Under Gods command

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

You need God’s word. This proverb is a great reminder. The Bible, the inspired scriptures of Jehovah, the only true God, is crucial for you. Without a revelation of God’s will, mankind is desperately ignorant and will self-destruct. Individual examples of dysfunction are all around you. God will soon destroy the world for its insane rebellion.

Neglect the Bible to your own peril. Fulfillment and happiness are by keeping God’s commandments, which can only be known by attention to the Bible. Your success and prosperity depend on you having a message from God. The lesson of this proverb is simple, but most are grossly misled by a false interpretation and foolish application.

The hired gun brought in by the ambitious pastor tells the contented church, “To be a big church, you need to think big. If you want to grow, then you need to think growth. If you want to triple your attendance in two years, then you need to build an auditorium that size. If you can dream it, you can believe it. If you can believe it, you can achieve it.”

He goes to his next PowerPoint slide and declares, “God agrees. The Bible says, ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’ Get a vision, people! Get a vision of tripling the size of your little church! Sign your pledge cards today, and help your pastor get that multi-million dollar mortgage! You need a vision, so your church won’t dry up and disappear.”

Who has not heard this sound bite, “Where there is no vision, the people perish”? The words of this proverb are well known, but the true meaning is little known. Here is one of the most abused verses in the Bible. This is the sound of words with no regard to the sense of words. May God save you from such ignorant and flippant use of the Scriptures.

This proverb is often corrupted to seduce churches to borrow large sums of money to finance unnecessary building projects. The “vision” is a plan to grow the church in size; and “perishing” is continuing on the same course with a bought-and-paid-for building. What a travesty of Bible interpretation! May the LORD bless you to read and understand the sense of this proverb, as Ezra read and gave the true sense to Israel (Neh 8:8).

As often in Proverbs, the parallelism tells you that “vision” is the hearing and reading of God’s word. A happy man is contrasted with people perishing, and the law of God is contrasted with “no vision.” There is nothing here about dreaming or building plans.

The lesson is simple but powerful. God’s word is a great blessing, and obeying it is the basis for true happiness. But where the word of God is not preached, the people will die in ignorance and folly from starvation for knowledge. Pray God to save you from such. This is the lesson of the proverb, and you should not let anyone corrupt this verse again.

God at times may take His word away from His people. Consider the days of Samuel, who anointed David king of Israel. The word of the LORD, or a revelation from God, was rare in those days, and it was called a vision, as in this proverb. In general, God was not revealing Himself and His will to Israel until Samuel arrived (I Sam 3:1).

God took His word away at other times also. Under Asa, the nation had gone a long time without a teaching priest or the law of God (II Chr 15:3). And during Josiah’s reign, the law of God, which had been lost, was found during temple renovation (II Chr 34:14). While in Babylon, God also took His word away from Israel (Ezek 7:26; Lam 2:9). Jesus saw His own people, without faithful preaching, as sheep without a shepherd (Matt 9:36).

Without the word of God to save him, man will worship totem poles, stop spanking children, teach reincarnation, believe he came from monkeys, burn children in sacrifice, eat a cracker-god, kiss a stone in Mecca, worship buffalo, burn widows on funeral pyres, save baby seals while aborting baby humans, invent same-sex marriages, and so forth.

Without God’s word, men wander out of the way of understanding and remain in the congregation of the dead, to perish there under Satan’s delusions (Pr 21:16; Acts 26:16-18; Eph 2:1-3). Consider modern history and where the greatest degree of human freedom, prosperous living, and happy people existed – where the Bible was practiced.

When Paul preached at Lystra and Athens, he explained that God had let the Gentiles walk in their own ignorant ways without His word for many generations, but He was now commanding men to repent of their ignorance (Acts 14:11-18; 17:22-31). Without Scripture, men will rush with greedy ambition into the vilest of lifestyles (Eph 4:17-19).

In today’s world, great sections of it are closed to the reading and preaching of God’s word. It is generally restricted in Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and other nations. Where it is not read and preached, the people suffer in ignorance and folly of many kinds. Without God’s word, such nations are “without hope” religiously (Eph 2:12; John 4:22; I Thess 4:13), and they cannot achieve a good measure of even natural progress (Pr 8:1-31).

One-sixth of the world is Catholic, where until very recently its members were not allowed to read the Bible. The Mass – their only exposure to Scripture – was done in Latin. What superstitious ignorance! And this in the name of Christian religion! Compare a Catholic country with those around it, and perishing by ignorance is quite visible. Since they did not receive the love of the truth, God sent them delusions (II Thes 2:9-12).

The logic is simple. Religious salvation is by calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But how can they call without believing? And how can they believe without hearing? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach without being sent? God has withdrawn His word from a world that rejected it (Rom 10:13-17).

