Wealth - Work and Wickedness

Well, take your Bible, turn back. I say turn back with me. We were in our scripture reading in Proverbs 6, but yeah, take your Bible and turn with me to Proverbs 6 tonight. Now we're not going to cover all of the chapter. We are going to look at really the first half of the chapter. We'll be looking at verses 1 to 19. While you're turning there, I'll go ahead and give you some information about next Wednesday night's message. Next Wednesday night, I'll do something I haven't done so far in our study of Proverbs. I'm going to cover the end of chapter 6, which is verse 20 to 35, and then all of chapter 7.

Now, you might be taking a deep breath right now thinking, "Boy, that's a whole lot." That is a whole lot. That's quite a few scriptures, but really everything there in those scriptures, everything deals with one subject. Remember this adulterous woman, I can think of a lot of different terms to use to describe her. She is the adulterous neighborhood harlot because it talked about going to her door. We learned about do not go to her door, do not go into her home. She's that smooth talking, seductive, we can call her a sleep around because that's what she is.

Really, the verses is 43 verses that we'll cover next week, but it's all about this main character. It's the main characters in the book of Proverbs. I even call her the woman with the red light in her window because that's what she is. Now, use that kind of language to help get our mind around that teaching. Next week, we're going to cover quite a bit. I'll say this sometimes, I'm going to leave some scripture for you to study, so get ready. Next week, I'm going to leave you some homework. Now, with the verses that we're looking at tonight, this is what I'm calling lessons in general studies. This is not the title of the message.

This is what I'm calling lessons in general studies. Let me show you what I mean by that. When someone pursues a general studies degree in college, they are involved in several areas of study. They are studying several disciplines. I'm sure Brother Keith could talk a little more about that than I can because he works at a community college. This involves studying the sciences, the arts, and the humanities, and the purpose of a general studies degree is to get a broad education. I think the term general studies, I think it's pretty self-explanatory. Well, to me, that's what we have here in the first part of the chapter.

Now, let me show you what I mean. In verses 20 to 35 of chapter 6 and chapter 7, the studies are all around the adulterous woman. There's one specific area of study and teaching, adultery, sexual immorality. You could call this like a degree in higher learning because he is teaching a lot about sexual immorality. Is he not? We're going to come back more and more and more. This is a degree in higher learning when it comes to immorality, the adulterous woman.

Well, verses 1 to 19, Solomon teaches on debt, he teaches on wealth, he teaches on laziness and work, wicked people and their behavior, and then what God thinks about the wicked people and their behavior. Really, it's three subjects if you condense it all. The subject of wealth, the subject of work, and the subject of wickedness. They are three subjects, wealth, work, and wickedness. This is a general studies degree right here. This really leads us to the title of the message. That's what the title is, wealth, work, and wickedness. Three subjects, and I'm calling it a general studies degree. Now, I am dividing these verses in four ways.

These are major divisions, really, how the verses flow together, how they are divided. So I see four divisions here. You might call them major truths as we cover the material. So we're going to look at the weight of another's debt, and that's out of verses 1 to 5. We're going to look at the sluggard who won't work. That's from verses 6 to 11. And then the worthless, wicked person, starting in verse 12, 12 to 15. And then the wicked things that God hates. And that's from verse 16 to 19. I will keep to my habit. I will not read the verses ahead of time. I will read them as we go, and I'm sure we'll read all of these verses.

So I won't leave a verse for you to study on your own. Now, you see how we'll divide the verses. First major division, verses 1 to 5, I call this the weight of another's debt, the weight of another's debt. Let's read the verses together. John's writing to his son. What does he say? "My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, you have given your pledge to a stranger. If you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, and save yourself. For you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.

