Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today.
Our organization, Proverbs 27. Don't forget to pray for the Vestals. It's so good to see them here again tonight. We're just glad to see them, and continue to pray for their ministry and Jesse also. And they are a blessing to us. Proverbs 27, and without doing any review tonight for sake of time, we're going to begin with verse 13.
This is where we left off. Let's pray. Ask God to bless. Remember, this is from Father to Son. And here is a father writing a son, giving advice for life, just down to earth practical stuff. I had someone ask in our church, you know, what led to, you know, Proverbs 27, just random not going through the book of Proverbs, and I really can't explain it.
God just said, go verse by verse through Proverbs 27. So we've been doing that on Sunday nights, and I think it's been helpful. Let's pray. Lord, we love you.
Thank you for all that you've done. We bless your Word as you always do, may we rightfully divide it. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
First, some of these are a little bit random. In verse 13, we notice first that he deals with lending money to people that you don't know. Lending money. Now, there's other scriptures about lending money, a lot of information that I don't have time to give all of that tonight.
Of course, Scripture really tells you to really stop and consider and tread lightly on going into business with each other as Christians and things, and nothing wrong with that, but it can separate friendships, it can bring division into a church, and all those things. But I want you to notice verse 13. He says, take his garment, the person that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman. What are we saying here? He's saying, listen, don't just take somebody's word for it and lend money to somebody that you might never get that money back. You know, we are to be giving people, we are to help people with a need, but what I have found a long time ago is that, listen, at certain times the situation's right and God's in it lending money.
Now, I've had that happen in my life. I have been the lender and I have been the lendee in both situations, and thank God for it. But normally I have found that what's better than lending money is just, depending on the amount, if a person's just desperate, you just need to understand I would look at it as a gift and say, you know what, I'm going to give you this money and if you can pay me back that would be appreciated, but it's not going to be expected because if not you're going to end up getting your feelings hurt kind of a thing. And so, you know, what he is saying here is this, and don't just take this guy's word for it, take his garment.
What does that mean? It's collateral. He is saying, listen, you know, if you're going to lend your money to somebody that you don't even know and here's a person that's speaking on their behalf, then get collateral from them. Get his garment and say, all right, I'll hold this while I lend that to them, they pay me back, you get your garment back, whatever the case might be. Notice what he says, take a pledge of him for a strange woman, somebody that you don't know. And he is saying this, listen, be very, very careful about lending your money out. A gift is one thing, but lending is another. And this has separated so many people, it's caused so much division, it has literally broken so many friendships. So I just urge you, because this is one of the verses that comes right up, and here's a dad telling a son, listen, just because you get good feelings about it doesn't mean it's a wise decision.
You need to make sure that you do your homework, and you need to have collateral in this, not just go and throw your money around. Notice verse 14, he talks about the subject of literally complimenting that's overdone. In other words, complimenting a person too much. Look at verse 14, he that blesseth his friend, notice first with a loud voice, second rising early in the morning, this is what he says, it shall be counted a curse to him. So first, loudly, just overboard complimenting and praising and all this, then he says this, this is done early in the morning.
Now who can tell, well I don't need to treat you like a class, because I say I'm afraid of what I might hear if I ask who can say, if I give opinions. What he's saying is this, early in the morning means that person hasn't even done anything yet. You're complimenting somebody, and they haven't even done anything yet. So obviously you have an ulterior motive. You're trying to gain an advantage. You know, we used to call it kiss up to them kind of a thing. And he says, listen, don't wake up early in the morning, and a loud voice complimenting can be something that is overdone.
Here's why. If you overdo it, a person can begin to feel like it's not even genuine, that it's not even really meaningful, that this person is working me over. It's almost like a car salesman type of thing, you know, tells you all these things you want to hear. So he says, listen, there's nothing wrong with complimenting a person, nothing wrong with bragging on a person, nothing wrong with praising something that a person does. He says, but obviously here, son, he is saying, you go overboard on that, it's going to backfire on you. Now, look at verse 15.
Now we get to some ground that you probably don't wish that we would get to, all right? He talks about a contentious woman. Now this just isn't pastor writing people.
This is a father writing to a son. Look at verse 15. A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. Whosoever hideth her, hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which beareth itself.
So let's, let's start from the beginning one here. The word contentious, he says a contentious woman. This word contentious in the Hebrew literally means discord, strife, quarreling, brawling. Means always arguing over something, always quarreling over something, just, just never seems to us, always finds fault, it's always going on and on about something. He uses the word here continual. It means this, he says like when it rains, you go out, you, you, you can't go anywhere when it's raining and not get wet. He is saying with a woman like that, it doesn't matter where you go, you're gonna get it from her, is what he's saying. She's gonna always complain, always wanting to argue, always this or that. And so while Solomon here, he, he's implying a wife, but the concept here is for a man and a woman.
