had time to read over the course of the year.

[1:35] Well, if you've been coming on to Holy Trinity for a while, we have a book for summer reading. It's been the book of Proverbs. Proverbs. And the opening phrase in chapter 10 is a literary marker meant to inform the reader that you have arrived at part two of this book.

[2:01] It's right there. Proverbs 10, the opening phrase. The Proverbs of Solomon. Now, we saw his name prominently displayed at the beginning of the book, chapter 1, verse 1, the Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.

[2:19] But there, it was a title as if for the whole work. And now, having finished through chapter 9, we've come to part 2.

[2:30] A collection that goes from 10-1 all the way through 22-16. A collection of Proverbs that form the second part of this book.

[2:48] A couple of comments are in order. The plan that we've grown accustomed to in reading has changed. You might remember if you've been here all week or all summer that the style, the flowing narrative of chapter 1 to 9 is gone.

[3:14] It doesn't appear anywhere in part 2 of the book. The plan is different. Here, the storytelling that hooked you where you could almost envision a young man walking down a street or a lady at the end of the way and this narrative force that pulled the reader along has been jettisoned and in its place is this short, hard-hitting, quick, brief, staccato-like Proverbs.

[3:52] Indeed, when we come to chapter 10 through 22-16, we come to what we think of when we think of Proverbs as literature.

[4:05] The plan has moved and we ought to be aware of that. How are we to read this part of the book? Well, fortunately, this kind of quick-hitting proverbial wisdom is not something that we lack in our own day.

[4:26] I think of the proverb, he who hesitates is what? Lost. In fact, that's the proverb that Pastor Dennis relies upon if you've ever been the unfortunate recipient of sitting in his car while he is driving.

[4:48] He lives under the proverb, he who hesitates is lost. And he actually has a philosophy behind it. And he'll explain it to you as he's weaving in and out that if you just go faster, something will open up along the way.

[5:06] And we sit beside him and we want to say, but, but, look before you leap.

[5:20] Right? Haste makes waste. In other words, we want to bring another aspect of conventional wisdom to play. Why? Because Proverbs, by nature, are situational in regard to their application.

[5:40] Yes, there are times when he who hesitates is lost, but there are times when haste makes waste. And if you're ever in a car with Pastor Dennis, just remember, look before you leap.

[5:59] So how do we read them? Their principles are generally applied, not promises in which God owes you something.

[6:11] They are, they are conventional sayings of wisdom that require the right situation. They are not universally rolling out at all times and in all places.

[6:26] And that is why when we learn to read a section of a book like chapter 10 verses 10 through 22, we see that most often it comes by way of a turn of a phrase, a contrast.

[6:48] The word but. A truth put forward, but. another truth following that either contrasts what has just taken place or amplifies what has just taken place or focuses in for the reader on that which is taking place.

[7:09] In fact, take a look at our own text. The first five verses. You'll see this displayed five consecutive times. A wise son makes a glad father.

[7:22] half the phrase. But. By way of contrast, a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.

[7:34] Now it doesn't mean that a foolish son is not also a sorrow to his father. Or that a wise son is not also one who makes his mother glad. The proverb says basically a wise son makes a happy parent.

[7:50] and a foolish one will bring sorrow to them both. And it does so by this contrasting word but.

[8:01] The same thing as in verse 2. Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit but righteousness delivers from death. you can begin to gaze your eye and I hope you have the text open before you because while this is a most often read book in Christian circles we don't often know how to read it well.

[8:24] These contrasting phrases dominate this part of the book. I counted them up earlier in the week.

[8:37] There are 375 verses that make up part 2 of Proverbs and nearly half of them 174 come with this word but.

[8:52] In fact it is heightened if you take chapters 10 through 15 just glance your eye along the page between chapters 10 and 15 for Proverbs that emphasize this change in the middle through the word but.

[9:13] In 10 to 15 there are 174 verses and 137 of them. 137 teach you wisdom by way of contrast.

[9:29] And so as we begin reading our part 2 remember that the plan has changed but this kind of literature is not foreign to the way you and I speak today and it is dominated by teaching wisdom through contrast.