Give your eyes no sleep, and your eyelids no slumber. Save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler." So in these verses, I want us to see right away, we have several subjects. We have several issues. We have a relationship between neighbors or relationship between friends, two men, two people. We have a struggle of debt. We have the issues of wealth and money. And really everything within these verses can be summarized by one phrase. And I got this from the Bible commentator Warren Wiersby. It just resonated with me all week. The phrase is unwise financial commitments.

That summarizes everything. Now there can be some confusion for us here. There's really kind of a cultural disconnect and I will explain that. I want us to examine this cultural disconnect or the circumstance. And after we understand the cultural disconnect, we can see Solomon's purpose in the teaching within the verses. So first I want to see the circumstance explained. Look at verse one. "My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have given him your pledge, if you have given your pledge for a stranger." Now the situation, the circumstance here is one man putting up financial security for a person or for a neighbor.

Simply this is the act of assuming a legal responsibility for another person's debt. That's the phrase you really need to get here. This is assuming a legal responsibility for another person's debt. We know the meaning of this term, cosign. Do we not? Cosign. If we cosign for someone, we are assuming a legal responsibility for someone's debt. If I cosign for you when you purchase a car, I am assuming that legal responsibility. If it's a house or really anything, I'm assuming that responsibility. Now culturally this was very, very common in that day. This went on far more than we might know.

People would acquire someone's assistance for some type of a loan or some type of assistance. The English standard it reads, "Put up security." I think you understand what that means now. So Solomon is addressing a common practice of one assuming a legal responsibility for another person's debt. It meant helping them secure a loan or secure monies. Now I think we understand what that means. So this is the circumstance and I wanted to explain it. But now we're going to see how Solomon gets into the ultimate purposes, the ultimate purpose of the verses. Second, I want us to see the call to save yourself. There is a call here to save yourself.

This starts in verse two and it goes on down to verse five, but really I get that the call to save yourself out of verse three. Look back at verse three. Then do this my son and save yourself. These verses are all about this one who is caught and I'm using this language. He's caught between a rock and a hard place. Do we know what that means? You know when someone uses that phrase, "Oh they're caught between a rock and a hard place." That's what's happening here. He's saying, "Son, you're caught. You better save yourself." But notice what verse two and three says.

If you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, then do this my son, save yourself. For you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go hasten and plead urgently with your neighbor. So what do we see here? This one has stepped up. He's made a commitment. He has a responsibility for a neighbor's debt. And then in verse three, Solomon is saying, "Son, you better get out. You better save yourself. You're caught between a rock and a hard place." Now I want to give us some details around this saving yourself. Notice he says, "Save yourself from your own mouth." Isn't that what we see in verse two?

You are snared by your own words. You're caught by the words of your own mouth. Here we see the man by his own pledge, the man by his own tongue, by his own lips, by his own pledge. He's snared himself. This word "snared" means to be caught in a trap. So with his own words, he agreed to a deal in which he is ensnared. And then he says, "Save yourself from the hand of your neighbor." Verse three, "Then do this, save yourself for you have come into the hand of your neighbor." Here we see that he's at the mercy of his neighbor. He is in the hands, meaning that the neighbor has power over him.

I thought about it like this today, even when I was studying. His neighbor has power to stick it to him if he wants. Stick it to him with this financial responsibility. And then notice he says, "Save yourself from the hand of the hunter." Here Solomon uses pictures that the young son would have immediately known. He would have understood these examples. We have the example of the gazelle, which was like a deer, and then the example of the bird. We see that the gazelle is in the hand of the hunter, and the bird is in the hand of the fowler. He's in the hand of the hunter as well. Both examples here picture the same thing.

This is an animal that's been trapped, been trapped by the hunter. And here Solomon is helping his young son to see that to agree to assume another's financial responsibility is just like being in the trap of the hunter. But notice what he's saying here in verse 3 and 5. Save yourself. Go back to the verses. And do this my son, save yourself. Verse 5, save yourself. For he has made a promise. You're in the hand of the neighbor. You're at his mercy. You're in his trap. So what do we see? We see the circumstance. He's assumed a responsibility. He's saying son, you better save yourself.

