Transcript: Verse by Verse Study – Proverbs Chapter 17:4 to Chapter 18:3 – Zac Poonen

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Maybe the way a person walks, or the way a person talks, or the way a person conducts himself in some way—that’s maybe peculiar. Maybe he’s got an infirmity, maybe he’s got a weakness, maybe he stammers, maybe he limps, and somebody else sits and laughs at it. Small children who have no wisdom doing that is one thing. But when parents who call themselves believers also laugh with their children at the infirmity of another person or at the poverty of another person—poverty can be of money, poverty can be of speech or of grammar, or so many things—when we laugh at the poverty of another person in any area, we are actually reproaching His maker. Never forget that. When we mock a person, we are mocking the person’s maker. That’s why a really God-fearing Christian will never mock another person.

We have to be careful about children making fun of teachers and encouraging that type of thing. No, that’s not healthy. There’s a little bit of a spirit of rebellion in that, which we’ve got to make sure we don’t tolerate in our homes. This mocking of others, particularly in areas where we ourselves are good, usually we mock others in some area where we ourselves are good.

He who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished. Now, I’ll tell you that in all of our flesh, there dwells this evil thing. Not that we are happy when a misfortune falls upon somebody else, but we are not entirely sad. That’s a sad thing. We’re not entirely sad when some misfortune happens to somebody else. That’s how it is in the flesh. We’re very sad if it happened to us, but we’re not entirely sad when it happens to someone else. There’s a little bit of that rejoicing in calamity spoken of here that dwells in our flesh. We’ve got to be ruthless because it says he who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished.

The Warning from Obadiah

Let me read you a verse in the Book of Obadiah, one of those lesser-known books in the Old Testament: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah. Obadiah verse 12. This is what God spoke to Edom. Edom was the descendant of Esau, brother of Jacob. He should have been concerned when he saw Israel suffering. But it says here, “On that day,” verse 11, “you stood aloof on the day that strangers carried off his wealth.” Some calamity happened to the Israelites, and the Edomites just watched it and rejoiced. “And foreigners entered his gate, and you also rejoiced in that, and you gloated over your brother’s day in the day of his misfortune.” Do not gloat over your brother’s day in the day of his misfortune. Because then it goes on to say how the Lord is going to punish you for that.

This being just a wee bit happy when things don’t go well with somebody else, particularly if that other person is someone with whom you don’t have a very good relationship. If you have a very good relationship with someone, you’ll never be unhappy when things don’t go well. But if there’s just a little bit of a coldness, then you find that you can detect it when something goes wrong there, and you’re not rejoicing over it, but you’re not entirely unhappy. The Word of God says do not rejoice when something unfortunate happens to someone else, calamity, because the punishment can come upon you.

Living as Parents Our Children Can Be Proud Of

Verse 6: I’ll read this in the Living Bible, in the Good News Bible rather. “Old men are proud of their grandchildren.” Now that’s very clear. I think almost all grandfathers throughout the world are proud of their grandchildren, just as boys are proud of their fathers. Now let me put that in another way and try to understand that verse. Let your son be proud of you, as grandfathers are proud of their children. In other words, if you’re a father, live in such a way that your son can be proud of you—that you’re his father. Your daughter or your son can be proud of you, that you’re his or her father, in the same way as grandparents are proud of their grandchildren. Think of that. Think of being able to be such a father, or for that matter such a mother, that there’s no cause for reproach, that your children ever have to be ashamed of their parents in any way.

Truth and Lies: The Unfitting Behavior of Princes

Verse 7: “Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool, much less are lying lips for a prince.” Or as the Living Bible says, “Truth from a rebel or lies from a king are both unexpected.” We know that a person who is foolish does not really have the ability to bring forth excellent speech. We know that. I mean, that’s clear. A man who doesn’t have wisdom does not have the ability to speak forth that which is excellent. But just as much as that is not possible—that’s not fitting—equally here is another thing which is quite unfitting: that a person who claims that Jesus Christ has made him a king and a priest, that he tells a lie in some situation. For a person who calls himself a king in the kingdom of God, a prince, for him to tell a lie, for him to give a false impression, for him to say something which is not truthful, for him to exaggerate something—which is just another form of lying—that’s quite unfitting. Quite unfitting.

The Magic of Bribes Versus Faith in God

Verse 8: The Good News Bible reads, “Some people think a bribe works like magic. They believe it can do anything.” There are many verses in the Book of Proverbs about those who receive bribes, and in other portions of Scripture too, that one should not receive a bribe. But this is one of those very few, if not only verse—not the only verse—which refers to those who give bribes. It says here that these people who give bribes think that a bribe works like magic, like a precious stone or a charm. They believe that it can do anything. That’s what they say in the world: money can do anything. What they mean by money is a bribe. A bribe can do anything. That’s exactly what the Book of Proverbs says. That’s what the people in the world are like. They have a bribe in their hand, and it’s like a magic stone. It can accomplish anything they want.

