Transcript: Verse by Verse Study – Proverbs Chapter 24:1 to Chapter 24:34 – Zac Poonen

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As human beings, as the children of Adam, our understanding of the word “evil man” is someone who is out to kill people, cheat people, or harm people in some way. But the Word of God says that a person who uses his mouth to say something bad about another person is an evil person.

The thing is, our conscience is not sensitive enough. Sin has not become exceedingly sinful that we think of such a person as an evil person. Most believers don’t think of a gossiper as an evil man, in the same category as a murderer. Why is it? Because sin has not become exceedingly sinful in their eyes. That’s why we think of a murderer as an evil person, but one who speaks evil about others with his tongue is not considered an evil person.

There we need to see that sin has to become exceedingly sinful in our eyes if we are to have the same understanding as God’s Word. It says don’t be envious of evil men, don’t desire to be with them, don’t try to make friends with them, and don’t envy a man who has certain advantages that we don’t have because we seek to follow the Lord.

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Proverbs 24:3–4 – Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge

Verses 3 and 4 contain three words: wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, that are used in these two verses. We are told how a house is built, and that can refer to God’s house, the church, and our homes. “By wisdom, a house is built, and by understanding, it is established. By knowledge, the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

There we see that the most important requirement to build a home or a church is not knowledge. We can say that knowledge is like the furniture; you put in the furniture after the house is built. In verse 4, we see that knowledge is needed; we need a knowledge of God’s Word, but that is to fill the rooms after the rooms have been constructed, with all precious and pleasant riches, which includes tables, chairs, beds, and all that.

We can say that a church built just with Bible knowledge, without that wisdom which comes through the fear of God, is like a man who’s got all his furniture out on an empty plot of ground, and he’s living there. No rooms, no roof, no walls, but he’s got all the furniture, and he’s constantly increasing the furniture. That’s the danger of increasing in knowledge without wisdom.

It’s a very beautiful picture. Think of a man trying to live in an open plot of ground, constantly increasing the furniture in his house, and trying to buy expensive paintings and various things to beautify the house. The whole thing is exposed to the sun and the rain. It’s just as foolish to increase in knowledge without a corresponding increase in wisdom.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and it says here, “by wisdom a house is built.” The most important thing in my own personal life, that’s another house that we’re building. The first requirement is wisdom. We can say that is God’s nature.

We read in James 3:17 that wisdom, the characteristics of wisdom described there, the seven characteristics are all a description of God’s nature. By wisdom, a house is built. By understanding, we can say that understanding refers to an understanding of God’s ways. We read in Psalm 103, “He made known His ways to Moses.”

To partake of God’s nature, that’s wisdom. Understanding is to know God’s ways, to understand God’s ways, how He works. Knowledge is God’s Word. So we can say that’s referring there to God’s nature, God’s ways, and God’s Word. Thus, a house is built, it’s established, and the rooms are filled with precious, pleasant riches.

When we have that balance of all these, then we can say we have a house. It’s got walls, a roof, a floor, and furniture inside. That’s a place that can be used by people to live.

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Proverbs 24:5–6 – Wisdom Is Mightier Than Strength

Verses 5 and 6. Here we read, let me read it in the Living Bible: “A wise man is mightier than a strong man. Wisdom is mightier than strength. Don’t go to war without wise guidance. There is safety in many counselors.” When you are young, you’re strong, not wise. In that strength of zeal, a lot of foolish things can be done if wisdom is not there.

By young, I don’t mean young just in age, but young spiritually. It is wisdom that is mightier than strength. All that zeal of young people is not as good as the wisdom of a mature saint. So, don’t go to war. Don’t try to proceed in this Christian life, which is a war, without wise guidance.

If we ourselves are not wise, then we need to seek wise guidance from others in whom we have confidence that they are wise. That’s a very important principle in the church. It’s not just a question of accepting somebody who claims to be an elder or thinks he’s an elder, but rather that we have confidence that someone has got wisdom. Such a person we would go to for guidance.

“There is safety in many counselors.” It’s good to humble ourselves and seek advice from those whom we believe have more wisdom than us. That’s the way to conduct warfare.

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Proverbs 24:7 – Wisdom Is Too Deep for a Fool

Verse 7, I’ll read that in the Good News Bible: “Wise sayings are too deep for a fool or a stupid person to understand. He has nothing to say when important matters are being discussed.” This phrase “in the gate” is an Old Testament expression, which indicates the counsel of the elders. The elders always used to sit in the gate of a city, and he does not open his mouth. The gate means he does not have anything to say, anything valuable to contribute when important matters are being discussed.

Wisdom is too high for a fool. In the beginning, we are all like that. Here is where we need to really pursue wisdom so that content increases in our lives, so that we have that to contribute that can be of help to others.