And then third, notice he says, I call you to save yourself now. I call you to save yourself now. Now in my notes, I put now in bold letters. Look at verse 3 and verse 4. For you have come into the hand of your neighbor, go hasten and plead urgently with your neighbor. Save yourself like the gazelle because you're in the hand of the hunter. Here we see an urgency in the call. Verse 4, Solomon says, don't wait. Go right now. In verse 3, there is a powerful call. The language here, it pictures one humbling oneself, even swallowing their pride. The term plead urgency, it literally means shake hands.

This speaks to a custom of the day where they would seal an agreement with shaking hands. So he's saying, you better go save yourself and you better go save yourself now. Don't even go sleep on it. So in summary, notice what we see here. This man is feeling the weight of another person's debt. They have cosigned a note and they are trapped. Solomon is literally saying, save yourself because you are caught like an animal and you might not even know it. He is saying that with your own pledge, you put yourself in a dangerous place just like an animal of prey. He is calling for urgency. Don't sleep on it. Take serious action.

He is saying, you've made an agreement to assume this debt and now you better get out of it and you better have a sure agreement. What is he saying? You're in between a rock and a hard place and son, you need to get out. Now I automatically went to a situation that I knew of some time ago. I knew a gentleman who was trying to help a particular individual and what did he do? He goes down to the bank and he cosigned. Oh, he cosigned for a nice new car for this particular person who was in need. Well what happens? He was stuck with the debt. He was stuck with the card note. He couldn't find the one he helped. He couldn't find the new car.

He was stuck. He was between a rock and a hard place. And oh, he might have been trying to do a nice thing but that circumstance just fleshes this out right here in front of us. I'm sure some of you've known people who have done something like that. But I want to flesh out some scenarios for you. And this is an incomplete list. You can add to this list. You know, I think about the business partner who gets himself in a situation like this. I knew years ago a man who was a very good businessman and he did business in a very Christian way and I saw it.

And he had this habit of helping other people in business and he would take on a partner and then after a period of time that partner that he helped could buy the business out. And he did that successfully several times. He made really good money and he helped other people make good money and he helped other people get into a business that they never could have gotten into. Now he might have did that two, three, four, five times. No problem. But eventually he encouraged somebody else's debt, somebody else's responsibility and he got stuck. Oh, he was between a rock and a hard place.

And he had to liquidate and he had to sell and he had to go to banks and he had to go to people and explain his circumstance. And what did he do? He had to secure agreements. He had to make handshakes and promises. What? To do what? To get those debts back. That really were not his. But he assumed that responsibility. So someone can get into this predicament in a business relationship. I think about it like this. Someone can get into this kind of circumstance in the family. Oh, in the family.

I'll never forget as a kid I had a family member who went into business and he borrowed money from another family member and it became tenuous and I was a little too young to know what was going on. Oh, but I remember the conversations in my family and it was one of those situations. Now I really don't know how it all worked out but I really believe what one family member kind of stuck it to the other family member. Again the same thing but yet in a family situation. And you know I've known people who are genuine Christians. They're born again and they just have a real big heart and they want to help people. And sometimes we can be too kind.

We can be too loving and our heart can be just too big. And if we're not careful we can help someone and assume that responsibility and then it comes back to bite us and then we can jeopardize our own family and our own possessions and our own retirements and our own cars and our own house by being too kind. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't help people know but what are we looking at? We cannot get ourselves between what I call a rock and a hard place. Now there's one more thing I have it brought up. The text does not say who the neighbor is. Is the neighbor a Christian? The text calls him a stranger.

As a matter of fact some of the resources that I study debate as to who this person is. We really just don't know. We really don't know. There was a Bible commentator that had a little saying that goes along this line. His name is Jay Vernon McGee. He says this, "Beware of signing a friend's note." He's addressing the friend. "Beware of signing a friend's note and never become a partner with a stranger." What does he say? "Don't become a partner with a stranger and be careful with a friend." So with that said I want you to think about situations. We have them all around us. We have to be careful how we do business with the stranger.