That is the mark of the people in the world. But in the New Testament, Jesus taught us that God can do anything, and he who has faith in God can do anything. That is the great conflict there is. Satan says money can do anything, and then God has His representatives—very few, very few—because many who claim to be His representatives also believe that money can do anything. But there are a few among His representatives who believe that God can do anything. That is a fantastic thing to be one of those whom God can say, “There’s a man who proves that I can do anything,” who does not depend on mammon, like the people out there in the world.

Covering Transgressions and Not Repeating Matters

So that’s the verse that speaks about those who give bribes. Verse 9: “He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.” Now we have considered that many times. One of the clearest marks of love is that when you see a transgression, you want to cover it. You don’t want to talk about it. You see something in a brother. It’s wrong. If at all you do speak, you go to that brother himself. It says very clearly in Matthew 18:15. It’s one of those commands of Jesus, which almost no believers obey at all. Very few believers, I think, in the whole world who obey that command, which says, “If your brother sins against you, go and speak to him alone.” Most believers go and talk about it to somebody else, to some other believer, some other brother or some other sister in the church. They say, “This person came to my house and did this,” or “this person did that.” Why don’t you go to that person himself, like Jesus said you must do?

One who is God-fearing will not repeat a matter. It says he who repeats a matter goes somewhere else and repeats that. It’s either seeking self-pity or trying to justify himself or herself. Both are equally satanic and evil. On top of that, they’re separating this brother who may have been a good friend of that brother or this sister who may have been a good friend of that sister. You go and repeat something, and you separate that. There we need wisdom. We need wisdom that we don’t have to say everything that we know. We know something, and we don’t have to repeat it. Let it die with us. Or let’s do what it says in 1 John 5:16. “If anyone sees his brother sin, what must he do?” Let him ask God, and God will give him life. That also hardly anybody does. Those are the two things the Word of God says: go to him and speak to him privately, Matthew 18:15, or pray for him. If you can’t speak to him, pray for him that God will forgive him and give him life. One of these two. But to repeat it to somebody else is forbidden. Unless it is a sin which you want to help him from, but you feel you can’t help him, and you go and speak to one of the elder brothers who have responsibility who can help that person. That’s all. That is spoken with a good spirit to help that person. Otherwise, all repeating of matters to others is evil.

The Wise Response to Rebuke

Verse 10: “A rebuke goes deeper into a wise man than a hundred blows into a fool.” Think of that. Think, dear brothers and sisters, as this Book of Proverbs speaks so much about this as one of the marks of wisdom—that is, our attitude to rebuke and correction. It’s amazing how many times it comes in the Book of Proverbs. A rebuke from God, or a rebuke from a brother, or a rebuke from a father. This verse says that if I’m really a wise man, when I get a rebuke, that will have a far deeper effect on me. Just a few words that I heard will have a far deeper effect on me than a person getting a hundred lashes on his back. Just think of a hundred lashes. One hundred lashes to frighten a person from stealing, or they do these things in the Islamic countries nowadays—public lashing. Think that a hundred lashes cannot teach a fool more than one word of rebuke can teach a wise man.

That’s a mark of a wise man—that he’s quick to respond to rebuke and correction. How is it, children, when your father corrects you? Is one word of correction enough, or do a hundred beatings not accomplish it? That’s the difference between a wise child and a foolish child. What about a wife? Think if your husband points out something in you, and you get so offended you won’t speak to him for the next week, and you are a fool indeed. A hundred lashes would be better. That’s a sad thing. God wants wise children, wise wives, wise brothers, and sisters. Wisdom in our homes, where a word of correction can really be taken seriously so that we grow wise.

Why do we get so offended? Because we think, “Oh, that person thinks so little of me.” Well, why should that bother us? Why not we humble ourselves and see if there’s any truth in that word of correction or rebuke? Maybe there is. If our interest is cleansing ourselves, we’ll be glad for correction. But if our interest is honor-seeking, then we get very offended, and then we find that a word of correction actually exposes what we are really seeking in life. So correction is a very wonderful exposer of our real motives and desires in life.

Death as a Cruel Messenger

Verse 11: Let me read that in the Good News Bible. “Death will come like a cruel messenger to wicked people who are always stirring up trouble.” Yes, that cruel messenger is death. A person who continues to create trouble and to rebel against God and do things which are contrary to His word—God will speak to him through His word first. God will speak to him through sickness. God will speak to him through more sickness. He still doesn’t listen. Death will be sent as a cruel messenger to those who are always stirring up trouble. God loves those who seek for peace.