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Proverbs 24:8–9 – The Reputation of a Troublemaker

Verses 8 and 9 in the Good News Bible: “If you are always planning evil, you will earn a reputation as a troublemaker.” This is particularly the case with people who don’t have wisdom and yet try to be busybodies in other people’s affairs or try to go around giving advice to others. Many young people are like that.

Not all those who have wisdom are careful here. It’s very easy to earn a reputation as a busybody, to earn a reputation as a nuisance, as a constant source of trouble. It’s a very bad thing to earn a reputation like that. There we need to humble ourselves and cleanse ourselves.

It says here this comes through planning evil. In other words, one is not cleansing oneself from the evil that is in one’s flesh. It’s because a person is not living in self-judgment and self-cleansing that he or she goes around doing a whole lot of stupid things with other people and other families. Gradually, over a period of time, that person begins to get a reputation as a real nuisance.

If we live in constant self-judgment and self-cleansing, we will never earn such a reputation because if we do one foolish thing once, we won’t repeat it. The sad thing is when we keep on repeating the same thing year after year after year. “Any scheme a fool thinks up is sinful.”

Verse 9: “People hate a person who has nothing but scorn for others.” When a fool thinks up a scheme, it’s sinful, it’s useless because he’s not cleansing himself. It’s good for us to recognize that nothing good dwells in our flesh.

“People hate a person who has nothing but scorn for others.” That’s how the children of Adam are; it’s very difficult for us to find something to appreciate in others. That’s a pretty good test of our own spiritual condition. When you think of a particular brother or a particular sister, I don’t mean one of the ones whom you think are most spiritual. That’s easy to think of something good to say about them.

But think of some of the others in the assembly who are not so spiritual in your eyes. When you think about them, and you cannot find even one good thing to say about them, that is an indication of a pretty sad spiritual condition that you are in. It’s a very sad spiritual state that you are in, that when you think of some particular brother or sister, even a carnal one, you can’t think of one good thing to say about that person. Very sad. Only scorn for that person.

Think that Jesus has accepted him or her. Jesus has found something good in that person. He or she may not be perfect. There we can see how much the thinking of Adam governs our attitude towards others. To scorn – who has nothing but scorn for others, such a person is a fool himself.

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Proverbs 24:10 – Strength Tested in Adversity

Verse 10: “If you are slack, or if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is limited,” or as the Living Bible says, “you’re a poor specimen if you can’t stand the pressure of adversity.” It is in the time of testing and adversity that we really discover whether we are strong or not.

That’s one reason why God has to allow trial and adversity to come across our path, because that is when we really discover whether we are spiritual or not. Most people, even among believers, faint in the day of adversity. That means their strength is small.

All right, then what should they do when they discover that? They should humble themselves and say, “Lord, why did I faint in the day of adversity?” That means I was deceiving myself all along that I was spiritually strong at the other time when the pressure didn’t come. When the pressure came, I fainted. I got upset. I got irritated. I got into unrest. That proves that all my life, that has been my spiritual state, and I never discovered it.

Thank God for that adversity. Thank God for that trial, which showed me my condition. Like someone has said, if you’re carrying a glass of sweet water, then however strongly another person shakes you, what will spill out of your glass is only sweet water. That’s right.

But if someone shakes us strongly and out from our mouth comes all types of hard words and bitter words, what does that indicate? That indicates that all through my life, I was carrying a glass full of bitter water. I didn’t know it because nobody shook me till now. But when somebody shook me, then I discovered what was inside.

So instead of getting upset with that person for shaking me and upsetting me, I should say, “Thank you, my dear brother, my dear friend, because through you I discovered what otherwise I would have lived in a self-deception about: that I was carrying bitter water inside me all the time.” We need to see it like that.

In the day of adversity, I faint. I fail. Then I am a poor specimen. The Word of God says God wants to show me to the angels to see how that child of mine behaves. See how that child of mine behaves. Not when things are going easy, but see how they behave when the pressure is on in adversity. See how they speak. Wisdom comes forth from their tongue.

So, dear brothers and sisters, we must take this very seriously. I don’t believe that anyone can be spiritual if he does not see what his true condition is in the time of pressure and judge himself in the light of that. It’s so easy to deceive ourselves when there’s no pressure to think we are highly spiritual because we have so much knowledge.

But the day of testing reveals our true condition, and we must be honest about it and humble ourselves and say, “Lord help me so that the next time I face that type of pressure, my reaction will not be like that anymore.” That’s the person who’s really going to make progress from glory to glory.

