And we're glad that you're here, not because we're filling seats, but because we're following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together, we're convinced that there's no one so good.
They don't need God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it.
And so God has something to say to everyone in his word, which is why we come back week after week to open up the Bible and hear what God has to say to us.
We're continuing our series in the book of Proverbs.
And you'll remember that Proverbs is a book about wisdom.
And wisdom is skill in the art of living.
Wisdom helps us to navigate the path of life that God's given us.
And wisdom helps us to stay on the path.
Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord.
That's the foundation of wisdom, the place that it starts.
And wisdom continues.
It grows with humility.
Unless we're humble, we can never expect to become wise.
Because it's only the humble person who knows they have more to learn.
And it's only by learning more that we become wise.
We've been looking at a variety of practical topics.
We looked the last couple weeks at the idea of work and our money.
And this week we are turning to our words.
Now this passage, we're in Proverbs chapter 6.
We're going to look at verses 12 through 19.
This passage speaks about a little bit more than words.
But there's a special focus on words.
And so that's going to be our focus as well.
And as we do that, then I invite you to turn with me either in your Bible or near the end of your worship guide or in your phone to Proverbs chapter 6.
And remember as we come to this passage that this is God's word.
And Proverbs chapter 30, verse 5 tells us that every word of God proves true.
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
And so that's why we read now, starting at verse 12.
A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord.
Verse 15.
Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly.
In a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
There are six things that the Lord hates.
Seven that are an abomination to him.
Halty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.
A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil.
A false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven, we just thank you again that you speak to us.
And we ask that you would do that again this morning.
Just through these words in this chapter of the Bible, you'd remind us that this is your word that brings life.
And you'd do that for us.
That you'd use your word to encourage us.
And you'd use it to challenge us.
We thank you most of all that you are flesh in your son, Jesus Christ.
And it's in his name that we pray.
Amen.
If you've been in Colorado for any length of time, you know that people in Colorado love their guns.
Now, whether you like that fact or don't like that fact, not the point.
You know that if you have a weapon, if you're going to use lethal force, there are only a few situations where you're actually allowed to do that.
And primarily, it's when your life is actually in danger.
If your life is in danger, then there's self-defense at play.
And there's almost no exceptions to that rule.
So if your life is not in danger, you use lethal force, you're going to be in danger.
In the state of Colorado, with one exception.
Do you all know what that exception is?
If you have good reason to suspect someone is committing first-degree arson.
Now, I'm not encouraging you to do that.
I'm not a legal expert.
Okay, don't go and use lethal force against someone who's committing first-degree arson.
And then come back and talk to me about it.
But the point is this, right?
That there are some things that are so destructive that they require that level of force.
And in most situations, it's only if your life is threatened except when someone is looking to destroy by fire.
Which raises the question, why?
Why would that be the exception to the rule?
Well, there's a lot of different reasons, right?
One, fire is so incredibly destructive.
Even if they're not threatening your life right now, it could ultimately end up threatening a life.
Another reason I would imagine is we're in the state of Colorado.
Wildfires can happen like that, right?
And so someone's, they're looking to burn something down.
They could end up destroying not just someone's home.
They could end up destroying many, many lives.
And so this is something that's incredibly serious and dangerous.
And that's why it's the exception to the rule.
That's why it's the portion of the law that falls outside of the general principle.
The author of the book of James in the New Testament, in fact, compares our tongues, our words, to fire.
And that's the kind of situation that we see in this passage.
We learn in verse 12 that this is something that's about words.
It's a worthless person who goes around with crooked speech.
And then in verse 17, we see the same thing.
It's a lying tongue.
Now, what makes first-degree arson different from other types of arson,
that to be first-degree, it has to be intentional.
You have to want to be burning something down.
You have to want to destroy someone's property.
And it's that same intention that we see of this man, this worthless person.
Verse 14, he's devising evil.
Okay, this isn't an accident that he's causing trouble.
He is sowing discord.
There's a process here, just like you'd sow seeds in the ground.
He's sowing these words, knowing he's going to get the result he wants.
And then we see in verse 18, there's a plan that's being executed.
He devises wicked plans.
And so as much as he can, in whatever he does, this person stirs up trouble.
It is first-degree destruction.
It's intentional.
He wants to cause trouble.
He wants to destroy something.