Meeting a Bear Robbed of Her Cubs

Verse 12: “Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly.” Think of that. Think of the way the Holy Spirit describes a man who is not wise—a fool in his folly. What is it particularly referring to here? If you were to meet a bear in a jungle who has been robbed—a mother bear who has just been robbed of her newly born cubs—what sort of attitude do you expect to meet in that bear, in that mother bear? Fury, anger that will tear you to pieces. It says a fool who loses his temper is like that, but it’s better to meet that bear than to face someone who calls himself a human being or calls herself a human being and behaves like that bear that’s been robbed of her cubs.

What are we usually robbed of that causes us to lose our temper? Our rights. I have a right to be respected and to be honored. This person has robbed me of it, and then I’m like this bear robbed of that which is most precious to me. The kingdom of God is not most precious; my rights, my honor, my reputation—I’ve been robbed. Let a bear meet a man robbed. A bear robbed of her cubs meet a man rather than a fool in his folly. You know, there’s a saying in English that anger is temporary madness. It’s true. It’s for a few moments the person’s gone insane, doesn’t know what he’s doing. He behaves like an animal. The Word of God speaks much about anger. That’s why Jesus spoke about our having victory over it.

Returning Evil for Good

Matthew chapter 5, verse 13: “He who returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.” Now that’s a terrible thing. Jesus taught us to return good for evil, overcome evil with good. You see, evil has got tremendous power in the world, and the only power greater than evil is not more evil but good. Good has got greater power than evil, and if you want to overcome evil in a person, the only way to overcome it is by good. We can try it any other way for six thousand years from the days of Cain. People have tried the other ways of evil, and it’s never succeeded. But good overcomes evil.

But think of this: where a person can be so bad that when somebody has treated him kindly, he returns evil to him. We can sit there and say, “Oh, I’ll never do such a horrible thing.” Just wait a minute before you judge someone else. Think, dear brothers and sisters. Have you had a kindness shown to you by someone? Maybe you take it for granted that that person should show you kindness, and yet perhaps you’ve spoken words that are not too kind concerning that person who has shown you some kindness at some time. What is that? That is returning evil for good, and it can happen in the brotherhood—returning evil for good. That person’s only been good to you, but you’ve said things which are not at all good and kind concerning that person. That’s returning evil for good. It says here, it’s a terrible thing: evil will not depart from your house.

Think of that, brothers and sisters. Think that such a calamity can come upon us. God forbid that it should ever happen. We reap what we sow. We throw it out like a boomerang; it comes back. It’s good to walk in humility and peace and be rooted in goodness, and let’s examine our lives and see whether we have ever been or said that which is evil to people who have done some kindness for us, done something good. Usually, it’s because we’ve sat back and said, “Yeah, they’ve got to do that. After all, that’s why the brothers and sisters are here for. They’ve got to do that for me.” That’s terrible. May God save us from such a calamity.

The Start of an Argument

Verse 14: The Good News Bible says, “The start of an argument is like the first break in a dam. Stop it before it goes any further.” Sometimes you read in the papers of a dam that burst, and the waters flooded some village, drowned so many people, but it didn’t break all of a sudden. It started with a little crack, and the engineers and the people who are responsible for that dam never took it seriously—a little crack. It says here, “The start of an argument,” and that argument can be between a husband and a wife. You can sit there, and it’s just starting. You know when the argument starts? With one sentence. With one sentence, you’ve started an argument, and blessed is the man or the woman who knows how to patch up that crack immediately.

We are to avoid argument like we avoid hellfire or like we would avoid leprosy. We’ve got to see that. We’ve got to hate arguments. Nobody ever got built up spiritually through arguments—not even through religious arguments on doctrinal matters. We speak the truth, but we do not argue with anyone because the Holy Spirit has to open the man’s blind eyes. It’s not by argument, and particularly in our homes, dear brothers and sisters. The start of an argument is like a crack in the dam. Remember that next time when an argument begins in your home; that’s a crack in the dam now. Now, if you add to it, you’re taking a chisel and hammer and making that hole bigger, and then only death can come. Like all dams when they burst bring death, the only result can be death.

So let’s take the Word of God seriously.

Justifying the Wicked and Condemning the Righteous

Verse 15: “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them are an abomination alike an abomination to the Lord.” That is where in judgment a person says this wicked person—he knows he’s wicked—but he just justifies him and he condemns the righteous because this person happens to be his special friend. That can happen sometimes. We have not cleansed ourselves from partiality, and we’ve got partiality. Sometimes parents can be foolish like that. They can be partial towards some of their children, and then they take sides with one of their children against their other child. That scar can affect that child for years as it grows up because of a foolish father or mother who had one favorite son who was good-looking or clever or smart or some worldly thing, usually they are—or maybe even one was spiritual, and the father or mother is not wise enough to love a son who is not spiritual like the father and who could love the prodigal son.

