Faithful Sayings

As one preacher once said, “The time of our suffering is short, but the bliss and reward of Heaven is eternal.” Paul’s main point here (vv. 18-25) is that this suffering will be well worth it. It’s a message that will help us persevere in the faith and cling to our hope. So how does Paul go about strengthening our faith and deepening our hope? That’s the question I want to answer. Paul puts the suffering of God’s people in context so that we might have the right perspective.

We’ve all made purchases we wished we could take back. Either we invested in a product that we thought would be fantastic and make life easier only to discover that it would work better as a paperweight. We’ve all committed to something that, at a later time, we desperately wished we could undo. A man named Esau stood to gain a great deal from his father Isaac, but Esau was impulsive and imprudent. If we aren’t careful, we can easily make the same mistake that he did. We, too, may awake one day to find that the inheritance promised to us will have passed by forever—lost for an eternity.

"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." –Vince Lombardi While Solomon had much to say by way of warning against laziness, he spends much time exhorting us to be diligent and proactive. In Scripture, regardless of one’s economic status, all are called to be diligent workers.

How does Scripture define those who are truly the sons and daughters of God? There are a number of places we can look to find the answer, but we're going to be focusing on Romans 8. If I want to be a true child, a true heir, and a true brother to Christ, what is God calling me to do?

As we move forward our study is going to be more topical in nature than exegetical. Solomon addresses so many aspects of life within the book–money, debt, marriage, work, parenting, relationships in general–so our approach will be to take one of these topics a week and consider what Proverbs teaches us about them.

In this part of our series, Paul reveals the importance of having a mind set on the spirit. Let's hear how he describes the spirit versus the flesh, and reflect why it is vital that we have the proper mindset.

“Show me a thoroughly satisfied man, and I will show you a failure,” said Thomas Edison. How painfully and dreadfully true this is in spiritual matters. Paul knew that he had come up short in his obedience to Christ, as we all do, but he would never be satisfied with coming up short! He knew that he was wretched, but he also knew Christ could and would save him so long as he strove to be faithful.

As we begin to look at God’s wisdom on various subjects in Proverbs, it’s important to remember that it’s God’s wisdom. There are other ancient and modern collections of wisdom literature with their own sayings and ideologies, but the biblical book of Proverbs stands apart from them because it alone declares that true wisdom is rooted in the knowledge of God (1:7; 9:10.

On the night He was betrayed, Jesus revealed to His disciples that one of them would betray Him. Upon hearing this, all were deeply grieved, and “they each one began to say to Him, Surely not I, Lord?” (Matt. 26:22

For so many, “freedom in Christ” is synonymous with “freedom to do as I please”, yet this is wholly antithetical to the Truth. As we can quickly see in the verse cited above the Christian is dead to the Law (i.e. the Law of Moses), BUT he or she has been joined to Christ wherein there are new obligations. Namely, that “we might bear fruit for God.” Freedom in Christ does not grant us the right to do as we please; freedom in Christ grants us the opportunity to do what is right–to serve God with a clear conscience. Christians are joined to Christ for a purpose–“For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.” (1 Thess. 4:7).

“I respectfully decline the invitation to join your hallucination,” Scott Adams once said. Not all invitations should be accepted, and Solomon certainly thought so. In this final section of his introduction to Proverbs, we’re treated to the last words of Lady Wisdom and Madame Folly–each offering us an invitation to come and dine with them. One invitation we must accept, the other we must refuse at all costs.

What stands in our way as we seek the Truth? I don't necessarily mean the Bible, but the Truth in general–the Truth about anything. What do we allow to stand in our way, what hurdles are before us? I'd like to discuss what the Bible offers as hindrances to seeking and adopting Truth, as well as how we can overcome these obstacles.

We gain access to God’s grace through faith in Christ, as Paul taught (Rom. 5:1-2), yet faith is not acceptable without obedience (Jas. 2:20ff), therefore grace cannot be had without obedience–grace demands it. Grace demands obedience not only to be accessed initially–“for by grace you have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8), but it demands obedience after one is reconciled to God, lest the Christian “fall short of the grace of God” and “receive it in vain” (Heb. 12:15; 2 Cor. 6:1).

It’s been said that “Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”1 There can be no understanding without the desire to understand. Paul spoke of a category of people who would “always be learning but never able come to a knowledge of the Truth.”2 Why is that?

What does it mean to be close to God, or to "feel" close to God? Is this a biblical concept, if so how is it defined? We often hear folks speak in these terms, and perhaps we use the same terminology to describe our relationship with God. Let's go to the Bible and test, not only the language, but the very idea of "feeling close to God."

This is the critical thing the Holy Spirit would have us understand: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:1-2). This text, so often isolated and abused, is clearly connected with the previous example of Abraham discussed in chapter four. To wit, through an Abrahamic type faith (implicit trust and obedience), we can be justified (declared righteous) before God. It is through faith in the blood of Jesus that we find favor with God and a perfect standing before Him.

Solomon was a concerned father, to be sure, but his voice is used by the Holy Spirit to express the concerns and admonitions of our Heavenly Father– the One who “disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.” What does our Father want us to know about sexual purity? What warnings does He have to share? What wisdom does He impart to help us see the danger and consequences of sexual immorality?

As Paul continues to reveal how one can be justified (declared righteous) before God, he draws our attention to Abraham, asking, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter?” (Rom. 4:1). This “matter” being the matter of justification, so Paul hones in on Abraham to instruct us further upon soul-saving faith.

When ancient Israel was at its most prosperous economically, politically, and militarily, it was at its worst spiritually (see Amos and pretty much any other minor prophet). Living wisely (in a God-pleasing way) necessitates cultivating wisdom in the heart. Remembering that we have a limited time to do this will instill a sense of urgency. There was another wise man, Solomon, who had much to say about this in Proverbs chapter four, so our study continues.

Let’s continue our study of Proverbs chapter three wherein Solomon is pointing us to the real treasure that’s at our fingertips: “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom”, he says, “for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold” and “She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her.”3 While people scramble to stockpile material wealth, hit the jackpot, or win the lotto, the Lord extends the very thing that will make us truly rich–His wisdom. Not rich in the “I’m gonna make it rain Benjys” sense, but rich in peace and honor and life.