And then we find out that it's not just that it's intentional,
but just like arson, this is destructive.
It's deceptive.
Verse 13, he's doing all these strange things with his body language.
Now, it's not entirely clear what's going on here
since we've been separated by so many years from the original audience of Proverbs,
but most likely he's trying to signal here.
He's doing something that's underhanded.
He's operating in a way that's maybe a back channel.
And his plan, as we saw before in verse 18, is meant to lead to evil.
And so this person is using his words to destroy.
He's using his words in a way, rather than building up the community, he's burning it down.
Our world has not changed that much since the book of Proverbs.
We're still humans.
And so the same things happen today.
It happens in a variety of ways.
This could be someone who's just absolutely lying, right?
They're telling something that's not true.
It could also be someone who's telling half-truths, right?
They're telling part of the truth, but not the whole truth.
And the part of the truth they're telling is just enough to make you believe something that's not true.
It's meant to lead you along the path.
It could be someone who's repeating things that are very true,
and they don't need to be repeated.
People don't need to know.
You don't want people knowing about the mistake that you made 10 years ago
and that you've reconciled with people for, right?
But there's a temptation to keep repeating these mistakes over and over in the community,
that there's a half-life to someone's failures that they're never able to overcome.
One way this happens in the church,
there will be people who stir up division,
claiming to be concerned about the purity of the church.
They believe something's wrong in terms of a doctrine.
Or a practice.
And that's a right thing to be concerned about.
But they're concerned about the purity of the church
in a way that destroys the peace of the church.
Rather than beginning, as Jesus talks about in Matthew 18,
in small conversations, one-on-one with leaders,
instead they go around, they have a whisper campaign in the congregation.
They share their complaints with everyone else.
They tell the whole congregation, their whole friend group, their whole small group,
their life group, about the things that are making them upset
and how they think what's happening is wrong.
And so while they think that their cause is right and righteous,
and maybe it is,
they pursue it in a way that this passage tells us is an abomination.
It's possible to be concerned about the purity of the church,
but not the peace of the church.
And in fact, God is passionate about both of those things.
God loves the purity of his church.
He died for it.
God also loves the peace of his church.
God loves the peace of the church.
We see people like this also on Facebook.
Many passive-aggressive posts, right?
People share their experiences with a friend that they haven't spoken to,
and they say, oh, this is just anonymous, right?
But they put enough details in there that everyone knows who they're talking about.
Instead of going and speaking with that person one-on-one,
they're airing it for the entire internet to see.
Facebook is filled with people who wink with their eyes,
signal with their feet,
and point with their fingers.
In fact, we could add just social media in general.
This person repeats things in private
that maybe need to remain secret, right?
They may need to remain between two people.
You and someone else have a disagreement.
You reconcile.
You resolved it.
It doesn't need to be discussed anymore.
And yet this divisive person goes around,
and they share those things.
Maybe there's things in private that a group knows
that doesn't need to be shared outside of the group,
and yet this person goes and shares them in public.
They make sure everyone knows.
They are family members like this.
Perhaps you have someone in your family who calls everyone.
They stay connected because they want to know the news,
and then they redistribute it to all the other family members.
And there's a special focus, though.
There's sort of a tabloid news distributor.
There's a special focus on the negative news,
and they'll share it with you in a way
that looks like they're trying to be concerned,
but really they're making sure that you know
about all the tension, you know,
in your brother and sister-in-law's marriage
that you didn't need to know about.
And they're making sure that you know
about all the ways that your grandchild is misbehaving.
This person is the divisive person
that stirs up division.
Then there's the person who pretends
to be a trusted confidant, right?
They come to you.
They tell you, I'm not gonna share this with anyone,
but I'm here for you,
and I wanna make sure you have a place.
And I, you know, this is just between you and me.
And the next thing you know,
that thing that you only shared with that one person,
everyone's aware of it.
And if you've lived in this world for any length of time,
I'm confident this has happened to you at some point,
perhaps continues to happen to you.
Kids,
this is what we talk about
is the difference between telling and tattling.
If you are telling,
if you're reporting,
you're sharing something
that an adult needs to know.
It's a problem
that you can't solve on your own,
and someone's actually in danger.
Someone's not in danger,
and maybe you can resolve the problem on your own.
These are principles we would go over
when I was a teacher.
You are not telling,
you are tattling.