Think of that—what a father he was. Think to be of no partiality towards our children. That’s a wonderful thing. That’s a godly nature. Even if one’s converted and one’s utterly worldly, no partiality—that’s godly. They’re my sons. That’s my son, and that’s my son. There’s no difference as far as I’m concerned. I love them equally. Now that’s godliness. But there we can take sides, or it can be in one when I think of this brother and that brother, and I see there’s a little difficulty. I can take sides with this one. That can happen in assemblies. I take sides, and that’s the way an assembly is destroyed because I have not cleansed myself from partiality.

Why do I take sides with this person, and I can’t see the error in him? I only see the error in that person. Then this verse applies: justifying the wicked and condemning the righteous because this person happens to be a little closer to me than that person, and I haven’t been godly enough to be righteous.

Standing Alone for Truth

Let me turn you to an Old Testament law in the Book of Exodus, chapter 23, where God was very careful with the instructions He gave to Israel to tell them to be righteous in their judgments. Exodus chapter 23, it says here in verse 3: “You shall not follow a multitude in doing evil.” That means you think most of the brothers are taking the side of this man, so I’ll also take his side. Don’t do that. Most of the brothers are carnal. You be a spiritual man.

In every assembly, most people are carnal. Very few are wise and godly and spiritual and free from partiality. All the sisters are taking that person’s side or are against that person, so I’ll stand with all the sisters. Don’t be such a stupid idiot. “Do not follow a multitude in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude to seek numbers in order to pervert justice.” Stand alone for the truth.

Verse 3: “Nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute.” What does that mean? That means here is a rich man, and here is a poor man, and you feel sorry for the poor man, and you become partial. You think that is godliness, you know. You think, “Yeah, God must be on the side of the poor, so I’ll take the side of the poor.” It’s ungodliness. God says, “Don’t take the side of that poor man. Seek for justice.” In the world, they do that. You see that out in the streets here. If a scooterist knocks down a pedestrian, who’s wrong? Always the scooterist. Always. Even if it was 100% the pedestrian’s fault. That’s out in the world. It’s like that, but we’re not to be so stupid.

What is the reason for that justice on the streets? Because they say the scooterist is richer. This poor man’s walking, so he’s poorer, so he must be right, and that’s the very thing God condemned in the Old Testament law. He says, “Be careful that you don’t take sides of the poor man just because he’s poor.” That means you’re ungodly. God doesn’t do that. He’s righteous. At the same time, the other side: “Nor shall you pervert the justice due to your poor due to the poor man in the dispute.” The two sides. That means don’t take the side of the rich man just because he’s rich, and don’t take the side of the poor man just because he’s poor. No. To be just for sin, and they study BD and MTH and all the other BDs and doctrines of devils and everything else. They study all that in order to deceive all the poor Christians in this country.

Wisdom Cannot Be Bought

No. What’s the use of money? You can’t get wisdom with money or with education. With money, Simon Magus came to Peter and said, “Give me money.” He gave him money and said, “Give me power that I can lead people to the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” Peter said, “Your money perish with you. You’re in the bondage of iniquity.” No. What’s the use of money in the hand of a fool if he doesn’t have a heart for wisdom? There’s no way of getting wisdom unless we have a heart for it. We can’t get it by money, and a person who charges money for his services is a fool. Sure, he’s gathering other fools.

A Friend Loves at All Times

Verse 17: Now here is a verse which we can read, and it’s a question of it. I tell you, the Word of God really searches the thoughts and intents of the heart, like it says in Hebrews 4. How do you react to this verse? When you read a verse like this, “A friend loves at all times,” and you say, “Yeah, that’s how I know who my true friends are. They love me at all times.” That shows you’re a fool because you apply that verse to somebody else. You apply that verse to see how other people love you, and you say, “Yeah, that’s the one who loves me at all times. That’s a real friend. That one doesn’t love me all the time. That’s not a real friend.” That’s the mark of a fool—that he doesn’t read the Word of God to see how it applies to me.

He tries to find out from this how it should apply to other people and judges all the other people in the assembly to see who are my real friends and who are the real brothers who stand by me. A brother who is born for adversity. I was in a difficult situation, and that brother came and helped me. What a fool and a spiritual idiot I am that I, after all these years, still don’t know how to apply the verse to myself. The verse is for me; the volume of the book. It’s not written about any other man under the sun. It’s written about me—that if I am a friend, do I love? Am I a brother born to help a person in adversity?