The LORD warned that one of His judgments is to take away the word of God and leave a people starving for Him and Scripture. The Lord said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). He described the famine He will bring on a land: not a famine of bread, but a famine for hearing God’s word (Amos 8:11-12). Lord, help!

America is in such a condition. It fulfills the perilous times of the last days, prophesied by Paul in a warning to Timothy (II Tim 3:1-5). Though having an information explosion with a geometric increase in learning, there is no ability to identify or learn the truth (II Tim 3:6-7). Most of its Christians and churches think, look, and act like worldly pagans.

False teachers are everywhere, deceiving and being deceived (II Tim 3:8-13). Most Christians resent sound doctrine and truth, and they pay teachers and entertainers who will scratch their itching ears and lusts with fables (II Tim 4:3-4). Real preaching is despised as an outdated, boring, and negative activity. Entertainment rules! There is no more vision! America is in the midst of a famine for God’s word.

Men are living dysfunctional and perverted lives and perishing in folly and ignorance. A few sincere Christians throughout the nation are starving to hear and understand the word of God, but they cannot find it being taught anywhere. Confusion and error reign on any and every subject. The emphasis is on growth and programs with disdain for God’s word.

What is the cure? God-called men must preach the Word of God faithfully and dogmatically. Scripture is completely sufficient to make every faithful minister perfectly prepared to instruct his people in all the wisdom of God (II Tim 3:14 – 4:2; Jer 3:15). With the Bible as his handbook, a faithful man of God can destroy the errors and illusions of any people, for the word of God is a hammer and a fire (Jer 23:28-29).

What is another cure? Honor faithful preaching of His word with a ready and receptive mind, and do not despise old-fashioned Bible teaching (Act 17:11; I Thes 5:20; Jer 6:16; Jude 1:4). Reject any move to contemporary worship, and restore a proper emphasis on thundering messages from God’s word by ordained teachers. Review the great joy and national celebration of Israel hearing and understanding preaching (Neh 8:1-12).

What is another cure? Treasure His word as your greatest earthly possession, and delight in its glorious words from heaven (Jer 15:16; Job 23:12; Psalm 19:10; 119:72,103,111). Promote the Bible as the absolute and final authority on every subject where you can, in conscious defiance to this MTV generation and their obsession with fables and pleasure. Make sure you have a Bible version that you can trust at the word level to honor God.

What else can you do? Humbly obey in sincerity and truth what you read and hear from the Bible, not merely complying outwardly by a religious ritual and habit (Ezek 33:30-33; Luke 8:18). Let others see your true conviction about Scripture by your obedience to it.

What else? Show the true joy, peace, and hope in believing that will cause others to be encouraged and ask a reason of your hope (Rom 15:13; I Pet 3:15). Those under the influences of the Spirit at Pentecost did not count their vision a light thing (Acts 2:42-47). By obeying the Bible and having a blessed life, you will do much to promote it to others.

There is great reward in having and obeying the Word of God (Ps 19:11). Moses told Israel that the precious revelation they had received from God was their wisdom and understanding above other nations (Deut 4:5-10), their righteousness and means for His blessing (Deut 6:20-25), and even their very lives (Deut 32:46-67). Building on this solid foundation will prepare you well for life’s storms that will surely come (Luke 6:46-49).

Jesus said regarding His preaching, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:17). He even told a woman that hearing and keeping the word of God was a greater blessing than being His own mother (Luke 8:21; 11:28). And James added that the blessing is for those who hear and do (James 1:25). Make sure you are a doer!

The Holy Scriptures and the faithful preaching of them provide more value to a people than any other blessing. For obeying God’s word saves from horrible ignorance and trouble, leads to the highest peace, prosperity, and pleasure possible in this world, and contains all the spiritual instruction to prepare for the next world. It teaches men how to walk with God in confidence of eternal life and personal fellowship with Him. Glory!

The Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God. There He received great gifts and spoil for His victory over sin and death, and He has in turn given these gifts of ministerial ability and authority to preach the Scriptures to His people and churches. Rejoice and be exceeding glad that you have seen the beautiful feet (Rom 10:15; Job 33:23-24) and heard the joyful sound (Ps 89:15; 68:11; Rom 10:18).

Dear reader, do you love, appreciate, read, and obey the Bible as you should? It is your life. Without it, you will perish. Neglect it to the peril of life and soul. It is your happiness. Exalt it to the joyful blessing of your own life and that of your family. Your fulfillment and happiness in all things both natural and spiritual depend on it.

Under Gods Command

Proverbs 28:22 A stingy man is eager to get rich and is unaware that poverty awaits him.