So, we praise God for the day of adversity, and we praise God that He allows the evil day to come to us here on this earth so that we don’t spend our whole life deceiving ourselves. Think if we had a smooth life. So many believers would like to have a smooth passage through life. No trial, no testing, nobody backbites against them, nobody says anything against them. Everything is easy, no financial difficulties, no sickness, nothing.

The Righteous Man Falls and Rises Again

We can live 50 years and think we are spiritual and wake up at the judgment seat of Christ to discover perhaps we are not even converted or thoroughly carnal. Isn’t it good that God doesn’t allow us to be deceived for 50 years? He shakes us up after 5 years or 10 years. He allows some situation where we just collapse into unrest and irritability and grumbling against God and against people and everything else.

God says, “I love you. I’m just trying to show you your true condition so you don’t deceive yourself. I’ve come to help you so that you can do something about it before the judgment seat of Christ, before you leave this earth.” And you say, “Thank you, Lord. Thank you for that time. That’s helped me to see my condition. I really want to cleanse myself. I really want to make use of the opportunity so that in the days to come before I leave this earth, I really partake of Your nature.”

Praise God for the day of adversity.

Proverbs 24:11-12 – Rescue the Innocent

Verse 11 and 12, let me read that in the Good News Bible: Don’t hesitate to rescue someone who is about to be executed unjustly. You may say that it is none of your business, but God knows and judges your motives. He keeps watch on you. He knows that you knew that person was innocent, and yet you allowed him to be judged in the court, and he’s going out to be hanged. You know that he didn’t commit the murder, and you keep quiet because the whole crowd says he’s guilty.

We can think of how Jesus was crucified and how all the crowd said, “Crucify Him, crucify Him.” Think of a mob shouting “Crucify Him,” and you are one wholehearted disciple there. You know that Jesus is not guilty. To be able to raise a voice in the middle of that mob and say, “No, don’t crucify Him because He’s not guilty.” That mob can crucify you if you do that.

It’s not easy to take responsibility for something that’s unpopular when everybody else is saying something else. To take a stand because you know that’s not right. To be willing to be unpopular for the sake of the truth, and you keep quiet because everybody’s saying that. God knows, and He will reward you according to what you do.

Don’t join the crowd. Be willing to stand distinct. That’s a word for you children in schools and colleges, for all of us in offices. All the mob is saying one thing, and you know that’s wrong. To stand against it and say, “No, that’s wrong to treat that person like that.”

Particularly, we don’t have to give an opinion on everything that happens in the office or everything that’s happening under the sun. But when you find particularly that someone who is innocent is being accused and going to be punished, there we have a right, and it’s necessary for us to stand up for the truth.

That has, of course, many other applications of being willing to be unpopular with the vast majority of Christians if need be, for the sake of the truth. I do not believe that God will ever use in His service as His servant a man who’s afraid of becoming unpopular for the sake of the truth.

I just want to tell you that the vast majority of Christian preachers are like that. They’re unwilling to be unpopular for the sake of the truth. Popularity, what the crowd says means so much to them, and therefore God puts them on the shelf and says, “You can’t be My servant.”

Proverbs 24:13-14 – The Desire for Wisdom

Verse 13 and 14, read that in the Living Bible: My son, honey wets the appetite, so does wisdom. When you enjoy becoming wise, there is hope for you; a bright future lies ahead. Their wisdom is compared to honey, and honey was the thing which was used to sweeten food in those days when there was no refined sugar or jam or any such thing. Honey was the big thing, and honey was good.

You can imagine how much honey meant in a day when there were no chocolates or ice creams or jams or anything like that. It says wisdom should be like that. The desire for wisdom should be like that, and when you enjoy becoming wise, when you say, “Lord, I don’t want to be a fool; I want to become wise,” and you really long for that, and you’re willing to receive correction and you’re willing to be disciplined by the Lord, then it says a beautiful promise: there is hope for you. There is hope for you, and a bright future lies ahead.

We’d like to say there’s hope for everybody, but I want to tell you honestly, there isn’t hope for everybody. There is hope only for those who enjoy becoming wise, not for anybody and everybody.

Right? We can now look at Verse 15 and 16. I just want to mention this before I move on, and that is when it says about enjoying becoming wise, we must enjoy the process by which God makes us wise. Be willing to accept it, and that is through the cross that God leads us to wisdom.

Proverbs 24:15-16 – The Righteous Man Rises Again

Verse 15 and 16 from the Living Bible: Oh evil man, leave the upright man alone and quit trying to cheat him out of his rights. Don’t you know that this good man, though you trip him up seven times, each time he will rise again? But one calamity is enough to lay you, an evil man, low.

