A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not.
The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.
Many seek the ruler’s favour; but every man’s judgment cometh from the LORD. An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.
Proverbs 29:22-27
He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession. The rich man is wise in his own conceit; but the poor that hath understanding searcheth him out. When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory: but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden.
Proverbs 28:8-12
Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.
The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross.
He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him; When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart. Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation.
Proverbs 26:20-26
Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Proverbs 23:17-19
“The Way” is through Jesus Christ, because He died for our sins on the cross, He was buried, and He rose again.
The way that wisdom guides Us in fearing the LORD.
He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want. Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
Proverbs 22:16-21
Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.
The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the gray head.
The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly.
Proverbs 20:24-30
Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will He pay him again.
Proverbs 19:15-17
He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
Proverbs 17:27-28
It is a wise individual who knows what to say, when to say it, and to whom it is said. The individual who is wise also knows how long to speak.
Even those who are foolish, ignorant willingly ignorant of God, when he remains silent is counted wise. Anyone who knows when to speak and when to be silent is a man of understanding.
As a Christian we ought always tell others of God’s gift to mankind; that is His Son Jesus Christ who died on the cross for out sins, was buried, and rose from the dead. To call on Him in the time He calls you is the wisest choice you will ever make.
The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Proveorbs 16:1-7
The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise. He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding. The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.
Proverbs 15:31-33
In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
In the multitude of people is the king’s honour: but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.
He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.
The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.
Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that which is in the midst of fools is made known.
Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
The king’s favour is toward a wise servant: but his wrath is against him that causeth shame.Proverbs 14:26-35
The life of any human being on earth will be a better life lived when they fear the LORD. The rest of these Proverbs will be heard, and heeded through our respect and awe toward the GOD who made the heavens and the earth.
Note the warning, “He that oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker…” How are we doing with the poor? How am I doing with the poor?
A wise son heareth his father’s instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke. A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence. He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
Proverbs 13:1-3
Jesus had a few words about the words we speak:
“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.” Matthew 15:18.
Before that He said,
” Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” Matthew 15:11
Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?” Matthew 15:17
So we must pay attention to the words we use when speaking, guard and keep out mouth from speaking ill of others, with other sinners,
Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish. A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will He condemn. A man shall not be established by wickedness: but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.
Proverbs 12:1-3
Sometimes we do not like people who are trying to give us good advice or instruction on how or why we should do, or even not do something.
The one who loves and approves of someone giving good instruction, also loves knowledge.
The “Good man” obtains “Favor of the LORD”, but who is a good man? Those who are perfect before God. Those to whom God calls “Just.” Those who have believed God concerning what He says about His only begotten Son, who is Jesus the Christ.
He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.Proverbs 9:7-10
It takes godly wisdom to discern if we should reprove someone, or give them instruction. If we rebuke a scorner (Mocker) we may find ourselves in a jam.
If a wise man is rebuked he will love the one giving it. If we give instruction to a wise man, they increase in learning.
So if we possess godly wisdom we will love those who rightly rebuke us. If we are just and wise we will listen to instruction and learn.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus. He died for our sins, was buried and He rose again.
My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.
Say unto wisdom, “Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:” That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding…
Proverbs 7:1-7
My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
Proverbs 6:20-25
The commandment of the father, and the law of the mother are compatible because they are equal in discipline, correction, and instruction.
The words are from a father to his son, and as the word of God is directed from God our heavenly Father to His sons (children) of the new birth. Note what the commandment, and the law do for those who will listen, hear and do it.
First it will give you peace when you sleep through the night. It will talk to you when you are awake.
It does this for us; GOD does this for us to keep us from evil. God is full of love, mercy, and grace. He will deliver you when you turn from your sins to Him through Jesus Christ who bled and died on the cross, He was buried and He rose again.
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee. Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He pondereth all his goings.
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
Proverbs 5:15-23
I am a man who has been blessed with a good wife. I know no other woman so loving and kind and has such a heart for serving others. We have been married for 52 years, and everyone of those years blessed me with love.