What's the goal of tattling?
It's to stir up division.
One who tattles,
verse 19,
sows discord among brothers.
And that's often the goal of the tattler.
They wanna get someone else in trouble.
They wanna stir things up
because something,
it's boring right now, right?
The one who tells
is looking to maintain peace,
to preserve peace.
The one who tattles
is looking to destroy peace,
to break it down.
And so no matter what our age
or our stage,
we need to be careful
with our words.
Now I'll mention,
sometimes rules like these
that I've outlined for you
are abused
to protect people in power.
Someone powerful
will do something wrong
or abusive,
they'll use their power differential
to get advantages
they shouldn't,
and it's covered up
under the guise
of maintaining peace.
That is also
an abomination.
There are,
as always in Proverbs,
there are exceptions to things,
but even then,
there's a right way
to go about
confronting abusive power.
So if someone
is using these verses
to cover up
abuse,
especially a heinous form
of abuse,
a high-handed form
of abuse,
that itself
is an abuse
of these verses.
But in general,
those are the exceptions,
not the rule.
In general,
we're looking with our words
to preserve the community
rather than to tear it down.
And as we've seen
with the last couple passages
in Proverbs 6,
there's an underlying principle.
There's something
underneath all of this
that helps us understand
why it matters.
And the principle
is this,
divisiveness is a very
serious sin.
We're told it's
an abomination,
verse 16,
and it's a very
serious sin
because God
loves the community.
It's a serious sin
because God
loves the community.
We live
in an individualistic
culture
and age
where the rights
of the individual,
the privileges
of the individual
are put
above everything else.
It is hard
for us,
even as Christians,
to wrap
our minds around
how much
God cares
about the good
and the unity
of the community.
It is hard
for us
to wrap
our minds
as Western Americans
around how
much
God cares
about the unity
of the church.
There are not
many things
in the Bible
that are referred
to as an abomination.
This is one of them.
God takes
very seriously
the unity
of the church.
God takes
groups
and communities
more seriously
than we do.
God
is not
as individualistic
as we are.
And just
like someone
committing
first degree
arson,
it does not
take a lot
to burn
a community
down.
Just like
someone
committing
first degree
arson,
it does not
take much
to burn
the community
down.
And so
we see here
that judgment
is very
serious.
God
is not
afraid
to use
lethal force
for those
who destroy
the community
with their
words.
That's what
we see in
verse 15.
Calamity
will come
upon him
suddenly.
In a
moment,
he will
be broken
beyond
healing.
In other
words,
your words
ultimately
will catch
up with
you.
They will
probably
catch up
with you
in this
life,
and they
will
ultimately
catch up
with you
at the
end of
your
life.
Of course,
we know
this more
and more
as people
living in
an age
of technology.
You'll
hear more
frequently
news articles
about court
cases where
the private
text messages
became public,
right?
Where the
private emails
became public.
I shared
with one
new member's
class.
I grew up
in a church
right outside
Washington,
D.C.,
and there
were folks
there who
worked on
Capitol Hill,
and one of
them told us
that the rule
was that you
would never
type something
in an email
that you
would be
unwilling to
see on the
front page
of the
Washington Post
the next
day.
That was the
rule you were
meant to follow,
because it was
very likely,
right,
that what is
private is going
to be made
public?
Well,
the Bible
tells us
something even
more frightening.
Jesus,
our great
wisdom teacher,
remember Matthew
chapter 12,
he's an even
greater teacher
than Solomon.
He's our great
and greater
wisdom teacher,
tells us that
every word
is going to be
made public
one day.
Every text message
is going to be
made public
one day.
Every email
is going to be
on the front
page of the
Washington Post.
In Luke
chapter 8,
Jesus says
this,
for nothing
is hidden
that will
not be
made manifest,
nor is
anything
secret that
will not
be made
known and
come to
light.
And then
Jesus,
talking to
the Pharisees
in Matthew
chapter 12,
tells them
this,
you brood
of vipers,
how can
you speak
good when
you are
evil?
For out
of the
abundance
of the
heart,
the mouth
speaks.
The good
person out
of his
good treasure
brings forth
good,
and the evil
person out
of his
evil treasure
brings forth
evil.
I tell
you,
on the
day of
judgment,
people will
give account
for every
careless word
they speak.
For by
your words
you will
be justified,
and by
your words
you will
be condemned.