Now that’s a wonderful encouragement for those who are seeking to live before God’s face and who are humble and who are righteous, that even if they fall seven times – and seven is the number of perfection – we can say any number of times, he will get up. It’s like a rubber ball; throw it down. It’s not like a stone. You throw a stone down, it just lies there.

You throw a rubber ball down, and it doesn’t stay there. It bounces up. You throw it down again, and again it bounces up. That’s how a righteous man is. In other words, he’s not discouraged. He’s not depressed. He’s not down there in the dumps when he’s fallen. He gets up, and that’s how we must be.

If we have fallen, we must humble ourselves, repent, mourn, cry out to God for mercy and grace, and bounce up. That’s how a righteous man is. That’s the mark of a righteous man. He falls seven times or any number of times, and he rises again. But the wicked, one time he falls, and that’s enough.

Psalm 37:23-24 – The Lord Holds His Hand

We can say, if we read in Psalm 37:23, there’s a reason why the righteous man is lifted up. Psalm 37:23 and 24: The steps of a man or a righteous man are established by the Lord, and he delights in his way. When he falls, that means even this righteous man will fall.

Because he’s not so faithful, he can fall. But he shall not be hurled headlong. That means he doesn’t go and crash his head. Because here’s the reason: the Lord is the one who holds his hand. In this connection, he says, “I’ve been young, and now I’m old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken.”

I have not seen a situation where the Lord would not hold that righteous man’s hand. Think of that, brothers and sisters. It’s because the Lord holds my hand, and that’s why it’s so important to be in that place of humility and of a clear conscience where the Lord can hold my hand.

So that even if I fall, He lifts me up. I fall, He lifts me up. Praise God for that. There’s a beautiful verse in Romans 14. I don’t know whether you’ve noticed it. Very beautiful verse. A phrase. Romans 14:4: Who are you to judge the servant of another?

The context here is judging a weaker brother. You are a spiritual strong brother, and you judge a weaker brother. He says, “Who are you to judge him? To his own master he stands or falls.” And listen to this phrase: “And he will stand.” Because the Lord is able to make him stand. That’s the same thing. He will stand.

Don’t be a fool to criticize him. The Lord will make him stand one day, and you’ll look like a fool then. So here it says in Verse 15, don’t plot against the dwelling of the righteous. Don’t lie in wait against the dwelling of the righteous. Proverbs 24:15.

Do Not Lie in Wait for the Righteous to Fall

What does it mean to lie in wait? It says about Jesus that the Pharisees were always waiting to catch one word that falls. Who is the person who lies in wait for a righteous man to fall? Do you know that whenever a person preaches victory over sin wholeheartedly, with all of his heart, not just this weak teeny-weeny voice, but when we speak about it wholeheartedly, there are many believers who don’t like it.

They call it heresy because they themselves are defeated. You know what such believers are waiting for? They are waiting for this man who preaches victory to fall. What does the Bible call such a person who waits for a righteous man to fall? A what? A wicked man.

Is he a believer? Far from it. He’s a wicked man. Whenever we wait for someone to fall, you’re a wicked person. That can happen. You don’t like something in someone, and he falls, and you’re a bit happy. You’re a wicked person. Don’t call yourself a believer. A wicked person waiting for someone to fall.

Proverbs 24:17 – Do Not Rejoice When Your Enemy Falls

It goes on to say in Verse 17: Being happy when someone falls. Don’t rejoice even if it’s your enemy who falls. Don’t let your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord see it. You think the Lord doesn’t see that? You think the Lord doesn’t see that little spark of delight that came into your heart when somebody fell?

Instead of being grieved, you were a little happy when some misfortune came upon someone with whom you didn’t have a good relationship? Beware of that, brothers and sisters. What is an enemy? It can be a brother in the church with whom your relationship is a bit cold.

That can happen to any of us. When it happens, particularly if the other person’s done something against you or said something against you, you know what you should do? This is what I do. I say, “Lord, help me here. Help me in my relationship with this person.”

Because I fear that I will fall. I fear that there might be something in that. Take that seriously. It’s very, very dangerous when you are a righteous person and somebody has done something against you. You need to cry out to God for help in such a situation that there should not even be a slight coloring of your attitude towards that person.

That will show that you’re a God-fearing person. Have you cried out like that? Yeah, I’ve done that. I heard someone said something or somebody did something against me, and I say, “Oh my God, please help me now.” It’s easy to say I’ve got nothing against him. That’s true.

But I don’t know the corruption that dwells in my flesh. Please help me, Lord, that I shall now behave like Jesus Christ towards that person from now on. Particularly, let me be careful to behave really like Jesus towards that person. Otherwise, I’ll pollute myself, I’ll corrupt myself, and just go around like a humbug and a hypocrite having a good testimony saying I’ve got nothing against anybody. Humbug!