We have to be careful how we do business with friends. We have to be careful how we do business with family. We even have to be careful how we do business with Christian brothers and sisters in the life of the church. I've seen brothers get in business with other brothers and things not go right and it becomes a big problem in the life of the church. We have to be careful here. We have to be careful here. Now this is what I call general studies lesson number one. General studies lesson number one. Be very, very careful in assuming the responsibility of another person's debt.

You may find yourself in a trap in the hands of a hunter and you may be snared by your own pledge. So lesson number one. Let's move on. I want us to see our second major division or our second major truth in our outline. We see number two what I'm calling the slugger who won't work. We have the slugger who will not work. We see a transition that's easy for us to see starting in verse six. It goes down to verse 11. Go to the ant, oh slugger. In our language we can say lazy one. Go to the ant, you lazy one. Consider her ways and be wise without having a chief, an officer or a ruler.

She prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food and harvest. Verse nine. How long will you lie there? Oh slugger, when will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. And poverty will come upon you like a robber or a thief and want like an armed man. Now this is what I'm calling the second lesson in our general studies. Verses six to 11 are about several words or several subjects but really there's one main point. We see laziness. We see too much sleep. We see too much rest. We see poverty but this is really all about one point and that's work.

Here we have the picture of one who just won't work as they should. Now I want us to examine the slugger's situation in three ways. Three ways we're going to examine his situation. First I want us to notice the ant is given as an example. Oh that little bitty measly ant is given as an example. Verse six. Go to the ant, oh slugger. So there's the example. Now truthfully if we're all honest with each other, ants are a real pain. We really probably would not see them as great teachers. Truthfully they've been a real pain for me lately because we've had a big infestation of ants on our house.

It's dry and when it gets real dry they'll come in looking for water. Will they not? One of the commentators that I read said that Solomon was poking fun at the lazy man by using the example of the ant. That could be the case. But in all seriousness we need to see what Solomon is trying to say here. He is saying look at the ant. They work hard with no one ordering them around. They work hard without a boss. They work hard and every time of the year they are hard workers. I go back to the ant infestation at my house. This morning, early in the morning I came back in and there the ants in the kitchen again. And what do they do?

They're working hard looking for water, looking for that little bitty bit of food that you might leave around. They're working hard. As a matter of fact my wife said she got up in the middle of the night to go check on the ant problem and what were they doing? Working hard. You see the example? And I want us to see that God's creation provides all kinds of great examples. This is the time of the year when our oak trees begin to drop acorns, do they not? And what do those little squirrels do? They go day after day from morning to night bearing acorns. Why? They're not planting trees. No, they're storing up food.

So Solomon is saying that the ant is a great example for how one should work. And then second, notice the sleeping sluggard, he is exposed. I say verses nine and ten are about the sluggard being exposed. Notice the questions. How long will you lie there, oh sluggard or lazy one? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, verse ten, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. Here Solomon is exposing the habits of the lazy person. Two questions. Basically he's saying how long will you lazily lay around and how long will you sleep in? That's what he's saying. Solomon knows the habits of the lazy man.

Too much sleep, too much lying around, too much rest, too much rest with his hands and it's not good. Every now and then I'll give you a good size quotation. And when I do that I'm just trying to give to you what meant to me during my time of study and one commentator describes this circumstance, so the sluggard, the lazy man in a good way. So listen close, I think this might resonate with you and he's saying the sluggard's day follows a well-worn routine. That's good. The sluggard, his day follows a well-worn routine. And I'm quoting, "It begins naturally enough in bed." That is where he feels most at home.