So Jesus
is reminding
them there
of the
reality of
judgment,
that he
is going
to come
back to
this world
to return
for his
people and
his church.
And at
that time,
no matter
what has
been secret,
all things
will be
revealed,
and everyone
will answer
for their
speech.
And so it
underscores for
us here the
importance,
the urgency
of faith
in Jesus
Christ,
right?
Because that
is our one
and only hope.
All of us,
if we examine
our words,
would have
words that we
don't want
repeated.
We might
have text
messages we
don't want
published,
emails we
don't want
distributed.
And yet,
those are
the things
that if
we are
apart from
Jesus Christ,
we will
stand before
God one
day and
face his
judgment.
That day
could be
many days
in the
future.
That day
could be
today.
And so
there's a
tremendous
urgency for
us to
embrace the
offer of
forgiveness that
God offers
to us through
Jesus Christ.
This should
cause us
tremendous
fear.
And yet,
we also
learn from
these passages
we need
much more
than just
fear,
right?
You'll
remember from
Proverbs
chapter 2
that we
can only
be protected
by wisdom
if we
love wisdom.
We can
only be
protected by
wisdom if
we love
wisdom.
In other
words,
fear is
not enough.
It's not
that we
need more
fear,
but that fear
is driving
us to what
we actually
need.
We need
a greater
love.
And that's
what Jesus
and the
Proverbs,
as wisdom
teachers,
both tell
us.
Here in
this passage,
we see
that it's
the heart
that matters.
Verse 14,
it's a
perverted
heart that
devises
evil.
And so
it's verse
18 as well.
It's a
heart that
devises wicked
plans.
And so
fear ultimately
isn't going to
help us or
save us.
It's the
heart that's
the problem
for this
worthless man.
And Jesus
tells us
the same
thing in
Matthew
chapter 12,
what I
just read.
Out of the
abundance of
the what?
The heart,
the mouth
speaks.
So it's out
of the
goodness of
the heart
that the
good man
brings out
good treasure.
In other
words,
the mouth
is not
the cause.
The mouth
is the
symptom.
It's not
that we
need new
mouths.
It's that
we need
new hearts.
it's not
that we
need new
mouths,
but that we
need new
hearts.
And of
course,
when we
come up
against that,
we realize
our
powerlessness,
right?
Jesus is
the only
way to
change
hearts.
Jesus is
the only
one who
can transform
evil treasure
to good
treasure.
We have
to obey,
right?
There's a
call to
obedience here
in Proverbs.
We cannot
obey unless
we're
transformed.
We have
to obey.
There's a
call to
obedience
here.
We cannot
obey unless
we're
transformed.
The basic
logic of
the gospel
is this.
I know
that I
must
change.
I know
that my
words must
be different.
And I
cannot
change
myself.
Logic of
the gospel
is this.
I know
that I
must
change.
I cannot
change
myself.
And so
it's a
greater
power that
has to
change our
hearts.
It has
to be
the
power that
comes through
Jesus Christ
as he
offers us
peace and
reconciliation
with him.
We are
able to
live at
peace with
others.
As he
changes our
hearts by
his Holy
Spirit,
we are
able to
then bring
forth good
treasure.
It's that
that transforms
us and
motivates us.
Remember,
it's not
just that we
want to
avoid the
floor of
the law.
It's not
just that
we're not
lying.
We're
looking to
head for
the ceiling,
to head for
the stars.
We're
promoting
goodness and
truth.
And so to
do that,
we have to
look to
Jesus who
transforms and
changes our
hearts.
We look to
Jesus and we
realize he
doesn't repeat
our sins,
right?
He removes
them as far as
the east is
from the west.
love.
And so we
don't have to
repeat other
people's sins.
Love covers
over a multitude
of sins.
Jesus' love has
covered over our
sins.
We're able to
cover over other
people's sins.
Our acceptance
is not based on
our performance.
acceptance.
And so we
don't have to
tear other
people down.
We don't have to
destroy the
community in
order to be
accepted.
We don't have to
convince other
people that
there's someone
who performs
worse than
us in order
to belong.
God, in
Jesus Christ,
promises to
never leave
us or forsake
us.
And because of
that, we can
trust him
rather than
destroying other
people in order
to get ahead.
Jesus is the
one who gives
us greater
promises and
greater provision.