Greed will distort your vision. You will see temptations other men miss, and you will eye everything as a means for gain. Chasing riches is bad enough, but pursuing them hastily is a recipe for disaster. Ambition, covetousness, and greed are ingredients of financial ruin (Pr 28:20; I Tim 6:7-10). A wise man is content with his wages and lets God make him rich; he will not pursue damning and elusive wealth, either slowly or hastily.

Haste to be rich is the impatient lust for more of a greedy person. He is frustrated by an ordinary job and discontented with ordinary wages. He believes he deserves better; he envies successful men; he covets what they have; he believes others owe him; he allows lustful thoughts. This greed for gain perverts his vision. He measures others by how much he might gain by them rather than how much they could gain from his service to them.

His heart and eyes are obsessed with getting ahead financially. He is constantly thinking of squeezing more money out of every transaction. He wants to buy below market, but he wants to sell above market. He begrudges any activity that does not pay. He hates giving charity, but he loves receiving it. In all his thoughts about money, he overlooks one great consideration – God and good men will take this covetous wretch down to poverty.

Greed for gain corrupts a man’s view of life. He is stingy in giving. He is unthankful in receiving. He is overbearing in transactions. He measures relationships financially. He defrauds his family. He overworks. He underpays. He resents taxes. He may consider bribes. He is angered by acts of God that cost him money. He is easily deceived by get-rich-quick schemes. He despises patient saving. He envies the successful. He is unhappy.

But a wise man scatters his money, knowing it leads to prosperity; he knows miserly thinking leads to poverty and resentment (Pr 11:24-26). A wise man considers the poor and gives quickly (Pr 19:17; Ps 41:1). He knows that a little with fear of God, peace, and righteousness is better than wealth without these things (Pr 15:16-17; 16:8; 17:1; 28:6; Ps 37:16). Generous men have a good eye – they see life’s priorities correctly (Pr 22:9).

Tax collectors and occupying soldiers often have evil eyes – using their jobs for greed, but John the Baptist taught precise accounting and contentment with wages (Lu 3:12-14). Even when buying something, you must hate greed and pay a fair price for it (Pr 20:14).

Heretics, like the mega-church gurus of today, profess gain to be godliness. But they are to be rejected for Jesus Christ’s pure doctrine – godliness with contentment is great gain (I Tim 6:3-10). Wise men despise riches and willingly give to others (I Tim 6:17-19).

Under Gods Command 

Proverbs 27:11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt

Children can hurt a father two ways! Or they can reward him both ways! Godly character and conduct by a child makes a father glad, and it enhances his reputation before others. Children may easily please and honor their father by being wise as defined by Solomon.

When a man takes a strong stand for truth, wisdom, and righteousness, his children can make him or break him. They can break him in spirit, by crushing his heart (Pr 17:21,25; 19:13; I Sam 2:27-36). They can stain his reputation, by giving an occasion for enemies to criticize or condemn him (I Sam 2:12-17,22-25; 8:3-5).

On the other hand, if his children live the truth, wisdom, and righteousness their father exemplified and taught, they can both rejoice his heart and give him powerful credibility to silence his detractors. Every father waits and wonders at various times in his life to see what his children will do to his legacy – destroy it, or exalt it.

Children are a wonderful blessing from God (Pr 5:15-18; Ps 127:3; 128:3-4). They are like arrows in the hand of a mighty man, in that they can assist their father and leverage his character and wisdom by multiplying his influence in the world (Ps 127:4). When a man has a quiver of them – a large family – he can be bold toward enemies (Ps 128:5).

But this only works when children are wise and righteous. If they are foolish and wicked, they give their father no advantage. They actually harm him and any cause he pursues. They are a blot on his character and reputation, for his enemies can malign him for his evil offspring. Only noble and prudent grandchildren are a crown to old men (Pr 17:6).

This matter of obedient children for the reputation of fathers is so important that God requires his two church officers – bishops and deacons – to have faithful and obedient children (I Tim 3:4-5,12; Titus 1:6). A man with unruly children at home that he cannot control indicates he would not be able to take care of a church of Jesus Christ.

Solomon was a good son to David. Hiram, King of Tyre, had always loved David very much, and he rejoiced and thanked God on David’s behalf, when he became acquainted with Solomon (I Kgs 5:1-7). And this was after David’s death! Though his enemies might have easily reproached David for his other sons, they had to stand in awe of Solomon.

But Eli’s sons broke his heart, brought God’s severe judgment, and caused Israel to hate his family and God’s worship (I Sam 2:12-17,22-25)! Samuel, who should have learned from this terrible calamity, had wicked sons as well that ended his rule over Israel (I Sam 8:3-5). Simeon and Levi caused their father Jacob’s reputation to stink among the Canaanites (Gen 34:30). Foolish sons can break a father’s heart and ruin his reputation.