Listen to me. It's not just, well let me tell you, you gotta watch contentious women. Men can be the exact same way. The principle here is for both. He uses wife in context, why? Who's he writing? He's writing his son. So he's assuming if you're gonna get married, you're gonna marry a woman. Right, OK. So that's why he's using the context of wife here.
He wouldn't use husband because that would just be weird to write your son that. So he's writing to his son and he says, listen, a content—he's warning him, a contentious woman. Listen to me. He is saying like a constant dripping from a leaky faucet is like persistent rain. Both of them are annoying. The effects of a single drop of water are minor.
But the effects of 10,000 drops of water are major. What is he saying? He is saying that it's the accumulation. It's the constant—it's the continual and what he is saying here is the experience of being constantly nagged by a person becomes unbearable and that's the kind of a spouse that you should avoid. You know, when God saw that it wasn't good for Adam to be alone, He created Eve from Adam's side and He presented her to Adam as a fitting help me. Now the two became one and from that day forward, husband and wife were to exist as a loving unit. Now may I say this, Ephesians 5, 25 commands husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Ephesians 5, 22 wives are to submit themselves to their husbands. A nagging spouse, be it a husband, be it a wife, a nagging spouse disobeys a direct command from God. And so here he's writing his son and here's what's interesting, the verse following it is very interesting.
Look if you would at verse 16. He says, whosoever hideth her, hideth the wind. What is he saying?
It's impossible. When you are with a person like that, you can't get away from him. You can try to hide if you want to, but trying to hide a mate like that would be like trying to hide the wind.
You can't hide it. And then he uses this little phrase. He says, and the ointment of his right hand which be-rayeth itself.
No, no, what is — what do you mean by that? He is saying listening. He is saying that trying to get away from a nagging person and trying to get peace around that would be like trying to put the wind in a closet which you can't do.
And this word ointment is literally the Hebrew word for grease, specifically grease, oil. He is saying this, it would be like you trying to grab a handful of oil. The harder you squeeze to hold onto that oil, the more is coming out.
You can't grab hold of it. Whatever you try to do, it gets worse. And he is saying this that literally that when you're with a contentious person, when you try to stop a contentious person from arguing, it just makes them want to argue more. Now you all don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about. Some of you are very nervous right now because you're like if I make any movement right now, she or he is gonna get the hint. And preacher, I'm sitting here, I can't say amen to this right now, but I agree with you. Listen to me, wherever you go, you can't hide from it. And you trying to stop an argumentative person from arguing is gonna be like you trying to hold grease in your hand.
The more you try, the more it's gonna come out. And the more you — listen, what you really need is when somebody's really mad at arguing, let me tell you what really calms them down is when you look at them and say, hey listen, you're getting — you're getting — you need to calm down. They always react great to that. I mean that's what works with everybody. When they're upset and you say, listen, you need to calm down, oh they love that.
I mean I'm — it works every time, not. We had camp and we talked to our kids about the lingo from the 80s and that's what we used to say in the 80s, not, kind of a thing. So what is Solomon writing here to his son about? Andrea Watcher said this, say what you mean, but don't say it mean. Say what you mean, but don't say it mean. Tony Gaskin said this, arguing isn't communication, it's noise. Arguing is not communication, it's noise.
And let me just say this, I make no claims to know anything that goes on behind closed doors unless individuals come talk to me about it. But I will say this, I'm asking tonight, God resists the proud but He gives grace to the humble. And what I'm asking tonight is for every one of you that are a husband or that are a wife, and even if you're not your coworker, I'm asking you, have — have you developed into this kind of person that you just always wanted to argue about something? It's always something. You're always mad at something. Anything somebody does, it wasn't what you thought they should do. You can do this to friends just as much as you can do this to a mate.
And may I say something? Before long, nobody's gonna wanna be around you. Because what happens when it's raining outside? They go inside.
They don't wanna have to continue to get water dropped on them. And I just wanna encourage you tonight, listen, if you're honest enough — and may I say this, I don't know why I'm saying this, but I — God's led to say this. But I'm saying this — let me tell you the first step would be is that if you get some private moments either between the people in your life or your husband, your wife, whoever you think you've been acting this way to, one of the best steps would be for you to pull them aside and say, listen, God really talked to me tonight. And I might not always be able to see myself for how I'm acting, but God did convict me that I'm struggling with this. And I want you to know that I know that I'm struggling. That God pointed this out and I'm asking you to help. Would you pray for me on this?