He is the
one who actually
gives us the
power and the
ability to
have not evil
words but good
words.
He's the one who
transforms our
heart from
hearts of stone
to hearts of
flesh.
God has
restored his
relationship with
us.
And so we're
able to risk
hard conversations
with other
people knowing
that if we
lose our
relationships with
them, we
still have our
relationship with
God.
We don't have
to fear the
nakedness that
will come from
having every
word exposed
because Jesus
has already been
exposed for us.
and so we
don't have to
live in fear or
be motivated by
fear.
Instead, we are
motivated and
transformed and
propelled by
Jesus and his
work on our
behalf.
He is the one
who empowers us
and enables us
to do what the
ninth commandment
points us to,
to speak words
that are good and
loving rather than
words that are bad
and tear down.
That is the
power that God
gives us.
He empowers us to
speak good and
uplifting words.
Proverbs chapter 15
says this, to make
an apt answer is a
joy to a man and a
word in season how
good it is.
Of course, we want
to be those kinds
of people, right?
Word in season kind
of people.
People whose words
lift other people up
and build them up,
who encourage them
and sustain them.
In her book,
Pride and Prejudice,
we are told about
two different
characters who have
different relationships
with their words.
We have Wickham,
right?
Wickham's a man who
appears to be very
gracious in his words.
He wins people over
very quickly.
He tells them what
they want to hear.
His manners are
wonderful.
And yet it actually
turns out that he is
someone who winks
with his eyes,
signals with his feet,
and points with his
finger, right?
He openly slanders
Mr. Darcy.
He's not just saying
things that are
partially true.
He's saying things
that aren't true.
He's twisting the
truth.
He's destroying him
as part of the
community.
And he stabs him
in the back.
Why is he doing
that?
Well, he's devouring
people, right?
He's looking to gain
something, to earn
something.
He's taking advantage
of young women who
are too naive to
stay far away from
him.
He's looking to get
the money that he
needs to pay off
his debts.
He is stirring up,
he's creating
discord, enmity
between brothers.
Mr. Darcy, on the
other hand, now he
gets some flack,
right, for his words
at the beginning.
He says some things
about Elizabeth that
are unflattering.
And yet, ultimately,
he's someone who
uses his words to
build up the
community rather
than tear it down.
He does not go
around sharing the
truth about
Wickham.
He does in a
letter, right,
ultimately to defend
himself against the
slander.
But he's not going
around trying to
destroy.
Instead, he's
protecting.
There's many things
he could share that
are 100% true that
he doesn't.
And it continues to
the end.
We learn, of course,
that he ends up
coming out and
protecting the
community, not just
in his words, but
in his actions.
He saves the day
out of his love for
the community, and
he pays off Wickham's
debts so that Wickham
will marry Lydia
because he's willing
to sacrifice, he's
willing to lose,
right, to love this
community and protect
the honor of this
family.
He covers up, he
lets love cover a
multitude of sins
rather than going
out and revealing it
and disgracing people.
He does not
advertise that he's
done this, and he
doesn't do it out of
fear, right, but out
of love.
He does it because he
loves the community,
and most importantly,
he loves Elizabeth.
Wickham, on the other
hand, escapes for a
time.
He does not escape
forever.
He faces the
consequences of his
words.
Ultimately, everything
that is secret is
made public.
And so, brothers and
sisters, God warns us
of the danger of our
words.
We can burn down our
communities.
God also points us to
something better.
He points us to words
of love.
words of love that come
to us and through us
because of Jesus' love
for us first.
And so, he points us to
our need for a new
heart, and he provides
that new heart through
Jesus so we can express
our love for others and
the community in the way
that Jesus has given it
to us.
And so, that is our hope
and our confidence.
And we can say, the good
person out of good
treasure brings forth
good, but the evil
person out of his evil
treasure brings forth
evil.
I invite you to pray with
me.
Our Father in heaven, we
thank you that you don't
just warn us of judgment,
you don't just present us
with the fear that we need,
but you also give us the
escape and the provision
that we need in Jesus
Christ.
You transform our hearts,
you give us new hearts,
you cover over our sins
and forgive them, and you
build up and give us a
community to be a part of.
We thank you that we don't
have to earn these things
or deserve them, but that
you give them to us through
Jesus Christ, and so we ask
all of them in his name.
Amen.