Proverbs 11:15-22

Hey, welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2021, we'll make it through all the wisdom literature. So good to have you this morning. It's a blessing to get to come to God's Word and to just spend some time with the Lord together. Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. We thank you that you have given us instruction, that you care for us. Lord, we pray that we would be faithful children, sitting at your feet, learning from you. Lord, we pray that you would direct our paths, teach our minds today. In Jesus's name, amen.
All right, well, I don't know about you, but it's a huge blessing to me to be able to put away the news, put away the things of this world, and come to the words of life. So why don't we go ahead and we'll turn over into our Bibles together now. While we do that, let me just encourage you that if you find these videos helpful to you, it's always helpful to the algorithms and such to just hit that like button, share it with someone else, let them know that this is valuable to you. All right, let's go ahead and go to Proverbs chapter 11. Verses 15 through 22.
He who is surety for a stranger will suffer, but one who hates being surety is secure. What is this talking about? What is this saying? Well, this is saying that don't become a cosigner on a loan that you got no business being a part of. Don't be there. Just don't do it. It's going to give you a whole lot of heartbreak. You don't need to enter into every business venture with people you don't know. You don't need to feel that obligation to put your own life on the line. Actually, you need to protect your own family's well-being. you know, co-sign on student loans and stuff like that. For people you don't know whether they'll actually be able to pay it off or not.
Some good wisdom there. A gracious woman retains honor, but ruthless men retain riches. Isn't that interesting? If we show grace, we get honor. If we're ruthless about getting things, you're not gonna retain honor, you're just gonna retain riches. and riches don't get you anywhere, right? You might be able to enjoy your stuff, but at the end of the day, you're still gonna be more poor because you can't take your riches to heaven.
Verse 17, the merciful man does good for his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh. So if we're merciful towards others, it's good for us. But if we're cruel towards others, we cause trouble even for our own bodies. Are we those who will walk humbly and show mercy and be gracious with others? The wicked man does deceptive work, but he who shows righteousness will have a sure reward.
Put in an honest day's wages. Put an honest day's work in for honest day's wages. There you go. That's what I was trying to say, right? Work hard. Whatever you find to do, work with all your might. We don't believe that there are some jobs that are sacred and some jobs that are secular. No. No, whatever you work, work as unto the Lord. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. And enjoy it. Enjoy your work. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. It's good. This is what God gives us.
The wicked man, though, does deceptive work. There is a difference between honest work and deceptive work. There's a way in which you can be deceptive doing your work and there's certain work that's irredeemable. You cannot do being a crime boss to the glory of God. It's deceptive work, it's stealing people. You can't do work as, I don't know, take a job as somebody who does euthanasia. You can't kill people and do righteous work, no. But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. Verse 19, as righteousness leads to life, so he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.
Now isn't that true of all of us? We are all sons and daughters of Adam. We are all those who have sinned. Each one of us has fallen from the glory of God, fallen short of his standard. That's all us in the second part of that. But the first part, oh Jesus Christ has done that.
As righteousness leads to life. Jesus Christ lived that perfect life. Jesus Christ lived that life without sin. Jesus Christ was indeed blessed with life everlasting. And it's through His righteousness that we are accepted into God's sight. By His righteousness being imputed to us, received by faith, that we're able to enter into the presence of God and have life forever.
Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord, but the blameless in their ways are his delight. Again, the Lord is so holy that he cannot even stand to look upon sin. And so if you have a perverse heart, it's an abomination to the Lord. Such were one of us. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, but God has not called us to live lives full of blame, but blamelessness. This is why he sent his Son, his only begotten Son, who is the blameless Son of God. But the blameless in their ways are his delight. The Father delights in the Son. And if we are in the Son, He delights in us. And we have His blamelessness.
So do you confess your sins? And do you walk in the righteousness that you have been imputed to now? Right, just because we have the righteousness of Christ doesn't mean that now we enjoy walking in unrighteousness. No, He has called us to walk in holiness. through the joy, verse 21, though they join forces, though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished, but the posterity of the righteous will be delivered. Isn't that the truth?
We might see people join forces together, and wicked powers come together now. But brothers and sisters, it is appointed for every man to die once, and then after this, the judgment. There is a day of death coming. Proverbs tells us this again, and again, and again, and again.
So are we going to join forces with the unrighteous, or will we cling to Jesus Christ alone? But the posterity of the righteous will be delivered. This is what Peter was saying in Acts chapter two when he said that this good news is for you and for your children and for those who are far off. Do we share the righteousness of Jesus Christ with others and do we show this in our lives?
Lastly, verse 22, as a ring of gold and a swine snout, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.
You can put a gold ring in a pig's nose but it don't make the pig any prettier. You can put a gold ring or a gold stud in a woman's nose, but if she doesn't have any discretion, it doesn't make her any prettier. It's not about jewelry. It's not about fine arraignment. This is why First Peter, when he's talking to the women in the church, he says, don't adorn yourself with jewelry or braided hair. Don't think that somehow that's what's going to make you beautiful and acceptable. No. Adorn yourself with modesty and holiness. That's what's going to bring a smile to your father's face. So pretty counter-cultural, pretty counter-intuitive here, but this is the reality. So what about you? What do you think? Proverbs are a little bit different.
I'm going to ask you today, what would you underline in your Bible as you think is the verse that kind of strikes you the most? I think in my Bible, I would probably underline verses 18 and 19. I'm going to go ahead and highlight that in my Bible. Well, maybe even verse 20. This whole part is this really beautiful section on the righteousness that we should be clinging to and going after. What would you highlight in your Bible? What are you called to do? What is something that maybe pricked your heart?
Why don't we go ahead and we'll pray together now. Lord, we thank you so much for this day. Father, we pray that we would walk in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We thank you, Lord, that you have declared us and made us blameless. Father, please watch over us. Please protect us. Please let us go in your ways. In Jesus's name, amen. May the Lord bless you today. May you walk in the ways of Jesus Christ. May you do whatever you do today unto the glory of God, and I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.