The early morning noises outside his window, they wake in him and tell him it's time to get up. But he is hinged to his bed and with well-oiled movements he turns over and then back over again and then back over again, all the while sleeping and muttering five more minutes, five more minutes, just a little longer. So what do we have? This is the sleeping sluggard, the lazy person, he's exposed. And then the third observation I call verse 11, "The sluggard's future is explained." And poverty, verse 11, "And poverty will come upon you like a robber and want like an armed man." Here Solomon tells the future of the lazy man.

Solomon knows his future. He says because of his lack of work he will be poor. Poverty will take him, notice what the verse says, like a robber. Poverty will sneak up on him and rob him. Solomon is saying that he will wake up one day and realize that he is poor all because of one thing, his laziness. So Solomon explains the future of the lazy man and the future is poverty. Now in summary, what do we see in verses 6 to 11? I do believe that Solomon could be poking fun at the lazy man. He could be jeering him a little with this example.

He brings up the example of the ant, maybe for humor, but definitely as a great example, a great illustration. He is exposing the habits of the lazy person. It's all about rest, it's all about sleep, it's all about taking it easy. And he ends up being destroyed by his own choice. Basically the lazy man won't work and he is destroyed. I never forget years ago I was counseling with a particular man and he began to explain to me how he went through certain tragedies and certain heartaches in life. He described to me how certain circumstances, bad choices put him in a place where financially he was destitute.

And then he began to tell me how certain people stepped in to help him, family members did certain things for him and in that circumstance it charted a bad course for him. And in his older years he was looking back and saying, "I have been lazy, I've been the sluggard, I've made bad choices all because I was set on a bad course." You know what he was doing? Lamenting over poverty. He was saying poverty had snuck up on him like a robber and he was lamenting in tears, literal tears because it was too late.

And I want to point out for us, and this is part of application, and you know again you can add to this, I want to point out ways of thinking which can kill work. You know we're supposed to have this work ethic and there are certain ways of thinking that can kill the work ethic. That was what that individual said to me. There were certain things that came into his life and it killed the work ethic and years later he suffered from it. I'll show you one. The handout it can kill. Now there's nothing wrong with helping people, no. But we have to be careful if we give a handout or if we take a handout and that just keeps going on and on and on.

That can kill the work ethic. We have to be careful. We can help people but sometimes we have to help that person and that help must enable them to help themselves to work. So the handout can kill. Another thing that can kill, there's certain people they just have this sense of entitlement. They have the mentality that they're entitled. They're entitled. They don't have to work as hard as certain people. Somebody needs to help them. This sense of entitlement, they're entitled to the handout. They're entitled to an easy street. They're entitled that certain things should be given to them.

I'll tell you a lot of teenagers can have this mentality and I'll tell you a young person if you feel like you're entitled to certain things that will kill your work ethic. I heard a minister giving an example, a story, testimony about his own life. As a matter of fact this minister's name is David Prince. He's a professor at Southern Seminary. One of my good friends has him for a class. He's preached at the True Church Conference at Muscle Shoals. I've heard him preach many times. I don't know him personally.

But I heard him tell the story of raising his kids and he was talking about cars and phones and possessions and he said he purposely taught his children that those possessions don't belong to them. They're his. He said he taught them year after year, "I bought those clothes for you. I bought those shoes for you. I bought that sporting equipment for you. You're driving my car and you're driving my truck. I bought that phone for you. I put those braces in your mouth. I did it. It's mine.

You're just borrowing it." And he said year after year he did that and then when it came to the time when one of his children, I don't remember if it was a son or a daughter, they were going off to college and the car they'd been driving, he said he stepped up and said, "It's yours." And he said his son, I believe it was his son, didn't demand a new car. He was just glad he got a car. He didn't have a sense of entitlement. It'll kill the work ethic. So the handout can kill. This sense of entitlement can kill. And then the third mindset that can kill the work ethic is always feeling like you've got to have something for free.