One of the best things husbands or wives, if you — listen, if you have a tendency to do this, one of the best things you can do as fast as you can, admit it to your mate that I struggle with this. And I've heard what God said and I need your prayer about this matter. I want you to notice verse 17, he deals with this subject, the good and bad of influence.
The good and bad of influence. Look at verse 17. He says, iron sharpeneth iron so a man sharpens — excuse me, that's really good water. So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. We have a men's ministry here called Iron Men's that we'll be cranking up in some this fall and we enjoy that.
What's the principle based on it? Iron sharpens iron. Let me ask you something. Is iron sharpening iron always a good thing? What if you're laying under a guillotine? Do you really want it as sharp as it could be?
What is he saying here? Because iron sharpens iron and iron can be used for good or it can be used for bad. Listen, it's not so good if a knife's so sharp because when somebody's getting ready to stab you, but it can be good or it can be bad. Iron sharpening iron doesn't — it's not just something that that means it's always good.
No. Iron sharpening iron means this, that we influence one another. That's the principle. We influence one another. That can be for good or that can be for bad.
And that is what he is saying here. Iron sharpened iron. Explain yourself, OK? So a man sharpened the countenance of his friend. That means this, I influence those that I'm around, those that I speak into their life, people that speak into my life. I'm influenced by them and I influence them. I influence them and I'm influenced by them. And you and I need to understand this principle in life.
You say, what does it mean? Couple — three quick principles out of this are, number one is this, influence affects both positive and negative. Influence can be positive or it can be negative, OK? Number two is this, you must decide to influence and be influenced in the right direction. If iron sharpens iron, it means this, that I better make sure I'm around the right kind of people. Because if I'm around the wrong kind of people, I'm going to get sharpened but for the wrong reasons and in the wrong way, all right? You get a negative person that's mad about everything, they start hanging around, guess what, for long, they've influenced people around them, now they're mad about it.
Now they're negative about it kind of a thing. It just spreads like wildfire. So you better make sure, first off, and realize that I'm going to make sure that I am influenced by the right kind of person and I want to make sure that I give the right kind of influence to the people I'm around. Number three is this, understand that conversation and influence have a purpose.
So let me put this all together. What is this verse teaching? Listen, we influence one another. And that means this, that you need to make sure that you influence others correctly and you need to make sure that you are around the right kind of people that influence you correctly because you're going to be like the people you're around. Because of that, that means this, we need to understand that relationships have a purpose. There's a purpose to friendships. May I say something?
Where did this whole thing go? Like we as a church, we fellowship, we have church fellowships, we do things to fellowship. It's not about just eating.
I know some of you think that. It's not even about why do we have fellowships because what's supposed to happen is good godly Christian people that are trying to serve God get around good godly Christian people that are trying to serve God and they sharpen each other and encourage each other so when they're done they want to go out and serve God more. But what can happen is the wrong kind of influence can get together and before we're done, now we're worse off than we were before. You've got to stay away from that kind of influence. He's telling his son, listen, hey, listen Rehoboam, now you listen to me, you get around the right kind of people and they're going to make you better. You get around the wrong kind of people, they're going to make you worse.
So you make sure that you're around the right kind of people and then you make sure, Rehoboam, that you're the right kind of person so that whoever you're around, you're influencing them correctly, not incorrectly. Are you with me? Say amen. Look if you would at verse 18.
We'll make our way, we're almost done. He gives us here the motivation to work hard in life. Look at verse 18, who so keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof, so he that wadeth on his master shall be honored. Now what we find here in the Bible is a proverb. This is literally from the book of Proverbs. What is a proverb? A proverb is in short a statement of common sense or a statement of wisdom. That's the definition of proverb.
There are no necessarily absolute rules, but they do represent typical cases. So what are you saying? Here Solomon notes that normally in life, diligence, hard work pays off. A person who puts in the necessary work will, in most cases, see the results and the rewards of that effort. In other words, farmers can't reap crops unless they plant the crops and take care of the crops.
Athletes succeed because they've invested time and effort in practice and working on their support. So it means this, an employee normally is going to be rewarded because they work hard. It's a common principle.
Now listen to me. You say, well, what do you mean most of the time? Because there are occasions where you work hard at your job and you are faithful at your job and you're done wrong at your job. What does he use here in the verse? He says, well, the person that tins the fig tree, takes care of the fig tree, waters the fig tree, makes sure that, you know, keeps it from blight, keeps it, takes care of it. They're the ones that are going to get the benefit of it. Most of the time that's true. But I've met people that took care of the fig tree and somebody else took the fruit.
What is he saying here? Hey, like the person that takes care of their master, the master's going to reward them. Hey, sometimes it doesn't. Look at me, folks. But here's the point we're trying to make. Every once in a while in life you can be the hardest worker and not be treated the best. And you can be the one that's put in the work and not necessarily get the fruit from it.