If children can make a man glad and great, even before his enemies, then training them should be of the utmost importance. No wonder Abraham took it seriously (Gen 18:19). No wonder Joshua took it seriously (Josh 24:15). No wonder it is a command throughout the Bible (Pr 22:6; Deut 4:9-10; 6:4-7; 11:18-19; Ps 78:1-8; Joel 1:1-3; Eph 6:4)!

Fathers! Do not neglect this duty. If you are slothful in this matter, you will not only ruin your children, but you will also bring much future pain into your life, much grief into your wife’s life, and ruin your personal and family reputation (Pr 17:21,25; 19:18; 22:15; 23:13-14; 29:15,17)! What can and should you do today to sharpen your arrows?

Children! Do you understand your duty to honor your parents? God has commanded it, but you can also bring joy to their hearts by being wise and righteous, and you can silence their critics by your noble and virtuous character and conduct. Do not neglect this opportunity, for such things have a way of coming back to punish you (Pr 1:31; Gal 6:7).

The highest compliment and most precious gift you can ever give to a minister of the gospel is your righteous life in obedience to his teaching of the scriptures. Seeing you bear spiritual fruit in your life blesses and gladdens his heart, and a fruit-bearing church defends his reputation against those opposing his doctrine or attacking his person.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of His Father, answered forever the reproaches of God’s enemies. The Son of the woman obeyed perfectly and died obediently, triumphing over the devil in an open show (Rom 8:32-34; Col 2:13-15; Rev 12:7-11). The Father announced His great pleasure and promoted Him over all (Eph 1:20-23; Phil 2:9-11).

Reader! If you claim to be a son of the living God, what is your conduct doing to Him and for Him? Are you gladdening His heart by your wise and sober life? Are you adorning His doctrine and silencing the enemies of the gospel by your virtuous conduct and speech? You have a glorious privilege and important duty. Fulfill it cheerfully today!

Under Gods Command 

Proverbs 22:23 For the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them

The poor and weak have a powerful Friend. If you mess with them, He will mess with you. It is a rule of godliness and wisdom to treat the oppressed and vulnerable with great care. The Bible often mentions orphans and widows as those deserving special treatment, but the rule applies to any afflicted, helpless, poor, or needy person (Pr 23:10-11; 31:8-9).

With pronouns in this proverb, you must find the antecedents in the context. Solomon had just written, “Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate” (Pr 22:22). The Lord will plead “their” cause, meaning the cause of the poor and afflicted. The Lord will spoil those that spoiled “them,” meaning the poor and afflicted. If you bother or harm a poor or afflicted person, the Lord will defend them by hurting you.

The rule is simple – do not take financial advantage of a poor person, since his poverty makes him more vulnerable; do not press claims or rights against afflicted or troubled persons. Using the example of orphans and widows, consider God’s repeated warnings (Ex 22:22-24; Deut 24:17; 27:19; Mal 3:5; Jas 1:27). Using the example of the poor, consider His repeated warnings (Pr 14:31; 17:5; Ex 22:25; 23:6; Deut 15:7-11; 24:12-15).

How severe is God’s revenge against those harming the weak and needy? “Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless” (Ex 22:22-24). This is serious business! Helping the helpless is wise! Hurting the helpless is suicide! Do not worry about oppression you cannot stop, for their Friend is watching (Eccl 5:8).

Reader, are you tempted to think, But I have never robbed the poor, and I have never oppressed the afflicted. Really? Let’s see. If you are a husband, have you ever hurt your wife, the weaker vessel, out of bitterness (Col 3:19; I Pet 3:7)? If you are a parent, have you ever hurt a child by a critical, harsh, or overbearing approach (Eph 6:4; Col 3:21)? If you are an employer, have you ever failed to follow through on a commitment (Jas 5:1-5)? Have you ever presumed on the services of other church members (Jer 22:13-14)?

Rachel oppressed Leah, so God gave Leah three times more children, and Rachel died in childbirth (Gen 29:31; 30:14-16; 35:16-20). Peninah oppressed Hannah, Elkanah’s other wife, so God gave her Samuel, five other children, and her husband’s heart (I Sam 1:1-6; 2:21). Judas Iscariot oppressed the Lord Jesus Christ, so God dashed his bowels across a field and cut him and his family out of any mercy in this world or the next (Ps 109:1-20).

Rather than have the LORD God of heaven planning against your life and spoiling your soul, get Him on your side by being a benefactor to the poor and needy (Pr 19:17; 28:27; 31:8-9). This is a simple rule of wisdom for your prosperity and success. Think how wonderful the world could be if God’s wisdom were practiced by more than just a few.