[9:53] Now let me go on and say that the players have changed. Who were the dominant characters that carried the flowing narrative of chapters 1 to 9?

[10:12] There was of course this parental figure speaking to the upcoming generation but he introduces wisdom personified as a woman.

[10:26] Last week Jim White preaching about Lady Wisdom who builds her house who calls out to the simple and she is contrasted with Lady Folly.

[10:41] Two ways to women in this sense teaching you how to live and how not to live.

[10:52] But look at what happens in chapter 10. Verses 1 to 5 in that introduction introduce the characters of part 2. No longer is there merely a call to wisdom.

[11:08] We see the consequences of those who are following one way or the other. So in chapter 10 verse 1 a wise son. One of the dominant figures.

[11:21] Someone who's listened and is applying all that they've heard in part 1. But also verse 1 a foolish son.

[11:33] Look at verse 5 like anchors to this introduction. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son. But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

[11:50] If I were to lay out a table of contents I'd put it this way. Part 1 the lady wisdom the way of life in contrast to the lure of lady folly.

[12:09] part 2 lads who listen and losers who don't.

[12:21] That's part 2. We're seeing now who's listening and who isn't. And they're put forward as the wise son and the foolish one.

[12:37] So the plan has changed. The players have altered and the primary theme has moved as well.

[12:48] If I was to consider the primary theme of our sermons that have carried us through part 1 it would certainly be wisdom as it relates to women and wine.

[13:02] But when you begin to look at part 2 it's very different. It's wisdom and it's relationship to words and work. And this is why so many of you before you get up in the morning and go to work want to open up Proverbs because it has so much wisdom for work and it joins it to words.

[13:30] Now I should let you know now of a sermon that I'm not going to preach today but this relationship between words and work is full in the redemptive plan of God.

[13:44] Genesis chapter 1 it is his word which is by nature a creative act and God said and it was so.

[13:57] His words and his work are always wedded together. They're not strictly two topics that we land in Proverbs 4.

[14:09] So that at the end of the creation account in Genesis 1 it says that he rested from what? His work which was what?

[14:22] His words because as he speaks so he is and so it is and as we speak so we are.

[14:35] There is a proverb actions speak louder than words. They're not pitting one's actions or works against one's words.

[14:47] The proverb is forcing union. Be a person who does what he says and says what he means.

[15:04] Right? Those kinds of things. So when you begin to look at this as words and work and then you consider Jesus the very word of God who accomplishes his work who says while the father is working and I am working or when he's confronted by the Pharisees and he says for which of my works will you condemn me and they say not for your works but for your words these two areas of life speech and action are so wedded they are wedded in creation they are wedded in redemption and they ought to be wedded into your life and so today we're going to look at work and how is the work of Christ wedded to your life it is one of the primary themes of these chapters so let's look at it from these five verses first point work hard work hard as one who follows the

[16:19] Lord Jesus Christ look at the value of work a wise son makes a father glad the whole verses verse five as it mirrors it he who gathers in summer is a prudent son but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame the teacher is saying if you want to know the way of life as it relates to wisdom consider your work you ought to be fully engaged work hard that that thread let me just give you a sample of that thread in this part two take a look at chapter twelve and verse eleven it's filled with these kinds of things whoever works his land will have plenty of bread but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense the teacher is telling you work hard go to work take a look at verses 24 of the same chapter the hand of the diligent will rule while the slothful will be put to forced labor verse 27 whoever is slothful will not roast his game but the diligent man will get precious wealth take a look over at chapter 13 and verse 4 the soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied take a look over at chapter 14 and verse 20 the poor is disliked even by his neighbor but the rich has many friends chapter 14 verse 23 in all toil there is profit see there's profit to toil but mere talk there's again the relationship between one's words and one's works mere talk tends only to poverty take a look at the end of part two in chapter 21 and verse five the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty verse 20 of the same chapter precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling but a foolish man devours it all these proverbs reinforcing that the way of wisdom and wealth and sustenance comes through diligent careful persistent planned work this is