Look at me. We do not, as Christians, we do not serve people. We serve people as unto the Lord. So in life, look at me, don't be discouraged, don't get mad, don't feel like you're a victim. And you and I need to understand as God's people we are never the victim.
Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. Christians shouldn't play the victim card. I'm just telling you, God's in control.
All right? If God is in me the hope of glory, I'm not the victim of anything. I'm His child. What's the worst thing you can do is kill me and put me to Heaven?
What in the world? So you and I have got to understand why we serve God and here's the principle. Your boss at work might not have rewarded you. And people you're around or at your workplace, you might work hard and do all the work and they don't thank you and they don't praise you and you didn't get the raise that you deserve.
That might be the case. And in those cases I would say talk to your Heavenly Father about it. But what I can tell you is that when you work hard, when you give of your best, when you serve those that are over you, that are in authority over you, God has promised that He will honor you. And I want you to know that. It's got to be a greater commitment that, hey, I worked hard for my boss and he didn't reward me. Who cares about your boss? I tell my staff that all the time. Who cares about your boss? And they all say, we don't, that's what they say. You're right, preacher, we don't. Listen, who cares about your boss?
You're not doing this for your boss. You're doing it for the Lord. Everything in a Christian's life we do for the Lord.
And I'm going to tell you something, the Bible says that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. I don't know why God has let — hey, these verses and stuff, but I'm going to tell you some of you might feel that you've really been slighted in life because you gave years to a company that didn't do you right, whatever the case might be. Don't you worry about that.
Don't you worry about that. That's just man. That's just mammon. Listen, you do what you do as a Christian for the Lord, and God is going to honor you. Let me show you this, and I thought this was good.
I might stop here, I might not. Verse 19. He gives us this principle here that the heart tells the truth. Look at verse 19, as in water, as in water, face answereth to face.
Very simple. What does that mean? Well, water here is used in terms like a mirror would be. Of course, in Bible studies, like if you look at water and water is still enough, you can see your reflection in water. He is talking about looking at your reflection.
Notice this. Face answereth to face. When you look in a mirror, you see you for what you really are. You know, I at times feel like Thor, but my wife will show pictures that she's taken while we were outside doing an activity. And I don't look at all like Thor.
I look like Thump or something, I don't know what it is. A picture tells the truth. Mirror tells the truth. You can think all you want to in your mind what you — but the mirror tells the story.
What is he saying? Look at this verse. The heart of man to man, just like a man's face answers to his face, he says here a man's heart shows the man. In other words this, you can say what your real values are in life, but your heart tells us who you really are. Your words can say one thing, but your heart gives us the truth. Here's why — you say, why is this principle so important, preacher?
I'll tell you why. Because so many times in church we preach and we've taught people to come up here to an altar and change their face, change the appearance, change what people sees. But God says, no, no, no, no, no, your heart is what tells people who you really are.
The heart is what needs to be changed. My wife and I, listen, we have three boys, we're so proud of them. You have children too, but you guys have learned this with your children.
Let me tell you something. We can make them follow rules all we want to, but they get out from under the house, they're gonna, they're gonna do what they want to do. That's when you find out what was really in their heart the whole time.
You all with me? Am I telling the truth, parents? Let me tell you something, a person's made to do something, you don't know if that's really out of their heart or they're just whatever, but let me tell you something, later on is when you find out, OK, that's what was really in their heart. And this is what Solomon here is telling Rehoboam in a sense that — let me tell you something. You might fool people, but your heart tells the truth. Let me — The greatest news that anyone can receive is the news of the free gift of salvation found in Jesus Christ.
It is our desire for you to know Him personally. Would you take a moment to hear this today? Every man is born with a sin nature. Romans 3 23 says, for all of sin and come short of the glory of God. No matter how hard we try, we're not good enough to obtain God's glory or to get to heaven because of that sin carries the penalty of death. Romans 6 23 says, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The wages of our sin or the payment of our sin only equals death and separation from God, but it's only through God's gift of salvation through Jesus Christ that we can accept Him as our Savior.
Jesus Christ paid for your sin debt. The Bible says in Romans 5 8, but God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. All you have to do is receive Christ by faith as your Savior. Romans 10 9 says, that if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Verse 13 continues, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's as simple as admitting that you're a sinner believing that Jesus is the only way and calling upon his name. The Bible says whosoever, that's anyone, can call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. Have you accepted Christ as your personal Savior? There is no greater day than today to take care of this. Would you accept Christ as your Savior? If you have any questions, please give us a call at 336-993-5192 or visit our website at corwinbaptistchurch.com or visit us at person at one of our three service times. We hope you have a great rest of your day. God bless you.