You know, this mindset maybe might be related to the others, but there's some, they always feel like they've got to have something for free. And you know some of our government leaders today, they always want to give something out, give something out, give something out. Many of you know that I have a grandfather that's in the nursing home now. He is a World War II veteran. He was in the Navy. He tells me stories about his upbringing and he was involved in a family business all of his life, road construction, bridge construction, manual labor. And his dad raised him doing manual labor.

And he said in the early days when the Social Security Plans were being implemented, he said his father stood up and said it'll kill a man's work ethic because it'll give him this mindset that he thinks he needs something for free. Now I'm not saying we shouldn't help people. I am very thankful that we have a Social Security system. There are people who are legitimately disabled and I'm very thankful that we have a system, a safety net. But what we must see is there are some that take advantage of that. I'm just using these examples to get our minds going. And what am I trying to show you? The sluggard won't work. The lazy man won't work.

I know people who are legitimately disabled. They want to work. They can't work and it kills them. Why? Because they don't want to be lazy. But what I'm showing you is there are different things and ways of thinking and mentalities that can kill the work ethic. And I want to say this to you teenagers. God invented work. God wants you to work. Work is of God and the one who won't work, they'll end up being like the sluggard. They'll lose it all. Now I want to continue with a little bit of application. I want to ask a couple of questions and then we're going to move on. How much sleep do we need? How much rest do we need?

Now work and rest are of God. We must see that we must rest, yes. And there's a word we need. We need balance. I remember years ago when I was a young minister, I would be just very frustrated when families would go on vacation. They weren't at church. And then as I got older, I realized, no, we need those vacations. We need the days of rest. We need the times where we get away and we disengage from our labor. But we must ask ourselves these questions. How much rest do we need? How much sleep do we need? How much work needs to be done? Listen, we can never exalt laziness. We all must always exalt work.

We have seen our second lesson in our, what I'm calling our general studies. God condemns laziness. He exalts work. He expects us to be like the ant. He must be busy. And then third, I want us to see the worthless wicked person. We have what I'm calling the worthless wicked person. Now I didn't come up with that on my own. It comes right out of verse 12. Verse 12 says a worthless person, a wicked man. This is what we have here, the worthless wicked person. Now we have four verses here. And what we see here is Solomon is really revisiting a group of people that we've seen before.

Remember I talked about the evil gang, the peer pressure back in chapter two verses 12 to 15. I called him a sinful gang. I talked about him being bad, peer pressure. Solomon does this often. He revisits a subject. He revisits a sin. And then when he revisits, he'll go a little bit further in that teaching. Now to me, this just tells me he's a master teacher. Solomon teaches on a subject. He revisits and then he goes a little bit further, driving those truths home. Now here we see Solomon describes the worthless wicked person in four ways. He's describing their behavior. First notice their speech. Look at verse 12.

The worthless person, a wicked man, he goes about with crooked speech. Isn't that what verse 12 says? The English standard uses the word crooked. The new American uses the word perverse or the phrase perverse mouth. This speaks of how sinful their mouths or their speech is. They are always saying things which are contrary to God's word, God's ways. They are always saying things against God's word and God's ways. They're even saying things against mankind. So this is crooked speech, perverse speech. And then notice the wicked worthless man. Notice his behavior. Look at verse 13. And he winks with his eyes and he signals with his feet.

He points with his finger. And then the second part of verse 14. He is continuously sowing discord. Here we see that Solomon goes beyond speech to behavior. He speaks of the gestures of the eyes. He speaks of the direction of their feet. He speaks of how they use their hands. And all of this speaks about their behavior. And then notice their thoughts. Verse 14, the beginning of verse 14. With perverted hearts, they devise evil. Solomon is going further. He points out the wicked person's thoughts. He points out the meditations of their heart. Out of their heart comes what? Evil desires.