The Danger of Wrong Attitudes

No, it’s so easy for wrong attitudes to come. That’s happened. That’s happened in our midst, brothers and sisters. You know it’s happened to you. Why did it happen? Because when you saw somebody saying or doing something, you say, “Yeah, I’m strong.” That’s why you fell.

If you had a sense of your own weakness and cried out to God for help, God would have helped you, and you wouldn’t have fallen. But you fell into a wrong attitude, which finally came out in wrong words. When will we learn? When will we learn? How many years have gone by?

When will we realize that we are so weak and so corrupt that we cry out to God for help immediately? That was why God heard Jesus’ prayers. He was so weak; he cried out for help all the time because he feared to sin even in a wrong attitude, even in a slight coloring of an unloving attitude towards another person. Very important.

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls. Do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles. Let the Lord see it. He sees it. And He’s displeased. With whom? Displeased with this person who is watching. This person who has been lying in wait.

He turns away His anger from that man, and He turns it on me now. You see, this spirit of vengeance is there very deeply in our flesh. When someone has done something against me or said something against me, I need to realize how weak I am at that time.

Lord, vengeance dwells in my flesh. Please help me. I won’t take revenge by killing him. I’m not so crude. It is in subtle ways. It can be just in being a little happy when he falls. It’s the same spirit as that man who commits murder in vengeance. No different.

The only thing is, I don’t go that far. I stop a little this side. Just a little delight when something goes wrong with that person who has done something against me. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. He who is interested in keeping his heart clean, who wants a testimony from his conscience, not a testimony from people.

Guard Your Heart Against the Spirit of Vengeance

Remember this, my dear brothers and sisters. We are most in danger, most in danger when someone has said or done something against us. We are in danger of really becoming polluted in our heart towards that person unless we live in fear and cry out to God to help us in our weakness.

Let no one think that he will stand because he will fall on his own. Very important. This vengeance comes out in so many ways. In so many ways, I tell you, if we get light on it, we will see our husbands take revenge on their wives. Not by killing them.

Revenge in Its Many Forms

You read about these people who burned their wives because the wives didn’t bring dowry, and we shrink back and say, “Oh, how terrible. I would never do such a thing.” But we can take revenge on our wives in so many other ways without burning them. The same spirit that made that fellow burn his wife, we do it in more refined ways where the police can’t catch us. God sees it.

You see, why did you say that to your wife? Wasn’t that revenge for what she did yesterday or said the day before yesterday? Or to your husband? Revenge? Serve the food late or cold? Purposely? So many things. And you’ve got, of course, excuses for it. “I had so much work to do.” And you know that’s not the thing. It’s a little trying to hit back.

It’s a new and living way type of hitting back. Humbug! Hypocrisy! Deception! All these NAL ways of revenge. Brothers and sisters, ask God for light on all these things. I find that vengeance is a thing which doesn’t go away easily. It can come in so many subtle ways if we don’t see our weakness here and cry out for help.

Against our own children, we can take vengeance, and they are helpless. A wife or a husband can hit back. What about poor children? They can’t hit back. And we can take revenge on them because they made life inconvenient for us in some way. So many things, and against brothers and sisters.

Let not someone think that he is free from this danger. We are all in tremendous danger in this area. If we don’t realize our weakness and cry out for help, we shall fall.

Do Not Envy the Wicked – Proverbs 24:19-20

Verse 19 and 20: “Do not fret yourself because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked. For there will be no future for the evil man. The lamp of the wicked will be put out.” There we see, there again the thing mentioned in verse 1, this danger of being envious because another person who is unrighteous, say somebody who is unrighteous in the office, seems to find it easier.

Life is so difficult for you because you are so righteous. You won’t give money for that Hindu festival, and so life becomes a little more difficult for you. It would be easier if you were unrighteous and gave money for that Hindu festival. Yeah, don’t be envious. For there will be no future for that evil man. Finally, the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

It’s better to suffer a little and stand for righteousness. See what it says in Psalm 17. Let me read that to you. Psalm 17:14-15 in the Living Bible reads like this: “These men of the world whose only concern is earthly gain. These men whom you have filled with your treasures.”

Yeah, God has allowed them to have treasures so that their children and grandchildren are rich and prosperous. God has allowed them, their children and their grandchildren, or these wicked people to be rich and prosperous. But David says, “As for me, my contentment is not in wealth,” verse 15, “but in seeing you and knowing that all is well between you and me.”

“When I awake in heaven, then I will be fully satisfied, for I will see you face to face.” Blessed is the new covenant brother who can say what that old covenant brother said with lesser light. In Psalm 17:14-15, never to compare a lot with the unrighteous man.