[19:36] God's word for God's people and in this day it needs application I don't know if we've lived in a day where wealth without work has been so forcefully thrust upon a people according to the scriptures wealth without work is wrong headed so work hard I think of the mothers who are in our congregation today and say well there are no wages coming my way but work hard the wiping of noses the changing of diapers the raising of children well there is a proverb isn't there the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world this idea that in the home you are doing your work to the glory of

[20:45] God should be there your main domain for work is in that home and with those children and indeed the fruit of it is children who know how to walk wisely in the world and who in their older state will rise up and along with your husband call you blessed finding favor with God work hard and it is hard work just yesterday I was at this ceremony for Christine Hess and they had a foot washing I had never been to a service where there was a foot washing but I had the best view because I was on the platform their first public act as husband and wife was the washing of feet which was Jesus last act symbolic of the way he would wash them through his death and they were making a statement at this wedding that

[21:49] Christian marriage is that of service and so he got down on his hands and knees and took off these white sandals shoes heels washed her feet and then the bride herself member of our congregation Christine Hess in her wedding gown on her hands and knees untying his shoes taking the cloth and the basin and begin wiping his feet and you know how it is that's hard work I mean you try not to mess up your dress you're leaning over his socks were tight and then you know when you just dry someone's feet putting socks back on is not all that easy and I'm standing there as the officiating pastor awed by what I'm seeing and then watching her work and work and finally get those socks on and by the time she finally got them on she looked up and went like this to him and

[22:51] I thought there it is there's the first moment where the bride understand to love this man for the rest of his life she's been doing it all of two minutes is going to be work work is hard but work has its rewards and the proverbial wisdom is calling out upon you to forsake the teaching of the day that asks you to try to acquire wealth without work oh if I just had it all not according to the word of God think of the role of parents here with children teaching them at the youngest of ages to clean up after themselves what a great thing that would be in our city if all the adults understood that very principle but it starts in the home leave it better than you found it learning teaching instilling the value of work personal initiative begins to emerge when people work industry grows when people work holy trinity ought to be an industrious and filled with personal initiative and unfortunately we live in a day where continually people are being raised with an expectation that someone else is supposed to provide for them and what happens is this spirit of entitlement!

[24:39] saps a people a city a country it happens especially in cities because we are already of necessity collectively relating to one another so we already are bound in smaller associations and condos and the like where you do go to bed at night and sometimes ask yourself well who is supposed to do that and in your mind you think not me someone else is supposed to make sure my alley is in order someone else is supposed to make sure the lights in this place are changed someone else is supposed to get this grass mowed someone else someone else someone else it destroys people I finally arrived at the point where I thought you know I'm going to live as if even though I'm in this kind of city like context

[25:45] I'm going to live as if I was a private homeowner and if I want something done that would improve the way we're living I'm just going to do it well I think Proverbs would cheer me on the value of work I think of some of you who are going off to work I think of what you have weathered the seasons you have weathered in the difficulty of work at different times of your life and may be weathering a very difficult season now but work is the environment that God presses trust dependence reliance upon him work is the school that you never graduate from work sanctifies you in ways that nothing else will work makes you grow gracious as you grow older hopefully if you handle it well work is to be commended

[26:58] I want to say to those of you who are young work isn't always enjoyed you cannot wake up and say well I don't want to do that because I don't like that I don't want that job because that's not a job I like hey there's things in everybody's job they don't like wake up smell the coffee get on with it be industrious provide supply for others needs get to work sorry I could go on for a long time like this I remember when I was 15 I wanted to go see the Cubs game home opener left field bleachers back then in the day I think tickets were five bucks I woke my dad up 630 in the morning it was a school day I said dad will you call in I'd like to go to the Cubs game he said what I said it's opening day Steve Tun and I want to go to the game he said well I'll call in but I'm not telling him you're sick I'll just tell him you're not going to be there and if they ask me why

[28:00] I'm going to tell him I said okay fine I thought I'd have a good shot at it I said by the way I need some money to get in he rolled over and had his wallet by his nightstand wasn't like my mother who kept her wallet in the purse in the front hall that you could access at times when she wasn't around but at any rate my dad's wallet was by the nightstand and I can still remember him sitting on the edge of his bed pulling a five dollar bill out and getting ready to hand it to me and as he handed to me I began to take it and I realized he was holding on to it and we both held it and I looked him in the eye and he said this is the last five dollars I give you before you get a job I was fifteen and a half I'm like sure great I'm off to the game week and a half later I was in need of a little money he said well you better get out the one ads find a job I found a job I worked at a gas station I ended up working there all the way through college it shows you how progressive