I know that is not so in many a man’s life, and I hurt with you, because I know some men do not know how to treat a woman. She should be; your wife that is; treated with awe and respect. It is amazing what a good wife can do.
I am not saying that everything will always be bliss, and heavenly, because it will not. There will be hard times. Work through them together. If you have the Lord Jesus Christ in your marriage and home, you can overcome any attack against you.
When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
Proverbs 2:10-22
“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, ‘The servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for My name’s sake, because they know not Him that sent Me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth Me hateth My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’ But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of Me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning.”
John 15:18-27
Jesus said unto them,
“If God were your Father, ye would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do ye not understand My speech? Even because ye cannot hear My word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe Me not. Which of you convincethMe of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe Me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”
John 8:42-47
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. I can of Mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and My judgment is just; because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me.”
John 5:25-30
He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:11-14
And there went great multitudes with Him: and He turned, and said unto them,
“If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build, and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.”
Luke 14:25-33
Jesus left a place of wealth, glory, and power to come earth to become a lowly human baby. To then grow into the Man who would give His life a sacrifice to pay our sin debt to God.
Since He did that for us then, we ought to give ourselves to Him, and be His disciple. There is something we must do to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and that is surrender our wills to doing His will. Comparing our love for Jesus Christ to our love for family should seem like hatred for family; we love Jesus so much, we lead our family to the saving grace of God through faith in Him, and even being willing to die for Christ. Even to the point of watching a child die for the name of Christ because you will not deny or betray Him.
As I read the text, and what I have written above I am writing to myself and asking myself the question; Is there anything that I love more than Jesus? Nothing comes to mind.
And He spake a parable unto them, saying,
“The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: and he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?’ And he said, ‘This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.’ But God said unto him, ‘Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee:’ then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:16-21
Barns are built for the purpose of the storage of grain, hay for the cattle that is hauled in out of the field during the summer months, and they can be built as protection for their from the weather for their farm equipment. Then there are milk barns where the Dairy farmer milks his milk cows. There is nothing wrong with the building of barns.
Before the above verses Jesus has been asked by a brother of another to talk the other one to divide their inheritance. Jesus uses the opportunity to teach us of covetousness. Covetousness is wanting more and more of a thing, and when in receipt if one item desires another, then another; never content, neither do they thank God for the blessing.
The farmer in Jesus’s parable was so caught up in his wealth he had not considered that God was the giver of life, and he takes life. He was laying up treasure for his retirement years, thinking that he could have a life of comfort and ease without God.
We cannot continue living without God, and His Son Jesus Christ. Do you not realize that every breath we breathe, every beat of your heart, and every step we are able to take comes from the Lord.
You can trust God with your when you surrender to do His will and follow Him. Jesus Christ died on the cross, He was buried, and He rose again the third day so that we might come to God. Trust Him and call on His name. He will hear you, and give you eternal life, cleansing you of every sin.
Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by Him, and said unto them,
“Whosoever shall receive this child in My name receiveth Me: and whosoever shall receive Me receiveth Him that sent Me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.”
Luke 9:46-48
There were some of the disciples who thought Jesus was going to set up His kingdom on earth. In verses preceding our text today, tells us that Jesus had told them once again that He was going to die at the hands of men. They refused to hear it, not understanding what He was saying. How could these men miss what Jesus told them several times?
They had preconceived ideas about the Messiah. The death of Messiah was unthinkable to these men. Because of the way they believed about Jesus, and thinking Jesus was there to set up the Messianic kingdom, they were asking where they were going to sit in that kingdom, seeking for greatness.
Jesus takes a young child and sets him by Himself, and explains who the greatest will be. The child was young, and still trusting, and humble before God and others too. He was not seeking for greatness.
Anyone desiring to be great will be last; and he that is last shall be first. To be saved from our sins we must humble ourselves before Christ seeking Him and a cleansed life. Trust in the Lord, believe Him.
The Fire and Hammer 