The Last of the 30 Statements – Proverbs 24:21-22

Now we come to the last of the 30 statements. We saw here in verse 1 and 2, statement number 19. Verse 3 and 4 was statement number 20. Verse 21, verses 5 and 6 was the 21st. Verse 7 was the 22nd. Verse 8 and 9 was the 23rd. Verse 10 was the 24th. Verse 11 and 12 was the 25th. Verse 13 and 14 was the 26th.

Verse 15 and 16 was the 27th. Verse 17 and 18 was the 28th. Verse 19 and 20 was the 29th. Now we come to the last of these 30 statements, which I said was like a mini book of Proverbs, that is verse 21 and 22. I want to read that in the Good News Bible: “Fear the Lord, my son, and honor the king.”

That means fear God first and submit to the secular authority. It may not be the king; it may be the boss in your office. Honor him. Fear the Lord and the king. Have nothing to do – listen to this, a word for our day – have nothing to do with people who rebel against God or who rebel against the boss.

Don’t have fellowship with them. That’s why I say it’s very dangerous for a Christian to join a trade union if it involves the spirit of rebellion against authority. Have nothing to do with people who rebel against the Lord or against the king or the boss. Such men could be ruined in a moment.

Do you realize the disaster that God or the king can cause? Yeah, that’s the last statement he says there. That spirit of rebellion. Be careful about rebellion against your parents. Your father is king in the home. Be careful that you don’t rebel against him, children, and your mother.

Be careful, wives, that you don’t rebel against the one whom God has placed as king over you in your house. I don’t know how many wives see their husbands as the king God has placed over them. Be careful. Have nothing to do with that spirit of rebellion or rebellion in the church.

We read about Korah who stood against Moses. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. They said, “What does this Moses think he is? He’s not the only one through whom God speaks.” Moses just kept quiet. He fell on his face. God said, “All right, I’ll teach these fellows a lesson. I’ll teach them through whom I speak.”

Moses said, “Tell all the congregation of Israel to stand back.” That’s the only case recorded in the Bible. The only case recorded in the Bible where a man went alive into hell: Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their families – alive into hell. Just like Enoch and Elijah went straight up to heaven.

One case in the scriptures. The spirit of rebellion against authority. Be careful. It’s good to humble ourselves before God. Be careful, for the spirit of rebellion is spreading all over. In homes, in schools, in colleges, in factories, in churches, everywhere.

We have to be careful.

Additional Sayings of the Wise – Proverbs 24:23-25

Now concluding those 30 statements that began in Chapter 22, we come to something else here in verses 23 to 25. He says, here are some additional problems. It is wrong to sentence the poor and to let the rich go free.

“He who says to the wicked, ‘You are innocent,’ shall be cursed by many people of many nations, but blessings will be showered on those who rebuke sin fearlessly.” That’s a wonderful word for those who preach the Word of God.

Verse 25: “Blessings will be showered on those who rebuke sin fearlessly.” That’s our calling in the church. Another thing we notice in verse 23, in the NASV, it says, “These also are sayings of the wise.” To show partiality in judgment is not good.

The Danger of Partiality

It’s very easy to be partial. Just like vengeance, as I said earlier quite strongly, dwells very close to us in the flesh. I also want to say, the spirit of partiality is very close to us in our flesh. We like certain brothers and we don’t like certain others. We like certain sisters and we don’t like certain others.

When there is a little difficulty between those two, unconsciously we take the side of the one whom we like. Why? Because we don’t have the divine nature, which is impartial. We live according to our Adamic nature, which is partial.

I like this brother, so he must be right. I don’t like that brother, so he must be wrong. I’ve seen that. I’ve seen that right in our own way. I’ve seen a brother come and tell me a complaint against another brother. What that other brother did was wrong.

I can sense when this brother is making this complaint that he doesn’t like this brother also. That’s why he’s making this complaint. Some weeks later, I find the same brother faced in a situation with another brother. Then, of course, he’s got no complaint at all, even though a similar situation happened.

I say, “Yeah, now I know why there’s no complaint because he likes that brother. That’s why there’s no complaint. If this brother X had done the same thing, oh, he would have had a complaint. But now it was brother Y who did it, so it’s alright; we’ve got to bear, we’ve got to forgive.”

That’s an example of partiality. How long are we going to take to cleanse ourselves from it? When in the world will we get light on it? If we don’t get light after sitting in the church for so many years, I would say the chances are we won’t get light even in the next 50 years.

Because it’s shone pretty brightly in our midst in all these years, and if we still haven’t got light, when are we going to wake up? Take that seriously, brothers and sisters. To show partiality is evil. In judgment, it’s so easy to be partial.