[29:02] I was I started at a dollar ninety an hour before taxes just to let you know how old I am it was work I didn't always enjoy it there's very few lifelong lessons that have had the kind of value that work has taught me I say that to those of you who are in the youth group we need personal initiative we need individual industrious people we need creativity we need the way of wisdom well I didn't think that point would be that long but when you read 10 to 22 that point keeps coming not only does it talk about the value of work and working hard it contrasts it with the sluggard remember

[30:09] I was telling you about the major characters who kind of went off the page at part one lady wisdom and lady folly and the cacophony of voices that call to you well it isn't as if this section is without characters it gives you the sluggard in full form to contrast for you the one who gets to work so while the sluggard was introduced in chapter six part one where wisdom is calling to the sluggard in this part we see the one who has not listened and therefore is a sluggard in the true sense I'll give you the texts where he appears for the sake of time but he appears in chapter 10 verse 26 he he appears in chapter 15 verse 19 or in chapter 13 verse 4 he appears in chapter 21 25 and 26 and in 22 13 and in 19 24 and in 24 the sluggard appears why to show by way of contrast the way of wisdom let me give you the last words of the sluggard take a look in this part it's fascinating 22 verse 13 the sluggard says there is a lion outside

[31:39] I shall be killed in the streets that's the sluggard I can't get out there I can't get after it now is not the time danger is out there don't be that kind of person go be a lion yourself so work hard but also work in the right way come back to our text look at verse two treasures gained by wickedness do not profit but righteousness delivers from death now I take that to mean this wealth accumulated through underhanded wicked ways won't get you anything but wealth that's unspoken in the second half of the couplet which comes to you through right living or righteousness well that that will get you all kinds of things even deliverance from death so do your work in a underhanded wicked way you gain nothing acquire your wealth through right living you gain even victory over death because you will have learned the way of wisdom so work in the right way

[33:23] I think that also is paired with verse four of our text a slack hand causes poverty but the hand of the diligent makes rich the diligent one is doing it in the right way this word righteousness in verse two is not some Pauline forensic righteousness in which you are declared just in the sight of God this is a practical term in wisdom literature for right living so don't lie to get ahead because in the end you will not have any profit to show so work hard work right and know that your work has an impact on your relationship with

[34:27] God it's not merely horizontal look at what's tucked right in the middle of those opening five verses verse three all of a sudden God shows up it's not just about principles for living but verse three says the Lord does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked in other words the first half the Lord will be attentive to your need have you not seen that even in your struggles for work as you live in Christ the Lord does not let the righteous go hungry the way you work will impact your relationship with God he is involved but he will thwart the craving of the wicked in other words God himself will actively oppose!

[35:26] those who work in an indifferent or ungodly way so he will be attentive to you or he will be actively opposed to you in regard to how you work you must work hard you must work right you must work with a knowledge that what is at stake is your relationship with God now remember the verbs of Genesis 1 and 2 particularly the creation of man the Lord God formed the man the Lord God planted a garden the Lord God put the man to work it work comes before the fall work is built into his plan for you work is what he has for you so do it his way that he will be attentive to your need for if you reject him he will actively oppose you well so much for part two but hopefully you've got a sense of how to go read it all week long with this dynamic connection between your words and your ways your works and the wisdom that he would have for you totally fulfilled in

[37:02] Christ he is the one who actively pursued this and he is the one who told his followers don't worry about what you're going to wear seek the righteousness of the kingdom these things shall be added unto you be godly and represent him well in this week let us pray our heavenly father we come now to this table which is the great work of our lord jesus christ and we attach ourselves to him knowing that we need sustenance the very bread from heaven the cup of salvation which sustains us even when all things on earth shall fail and so we joyfully celebrate this meal and we commune with you and we give ourselves to you in it in christ's name amen