November 4, 2020
Instructions on what NOT to do #
Pro 23:9-18
Introduction
As I was going over Chapter 23 again, I found a common theme was repeated several times over in the chapter. While it appears a few times in the chapter 22 and chapter 24, it is clearly a common theme in chapter 23.
3 – Be not desirous
4 – Labour not to be rich
6 – Eat thou not the bread of the him
9 – Speak not in the ears of a fool
10 – Remove not the old landmark
13 - Withhold not correction
17 – Let not thine heart envy
20 – Be not among winebibbers
31 – Look not thou upon the wine
We will not backtrack, and look at the verses we have already covered, we will cover the rest of this chapter, as things we are not to do.
Sometimes instructions on what not to do are important!
Examples:
Chain Saw: Do not attempt to stop blade with hand.
Iron: Do not iron clothing while wearing it.
Stroller: Do not fold stroller while child is in it.
Sunshade: Do not drive with sunshade in windshield
Microwave: Do not use for drying pets.
ZipLock baggy: Do not climb inside this bag and zip closed.
Hair dryer: Do not use while sleeping.
I. Warning about Counsel (9) #
A. Deaf ears #
i. Fool, by definition of who he is, will not listen! #
Prov. 12:15 ¶ The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.
Prov. 18:2 ¶ A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.
- You CANNOT pour water into a closed container!
- A fools heart is closed to understanding!
Prov. 28:26 ¶ He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
- A generation of fools has been raised to trust in their own heart, follow their own heart, live, and do what they want.
- “Your heart will not lead you wrong.” - LIE!
ii. Wisdom and understanding do not delight a fool. #
- A fool takes delight in being exalted.
- A fool takes delight in sinful pleasures.
iii. You don’t know a fool until he has rejected, scorned truth. #
- You cannot determine a fool without trying to give wisdom.
B. Despised words #
i. Despise – scorn, disdain, abhor, hate #
Prov. 15:5 ¶ A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.
- Often a person becomes despised, just as much as the wisdom they give.
II. Warning about Change (10-11) #
Dr. J. Gresham Machen said, “America is coasting downhill on a godly ancestry.”
A. Moving #
i. Landmarks were to clearly mark the land. #
- Deut. 19:14 ¶ Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
- Deut. 27:17 Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.
B. Sinful Motivation #
Job 24:2 Some remove the landmarks; they violently take away flocks, and feed thereof.
- Selfish motive, to take what isn’t theres.
- Rebellious in nature
- Prey on easy targets….
C. Spiritual moving… #
i. Be careful! #
- We need to be careful about changing spiritual things in our life!
- Sometimes change comes by circumstances beyond our control… a flood, or natural disaster may move the landmarks…. Diligence in putting them back.
- Many churches are cutting back on services, cutting back on Bible preaching, cutting back on hymns…. You better be careful of change, you are robbing from the next generation!
Heb. 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
III. Warning about Children (12-16) #
A. Diligent in instruction! (12) #
i. Apply this information to your heart! #
- Applying this to your heart will result in changes in your life!
ii. He is about to give us some SERIOUS instruction, and knowledge. #
iii. Listen, and let it soak in! #
- When our mind is already made up on something, we are not going to listen.
- He is telling us, open your mind, and listen
B. Diligent in correction (13-14) #
- Obviously we denounce child abuse. It is not right to beat kids.
i. Don’t withhold correction! #
- Correction – the act of correcting; the act of bringing back, from error or deviation, to a just standard, as to truth 5. In scriptural language, whatever tends to correct the moral conduct, and bring back from error or sin, as afflictions
Eph. 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
- Rod – the shoot or long twig of any woody plant; a branch
- God certainly designed a place for punishment to be issued, it is padded. When correction is applied correctly, it hurts but doesn’t damage.