We have to cry out to God, “Help me, Lord, to form a right assessment here.” Verse 23 in the Good News Bible reads like this: “It is wrong for a judge to be prejudiced.” To be prejudiced means to have a little weight towards this person.

What would you think of a Christian who was selling something in a shop, and underneath, say he was selling vegetables or fruit or something, and underneath the side where he puts the vegetables, he’s got a little extra weight underneath so that he doesn’t have to sell so much? You could say, “You mean that brother talks about the new and living way? He’s a humbug.”

Well, brother, you’re a humbug too when you’ve got that little extra weight towards that brother in forming an assessment. Equally, it’s the same thing. That is prejudice. To have a little weight in favor of that person or in favor of this person.

You who tell another person that he’s a humbug, aren’t you a humbug yourself there? There’s great safety in not being a busybody in other people’s matters but in judging ourselves alone. Wonderful, that’s the way of salvation.

Honest Friendship – Proverbs 24:26

Verse 26 in the Good News Bible says, here it says, “He kisses the lips who gives the right answer.” The meaning of it is, kissing of the lips is a sign of intimate friendship. The Good News Bible says, “An honest answer is a sign of true friendship.”

Kissing the lips is used as a phrase, as a metaphor. It means that when you speak the truth to somebody, that is the sign that you’re a real friend to that person. You’re a diplomat beating around the bush, never telling the person the truth; you’re not his friend at all.

A real friend is one who speaks the truth straight. An honest answer is a sign of true friendship. “Brother, do you think what I shared in the meeting was too long?” “Yes, it was too long and too boring also.” That’s a sign of true friendship.

Honest. You just kept on repeating the same old thing so many times. You need to cleanse yourself from that. An honest answer, not, “Yeah brother, it’s good, it’s sort of we appreciated it,” and all this humbug. No, we need to learn to be honest with one another.

Get over all this diplomacy. Walk in the light; that’s the secret of fellowship.

Establish Yourself Before Building a Home – Proverbs 24:27

Verse 27: A wonderful word for those who are planning to get married, particularly men. “Prepare your work outside and make it ready for yourself in the field; afterwards, then build your house.” Yeah, that’s clear, isn’t it?

That says don’t build your house and establish a home, Good News Bible, until your fields are ready and you’re sure that you can earn a living. In those days, the only way they earned a living was through their fields. It says don’t build your house and establish a home unless you’re sure that you can earn a living.

We can say that this could also apply to the fact that we need to think of our necessities first and luxuries afterwards. To earn a living is a necessity, and marriage can be a luxury. The necessity must come first.

But we don’t become beggars; we seek to find support for ourselves. We say, “But it’s so difficult these days with so much unemployment in our country.” I’ll tell you one group of people that will never have a problem in this area: those who obey Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all your material needs will be added to you,” even where unemployment is very high.

That’s the solution to unemployment. Seek the kingdom of God first and His righteousness. All your material needs will be added to you, and then God will give you a wife as well. So that’s the way. In marriage, we must be established financially first.

Otherwise, we can be like what Jesus said, the man who started to build a tower and he didn’t have enough. “Yeah, I’ll get married; I’ll trust the Lord.” This phrase “trust the Lord” has become so abused and devalued. Halfway through, he cannot complete, and then he has to beg and borrow and get into all types of problems.

Be wise.

Against False Testimony and Vengeance – Proverbs 24:28-29

Verse 28 and 29: Let me read that in the Good News Bible. “Don’t give evidence against someone else without good reason or say misleading things about him. Don’t say, ‘I’ll do to him just what he did to me. I’ll get even with him.'”

That’s again the spirit of vengeance. When you’re asked to give a testimony in a court, you may not go to court, but we can have other applications for it. You say, “Now is my chance to really paint it black.” I won’t tell any lies, but I’ll color it in such a way that it will really put him in a difficult situation, and that can happen.

Sometimes, you know we don’t have too good a relationship with someone. Maybe you’re a bit cold towards someone or someone is a bit cold towards you, and you are called in some situation to talk to another brother, and the topic comes about brother X with whom you don’t have a very good relationship.

Beware of a Vengeful Spirit

Then, of course, we are there to point out something that we saw, some stupid thing that he did, which we have retained in our file to bring out at the right time because I want to take my vengeance, and I can’t say something good. I’ll do to him as he has done to me.

Beware of that spirit. Beware of that demonic, evil, Luciferian spirit. “I’ll do to him as he did to me.” That’s a million miles away. It’s on the other side of the universe from the spirit of Christ.

Proverbs 24:30-34 – Learning from the Sluggard’s Field

Verses 30-34: Here is a beautiful passage. “I passed by the field of the sluggard,” that’s the lazy man, “and by the vineyard of the man who is lacking sense. I saw that it was completely overgrown with thorns and covered with weeds, and its stone wall was broken down.”