And out of their heart and their mind come these evil passions. And notice where this is directed. This is between man and God. This wicked one is always dividing between people. Go back to the verse, verse 14. Continuously sowing discord. So these are evil thoughts which turn into evil behavior and even evil speech. And it always divides people because people have to choose. And then notice their end. Verse 15. Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly. In a moment, he will be broken beyond healing. Solomon reveals that the wicked one always goes the way of the fool.

His foolish and wicked lifestyle calls him to end up in calamity and brokenness and tragedy. Destruction comes his way. Calamity is his end. Now in verses 12 to 15, in summary, what are we seeing? Solomon describes the worthless wicked person. And yes, God calls him wicked. And God calls him worthless. Look at verse 12. A worthless person, a wicked man. He points out their perverse speech. He calls us to notice their body language. Think about that. Their facial expressions, their hands, their feet. He shows us that all of this comes from within. It comes from the heart. He even shows how this man divides men.

Men have to choose between God and wickedness because of the actions of this man. Now I know I've done this quite a few times with you, but I want you to use your imagination. Be honest with yourself. In your mind, there are people that you know. Think for yourself, people that you know who behave just like this. Think about their speech. Think about their body language, their gestures. Think about what comes out of their heart and their mind. And think about that speech and that body language. Think about where it comes from. Picture this person in your mind.

Truthfully, there are people like this in your family, people like this in your neighborhood. There are people that you know. And remember this, the worthless wicked person always divides. Young people, I want you to see, when you have friends that go the way of the wicked man, it will divide you between what is right and what is wrong. You'll have to choose to go their way or the right way. And the worthless wicked person always divides. Those who are around them always have to choose good or evil.

So in our general studies, lesson number three, the wicked worthless person, their speech, their body language, their thoughts, their hearts, they always divide. It always divides people. So let's move on our last major truth in our outline, number four. I want us to see the wicked things that God hates. We have the wicked things that God hates, starting in verse 16. There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him. Now, any time we read language like this, there's always someone that's surprised. In verse 12, God calls the wicked person worthless. Doesn't sound very godly, does it? But it is.

And now we see that God hates. God literally hates. God hates certain sinful behavior. He hates all sin, but he's pointing out certain ones that are an abomination to him. Now, to many of us, verse 16 seems odd. Go back to the verse. Verse 16, there are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination. Now, what does that mean? This is a figure of speech. This is a graded, numerical saying, which was common. It's common in the Old Testament, but it was also very common in the culture of the day. As a matter of fact, they're extra biblical writers that we have today. They use this same language.

In my study today, I ran across a cultural poem that used this type of language. It's just a figure of speech for emphasis. But notice what Solomon is saying that God hates. And I'll be quick through this list. There are seven things. God hates wicked eyes, verse 17 says. The phrase literally means eyes of loftiness. Eyes of loftiness. The English standard says haughty eyes. Solomon is saying that God hates an attitude which overvalues self and undervalues other people. In our language, we can say it like this. God hates the attitude that looks down on people. God hates pride. And then second, God hates wicked speech. We see this in verse 17.

Haudie eyes and a lying tongue. This is real simple. God hates lying. Then third, notice that God hates wicked hands. Haudie eyes, a lying tongue, in verse 17. And hands that shed innocent blood. Here we see that God hates the murderer. Now in the scriptures, there's a difference between manslaughter and murder. Murder is the killing of the innocent. Now this is the opposite in our day. Truthfully, what I want us to see is God hates those who kill innocent babies. But today, the ones who kill innocent babies, they are protected. Are they not?

God hates the murderer who is convicted of killing the innocent, but in our day, they are protected beyond measure. And that's not what the scriptures say. Solomon says that God hates any person who kills the innocent. And then fourth, notice God hates wicked hearts. We see this in verse 18. And a heart that devises wicked plans. Here Solomon is pointing out that they have schemes in their wicked hearts. He is pointing out their imaginations, their imaginations for evil. So Solomon is showing that God hates those wicked schemes, those wicked plans that are within their heart. And then fifth, God hates wicked feet. Look at verse 18.