That’s really a verse that searches us out because many people use it. There are other places like this. All of a sudden, you come across a verse that really searches out the thoughts and intents of your heart, and it’s a verse that people were not to use it to expect other people to treat us like this. No, but how we are to behave towards others. Another translation of this verse reads like this: “The friend becomes a brother in the time of adversity.” The friend gets converted into a brother at the time of adversity, meaning that through trial, God brings believers closer to each other, and their bonds of fellowship as brothers become closer.

Standing Surety for Others

Verse 18: “A man lacking sense pledges and becomes surety in the presence of his neighbor.” This is another thing the Book of Proverbs speaks about, and that is to stand guarantee for another person. Somebody comes to you and says, “Brother, will you stand guarantee for me that if I don’t pay off this debt which I’m buying a scooter or a house with, you’ll take care of that?” You say, “Well, as a Christian, I’ve got to be loving,” and I go and stand guarantee for that person. It says here that is love without wisdom—a man without sense. Think of that. Why do you want to go and get into debt like that so foolishly?

The Danger of Financial Foolishness

The Bible says, “Owe no man anything.” If that brother wants to be so stupid as to go and borrow money and get into debt, don’t you go and hold hands with him and be a guarantor, signing that debt certificate along with him to show love. There’s a fantastic amount of foolishness in many believers when it comes to this matter of money, and they think it is love to go around helping people like this and giving and giving, but they don’t have any wisdom, and they actually hinder God’s work more than help.

Tremendous amount of wisdom is needed. Wisdom is the mother of love. Remember that. That means if love is like a child, wisdom must guide the love as to which way it goes so that it can do the right thing. There’s a lot of love without wisdom.

Those Who Love Sin Create Trouble

Verse 19: “To like sin is to like making trouble.” You know, the Bible speaks about Jesus hating iniquity. How do we know whether instead of hating iniquity, we love iniquity? One mark is we go around making trouble. Don’t be a brother who goes around creating confusion. Don’t be a sister who goes around visiting other homes and creating confusion. Get out of that. Get a reputation for wisdom.

Brothers and sisters, particularly sisters, there can be a tremendous amount of folly in this area—going around creating confusion instead of seeking peace. Yeah, seek God for wisdom. Then those who make trouble are those who love to sin, and the other part of that verse says, “He who raises His door,” that is, somebody trying to build a fancy house, “seeks his own destruction.”

In other words, one who exalts himself in some way, boasting in some way. If you brag, making a show of your wealth, you’re asking for trouble, and there’s so much of that in the world today—trying to make a show for vanity. So many things purchased without any function to be fulfilled, only for show or vanity. You’re asking for trouble.

The Evil of Suspicion

Verse 20 reads like this in the Living Bible: “An evil man is suspicious of everyone. A crooked mind does not find anything good in anyone.” If you find that your attitude is such that always you’re a bit suspicious of every brother, every sister—something wrong with that person, something wrong with that person, this thing is wrong here, that thing is wrong in the other brother, and that thing is wrong in the other sister—there’s one thing that that attitude shows very clearly. What does that show? That you yourself are a very evil brother, if you can be called a brother, or a sister, if you can be called a sister.

An evil man says in the Book of Titus chapter 1:15, that “to the pure, all things are pure, but to the perverted, everything is perverted.” You know what that means? You see somebody doing something, and you’re suspicious. You say, “Yeah, I know what his motive is in doing that.” You don’t say it, but you think it because you’re an evil person in your thoughts. You think, “Yeah, I know why he’s doing that.” Then the other person does something else, and you say, “Yeah, I know why he’s doing that.” That sister does something, and you say, “Yes, yes, I know why.”

You’re just there judging, and always it’s bad, always it’s suspicious. Nobody’s sincere except yourself in your eyes, and that conceit is what robs people of the grace of God—that they don’t get grace in their time of need. They’re defeated in sin, and that’s God shouting at them, “You’re not getting grace because you’re too proud and haughty.” You think you’re the only sincere person and everybody else is insincere.

God’s Patience in Judgment

Suspicious of this person, suspicious of that person—that’s the mark of an evil person, brothers and sisters, that dwells in our flesh. We can never think that someone does something with a good motive. Therefore, we suffer. When will we learn? When will we learn to humble ourselves and get God’s grace? A suspicious person is an evil man who is suspicious of everyone and tumbles into constant trouble. So let’s learn to get rid of that habit.

Why in the world do we want to judge another person? Like we’ve considered before, Almighty God Himself has decided to judge a man only at the end of his life. But if God can be patient to wait for a man to finish his life before judging him, hoping that at least when he’s 70 years old, he may repent, and then God can blot out all the 70 years of his sinful life. But we are such impatient creatures. We can’t wait till a man finishes his life. We’ve got to judge him right now for this and that and the other thing and the other thing. That shows how ungodly we are if you’re like that.