When I saw it, I did not criticize him. Praise God, he had learned his lesson. I judged myself. I learned a lesson for myself. I reflected upon it. I thought about it, and I learned a lesson for myself. The lesson I learned was, a little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and your poverty will break in upon you suddenly like a robber and violently like a bandit.

Learning from the Follies of Others

We have to learn from the follies of others. I want to say to all young people, when you see another young brother or another young sister doing a stupid thing, and as a result of which, over a period of time, that person loses their testimony in the church.

There are weeds and thorns in their testimony. Walls are broken down. What should you do? Don’t waste your time criticizing that person. This person didn’t criticize. No use criticizing. Just sit down and think about it.

Say, “Lord, I’ve got a flesh exactly like that person. Help me that I don’t go around becoming such a fool myself, with weeds and thorns growing all over and the walls broken down.” Help me. I reflected.

It’s good to think about these things when we see it around. To look and to learn. Learn from the mistakes of others so that you don’t have to make the same mistake yourself. We can learn from mistakes, but it’s far better if we learn from the mistakes that we see other people making.

Then we can avoid it. The wise person is the person who observes, sees the blunders and follies of others, and says, “Yeah, I don’t have to make that mistake myself because I saw that person do it.”

Think of how many things we can save ourselves from. In so many other areas in the world, we are careful that we see somebody doing a stupid thing, and we make sure we don’t do that ourselves. How much more we need to be careful in the area of the spiritual life.

“I Learned” – The Mark of a Wise Person

It says here in verse 32, “I learned.” Beautiful phrase. I learned. We can say a wise man is one who observes the follies of foolish people and learns from them. A foolish person is one who does not observe the good qualities in wise people and learn from them.

What are these thorns? We can say they are the lusts, the lusts that have overpowered a person because he’s been lazy. He’s not been wholehearted in judging himself. He’s been careless. The wall, we can say, are God’s commandments, like we saw in Nehemiah’s wall.

The commandments of God, many bricks make a wall. Here’s a person who’s been careless, his attitude towards God’s commandments. The wall is broken down. Learn a lesson. Learn a lesson from the final fate that comes upon such people.

Spiritual Poverty Comes Suddenly

The spiritual poverty that people come into finally, like a robber, that poverty has come upon them suddenly. Violently like a bandit; suddenly you hear someone has fallen. Suddenly you see someone flaring up and losing his temper.

Poverty, spiritual poverty, suddenly it has come. Not slowly, suddenly because the person’s been lazy in judging himself all through his life. I remember hearing of a brother who had quite a responsibility in one of the churches in Europe and was much respected.

But obviously, he was not working on his own salvation. One day, his folly became manifest to everybody because he publicly lost his temper. That was all. One event, one publicly losing one’s temper is enough for God to reveal a person’s folly to everyone and to indicate to the whole world, this person was not working on his own salvation in his private life, despite all his knowledge of the new and living way.

That brother was a brother who could explain the new and living way better than you or me. He was a teacher. He was a man who was respected. He was a man who had a wonderful family, God-fearing children, and publicly lost his testimony by once flaring up and losing his temper.

What does that indicate? It’s not just a question of once losing one’s temper. It is an indication of some serious problem that’s been there behind for many years, that the person was not working on his own salvation and judging himself.

He had high thoughts about himself, never cleansed himself. Therefore, finally, he got all upset and irritated and flared up publicly. Yeah, God allows that to happen. When that happens, it’s no use criticizing them. We have to think, say, “Lord, that can happen to me.”

Growing Old in Wisdom, Not in Bitterness

When you see an old person, he’s irritable, bitter, cranky. Whenever I see old people like that, I say, “Oh God, have mercy on me that I don’t grow to be an old person like that. Stupid, foolish, demanding.”

Then you see other old people who are so wise, so gracious, so good. There’s much for us to think when we see these things around us. To say, “Lord, help me. I have the same flesh. Help me to grow up to be more like Jesus.”

So that in my old age, people will see that there’s something of wisdom instead of all the wretched nature of Adam that’s been nourished and cherished. When should we start working in order to grow up to be a saint when you’re old? You’ve got to start working probably when you’re 10, when you’re 10 years old.

If you have crossed that age, we better hurry up and start at least now. Be wholehearted. Think of the poverty of so many believers around us. Don’t criticize them. Just look and learn a lesson.

A little laziness in working out one’s own salvation. A little sleep in judging oneself. Being a busybody in other people’s matters. My own stone wall is broken down, and thorns have covered my life. Here’s much scope for us to repent, be wholehearted, and diligent.

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