And a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to do the evil. Here we see feet that are swift to do evil. To me, there's a natural progression. The wicked heart creates the plan in the scheme. Then those plans are set in the place. So the wicked rush to act out that evil plan. So Solomon is telling us that God hates the feet that rush to do evil. And then sixth, God hates wicked speech. We're dealing with speech again. Look at verse 19. And a false witness who breathes out lies. Now here's a little bit different speech. It's not just lying. This is bearing false witness.

In our day when someone is under oath, if they tell a lie, they are committing what's called perjury. So Solomon is telling us that God hates lies that are under oath. When someone should bear a truthful witness and they do not, it's a false witness. God hates it. And then seven, God hates wicked schemes. God hates wicked schemes. Verse 19, a false witness who brings out lies and one who sows discord among the brothers. Here we see Solomon point out a unique sin. This is one who creates discord or division among those who are supposed to be related. God hates sin of division where there should be no division but unity.

Now in summary, what do we see here? Truthfully, there's a lot. God hates a lot. Young people, you need to see this. God hates a lot. God being God must hate those things which are against him and sin is against him. And Solomon gives a long list of things that God hates. Pride, lying tongues, hands that shed innocent blood, hearts that devise wicked plans, feet that rush to put those plans into action, those who lie under oath and divisions where there should be unity, divisions that are created. Now an application, I want you to see some things, young people.

Listen, young people, those who tell lies, if you tell lies, if you tell lies at home, if you tell lies when you're supposed to be doing your school work, God hates those lies. Now think about this person. When a person schemes to do evil and then they rush out to do that evil, God hates it. That person who plans to get drunk, that person who plans a way to get that alcohol and then they have a plan to go out and to drink that alcohol and then they go out and they get drunk, God hates it. The one who schemes and plans to rob so that they can buy drugs and then they go do those drugs, God hates it.

The person who makes plans for sexual immorality and then he goes out and commits that sexual immorality. I want you to see whether we're young or whether we're old, the schemes of the evil and then the one who rushes out to do it, God hates it. And look, think about this, God hates abortion. God hates killing the innocent. God hates killing the vulnerable. That list just goes on and on and on and on and on. Any person who kills the innocent, God hates it. But there's one here that might surprise you. Think about this, God hates division that is created where unity should be kept.

God hates division where it is created in an area where unity should be kept. Several Bible commentators brought up three areas of life where there should always be unity, first in the family. There should be unity in the family. But what do we see here? God hates the one who brings division into the family. Now we live in a sinful society but we should be unified in society and God hates the one who's creating division in society. But I think about another place, the church. The church, there should be unity in the church. In John 13, we learn that we are to love one another as Christ loved us.

And God hates the one who brings division in the community of the believers. God hates it. So what do we have? General studies number four, the wicked things that God hates. Six things, no. That figure of speech is for emphasis. No, it's seven. So in concluding the message, I know it's been a lot. We've covered quite a bit of ground. What have we seen here? Solomon has given us quick, powerful lessons. First, be careful not to assume someone's financial responsibilities. And then second, don't be that lazy person. Work. And then third, don't be influenced by the worthless, wicked person.

And then the fourth, notice God points out their behavior and he says he hates it. So again, that brings me to the title of the message. Wealth, work, and wickedness. Now, I don't know about for you, but it's helped me to see this in terms of general studies. Just like this general studies degree, Solomon is giving us a broad but very practical education in godly living. All of this speaks to godly living. Now, what's the title of our series? Wisdom for Christian Living. That's what Proverbs is all about. Wisdom for Christian Living.

So if we're a teenager or an adult, if we take what we have learned right here in these verses, verses one to 19, listen, we'll be able to have wisdom in certain areas of life. And my prayer is that it's spoken to you, maybe helped you, even corrected you, maybe equipped you for who God wants you to be.