Praise God, we can cleanse ourselves from this ungodliness that dwells in our flesh so that we can be godly. God is in any case the one who judges. Why in the world do I have to suspect him of this and suspect him of that and suspect the other person and be so evil myself? He who is perverted in his language—the latter part of verse 20—falls into evil. Language, our speech—be careful of that perversion that comes into our language because of the suspicion that dwells in our heart. Sometimes it can be so subtle, the way we express it.

The Sorrow of Foolish Children

Verse 21: “He who begets a fool does so to his sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy.” We can apply it like this: when a person calls himself a child of God and behaves like an absolute fool spiritually, that brings no joy to our Heavenly Father. It brings sorrow. The father of a fool, he’s got sorrow. There’s no joy. Think of the sorrow there is in God’s heart when He sees so many people around the world calling themselves as children and behaving in such ungodly ways. Yeah, that’s a challenge for us.

A Cheerful Heart Is Good Medicine

Verse 22: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” I want to read that in the Living Bible: “A cheerful heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit makes one sick.” Listen to that. There are a lot of illnesses that can never be cured with pills and injections. It can be cured by the joy of the Lord. A cheerful heart that rejoices in the Lord—that’s not always suspicious. It’s not always judging other people. It’s not always grumbling and complaining about this thing, this is not them, that’s not them, the other thing. Make your life miserable, and you get sick in the body too.

A cheerful heart. Think to be like that. So what if something’s broken, something’s lost, and something’s gone? Why should you lose your joy and get sick because of all these things? If it’s gone, it’s gone. Let it go. If it’s broken, it’s broken. Let it be broken. All is corruptible on this earth, I find.

Somebody cheated you? All right. He cheated me of my money, but he’s not going to cheat me of my joy—a cheerful heart. Otherwise, I can have all types of ailments, which any amount of pills and injections will never cure me. The Good News Bible says there translates it like this: “Being cheerful keeps you healthy.” That’s really true. I think even a doctor will tell you that. To be gloomy is actually slow death. You know that? To be gloomy and grumpy—that is actually a slow form of committing suicide.

It’s not this quick thing by putting your head under the train. It’s a slow thing. Over a long period of time, you commit suicide. It’s gloomy. Everything is going bad. Always miserable. Our attitude affects our body.

Freedom from Material Bondage

Let’s learn to leave other people’s business to themselves. That’s very often what makes us gloomy. We get so occupied with other people’s businesses instead of worrying about our own salvation. Another thing that can make people gloomy is such a terrific love for material things. “Oh, something’s broken, something’s lost, something’s cheated. All my joy is gone.” Brothers and sisters, let’s take the Word of God seriously.

The Subtle Nature of Bribery

Verse 23 says, “The mark of a wicked man is, a wicked man receives a bribe from the bosom to pervert the ways of justice.” There it speaks about those who receive a bribe, as we saw in verse 8 about those who give a bribe. The one who receives a bribe is wicked because he perverts the way of justice. We say, “Well, I’ve never taken any bribes.” Maybe that’s right. But supposing somebody has done you a favor—somebody has done you, not a bribe, somebody helped you very much. Maybe a brother in the church helped you very much at a time when you were in great need in your family, practically or with money or something.

Then later on, you find in some situation, there’s a bit of a brother in someone else, A and B, and you tend to take sides with A. Why? Because you got a bribe from him. He helped you when you were in difficulty six months ago. So you’re on His side now. You’ve been bribed to be ungodly. It can be subtle, this business of bribing. I didn’t look for it, but the fact that somebody helped me, and I take his side—there can be so much of it. If we look into our flesh, there’s much we can cleanse ourselves from in these areas.

Wisdom Is Right Before You

Verse 24: “Wisdom is in the presence of the one who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.” We can look at it in a number of ways. It’s a very interesting verse. That means wisdom is right in front of you if you are one who has got understanding. That means you say, “My daily situation, as a wife, as a mother, as a person in a place of work, right in your presence means right in front of you. You have the opportunity to grow in wisdom in the daily situations of life.”

But a foolish person, his eyes are on the ends of the earth. He says, “If I go to Norway, I can become wise.” Or, “If I go to some other country, there I can get wisdom.” Or, “There in the midst of those godly brothers.” It can be some other part of India. They think that only if you come to Bangalore, you’ll get wisdom. Well, you’ve just got to come and see all the fools who live in Bangalore to know that you can live here and not get wisdom too. Sure. No, it’s not a question of hearing and hearing and hearing. So many people can hear and hear and hear, never become wise.

But to a person who’s got understanding, he knows it—wherever I am, if God has arranged my circumstances, my situation like this, right in front of me today, I have the opportunity to become wise in the circumstances of life. And my eyes don’t have to be to the ends of the earth. We thank God for the opportunity to use the conference and act with others. But I don’t act in order to become wise. That is to be a fool—to have my eyes at the ends of the earth and to think that’s the way to become wise. No. Right in my presence is wisdom.

In the evil that comes my way, and I can overcome it with good, I get wisdom. And the temptations that come my way, I seek God for grace to overcome them, and I get wisdom. It’s right in my presence. But I can look—a fool looks for it at the ends of the earth.

The Main Pursuit of Wisdom

Now let me read that same verse in the Living Bible, verse 24. Wisdom gives a slightly different meaning here. It’s also implied in that translation. “Wisdom is the main pursuit of sensible men, but a fool’s goals are at the ends of the earth.” That means a sensible man, his main goal in life is wisdom. But a fool, his goal is not wisdom. He’s got things like comfort and money. Where can I get a little more comfort? Where can I make a little more money? It’s a mark of a fool.

But a really sensible child of God, who does not bring sorrow to His Heavenly Father, his main goal in life is wisdom. “Lord, how can I get wisdom?” And God says, “Right in front of you where you are, where you live, right in your home, you don’t have to go anywhere, you don’t have to go to the ends of the earth, right where you are, in front of you in your daily situations, you can be wise. You can be wise. Seek Me for grace.”

God is the one who gives wisdom. The Good News Bible translates that verse like this: “An intelligent person aims at wisdom or wise action.” Wise action means wisdom in all our actions. But a fool, he starts off in many directions. That’s the mark of a fool. He doesn’t have a single goal. He’s into this and into that, and he’s sitting on that committee and the other committee, like so many evangelicals, and they’re trying to do this and that and the other thing. Instead of saying, “Wisdom is the main thing. I can do much more with wisdom than doing a little bit and a whole lot of things without wisdom.”

One Thing I Do

Paul said, “One thing I do.” Paul didn’t do 25 things; otherwise, he’d have wasted his life. He said, “One thing I do,” and Jesus said, “Seek one thing first, God’s kingdom and His righteousness.” That’s the mark of a wise person. He seeks with all his heart God’s kingdom and His righteousness. So let’s take those exhortations seriously—all those different shades of meaning in that verse. It’s a very profitable verse for us to meditate on.

A Foolish Son Brings Grief

Verse 25: “A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.” There we can ask ourselves, how many parents are there who grieve over their unconverted children? They should. They should have sorrow. Even if their children are big in the world and got big jobs, there are many parents who will grieve when their children don’t have a job. “Mother, I hope my son will get a job.” What about your son getting converted and becoming spiritual? “Yeah, yeah, that also is possible.” That is a foolish mother and a foolish father. What’s the use even if he gets a big job and a lot of money if he’s unconverted or even if he’s converted, he’s carnal, worldly, interested in worldly things, not wholehearted?

Oh, that’s a challenge to us as parents. Many of our children are not grown up. Most of us, our children are small. But we can keep that in mind as our children are growing up—that our burden will be that they will not only be converted but that they’ll grow up in wisdom. Wisdom. That will be a burden in our heart. It will be a grief to the father and bitterness to the mother that the father and mother carry unitedly before God—not blaming each other, saying, “You’re the cause of that, you’re the cause of that,” like Adam and Eve, but united in their grief and sorrow, seeking God for the conversion and for that their children will be wholehearted. That’s a good thing for us to seek God for.

Injustice in a Foolish World

Verse 26: “It is not good to fine the righteous nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.” We know that. That’s foolish to give a fine to a righteous person and to strike the noble person for being upright. But that is the injustice that is found in this foolish world, and that is the injustice that Jesus suffered. They struck Him, the noble person, on the face, and they condemned Him, the righteous person, to death. As long as we are in this world, we must be willing to face the same injustice from a foolish world. And don’t be surprised when we face it. We can seek for justice, but sometimes it won’t be given us, and we’ve just got to humble ourselves and follow in the footsteps of Jesus and commit our cause to Him who judges righteously, and He will sort it all out in the final day.

The Wisdom of Silence

Verse 27: Let me read that in the Good News Bible. It says, “Someone who is sure of himself does not talk all the time. People who stay calm and quiet are the ones who have real insight and wisdom.” You know, a talkative person is never a wise person. That can be written as a—there’s no exception to that rule. Not even one exception. A person who is talkative, always opening his mouth and saying something and passing an opinion—there is no wisdom in him. Now that’s all right with someone who is a spiritual baby. Sometimes spiritual babies are like that. But we should grow up out of that very soon.

You see that sometimes with young brothers, sometimes young sisters too—always so talkative. They’ve got so much to say, so much to—always talking, always talking. Ask yourself when you sit with other brothers or other sisters, who is the one who talks the most among this crowd of young brothers or this crowd of young sisters? If you find you’re the one always who talks the most, then put your name down in the head of the list of fools in that fellowship. Number one at the top of the list are you—always talking the most. There’s never a time when you can keep your mouth shut.

No, a wise person knows how to control himself. He doesn’t have to speak all the time. He has knowledge. He doesn’t boast his knowledge and show that he knows this thing in the Bible and that thing in the Bible and the other thing in the Bible. He knows. You know, even in a meeting, we don’t have to share everything that we know in a meeting. Wisdom means to know what to speak—not to show off our Bible knowledge. That is foolishness. But to know what to share and when to keep quiet—that is tremendous wisdom.

And yet, there can be such a lust in a person that he wants to speak again and again and again. Because he thinks he’s such an important person. Usually, when they’re very young and immature, they’re like that. But we must get out of that folly quickly and be wise, particularly in private conversation. Don’t be the one who dominates the conversation, that you don’t give a chance to other people to open their mouths.

Even a Fool Can Appear Wise

Verse 28: “Even a fool, even if you are a fool, if you keep silent, people may think you’re a wise brother.” Think of that. That’s anyway, that’s the first step to wisdom. Let me keep quiet. “When he closes his lips, he’s considered wise.” Now, many of us are very eager to say, “Yeah, I am foolish.” But then it says, “If you’re foolish, then why don’t you keep your mouth shut a little bit? Why do you talk so much? Why do you keep on talking, talking, talking?” I don’t mean in the meeting; it’s the other way around sometimes in the meeting, that people don’t share enough. They’re too shy and quiet. But in private conversation, some of these sisters whom you think are so quiet—oh, if only you could meet them when they’re in their own company. Boy, you’d get quite a different opinion.

Yeah, think of that. To be so foolish as to talk and talk and talk and talk so much. Say something edifying. Have a little more control over your tongue. The Word of God speaks much about that. If we acknowledge that we are fools and we continue to speak such a lot, then we have to say that we are absolute hypocrites. We don’t really believe that we are fools because if we believed it, we’d try to control our tongue a little more.

Two Types of Separation

Chapter 18, verse 1: “He who separates himself seeks his own desire; he quarrels against all sound wisdom.” Now there are two types of separation. One is the separation that we read in Genesis chapter 1. God separated the light from the darkness. The other is the separation that you read in Genesis 3 and Genesis 4, where Satan separated Adam and Eve, and Satan separated Cain and Abel. One is godly; one is satanic. There is a separation which is godly—2 Corinthians 6:17: “Come out from among them. Be separate and touch not the unclean thing.”

There is also a separation that’s spoken of in the Book of Jude. In verse 19, it says, “These are those who separate themselves.” Indian Christianity is full of such people who have come out of some denomination, separating themselves because they couldn’t get along with somebody there. They wanted to be the elders. And don’t ever be deceived that just because somebody came out of some dead denomination that he’s interested in the truth. No. He may be one who has separated himself according to Jude 19, not according to 2 Corinthians 6:17.

Those who separate themselves like that, not through the leading of the Holy Spirit, they are seeking their own—something of their own. They wanted some honor, some position, some title, something which they didn’t get. They got offended; they separated themselves. Of course, they won’t say that is the reason. They’ll say, “This is a doctrinal matter, brother. We had to stand for the truth in these days of compromise,” and all that. We must not be such fools that we believe all these people who have separated themselves. We’ve got to see; we’ve got to sense what is the spirit in this man.

I’ve come across a lot of people like that myself who would like to have some fellowship with us in other parts of the country, and I can sense the spirit in this man is wrong. Something wrong in his spirit. He’s separated himself with some other motive. Now be careful because the Book of Jude speaks about those who separate themselves, seeking their own. It says he quarrels against all sound wisdom. He’s got a pretext for everything. There’s a reason why he says, and he won’t listen, but the Good News Bible paraphrased it like this: “People who do not get along with others are interested only in themselves.”

If you’re a person who cannot get along with others, that clearly proves that you’re interested in yourself. Yeah, that’s a strong word. And they will disagree with that which everybody else knows is right. So we’re not to think that everybody who separates themselves are necessarily spiritual.

The Fool’s Pride

Verse 2: The Good News Bible says, “A fool does not care whether he understands a thing or not. All he wants to do is to show how clever he is.” That is another mark of a fool. He does not bother about whether this is according to the truth and according to wisdom. He just wants to show how clever he is, how much he knows of the Scriptures, how spiritual he is. It’s always the mark of a fool. He opens his mouth to show how spiritual he is, and thereby he shows he’s a fool.

Sin and Shame

Verse 3: Again in the Good News Bible, “Sin and shame go together. You lose your honor, and you will get scorn in its place.” When we sin and as a result of that, shame, contempt, dishonor, reproach comes, we’ve just got to say, “Well, I’m reaping what I’ve sown as a result of sin.”

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