Dr Greg Bahnsen - Proverbs: Proverbs 10:3 (Security & Satisfaction Through Righteousness) (Part 26)

Please turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Proverbs the 10th chapter, where just to give a flavor for the topic under discussion today, we will read Proverbs 10, verse 3 as we continue to work our way through the Book of Proverbs, picking out major themes of the authors. Proverbs 10, the third verse. Hear now God's word. Jehovah will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish, but he thrusteth away the desire of the wicked, and thus far the reading of God's word. As you go through the Book of Proverbs, you see the various pithy sayings, the various antitheses, various lessons that are laid out for us there. In that book you will notice that certain thoughts keep recurring over and over again. Why that repetition? You know, a few years ago there was a bridged version of the Bible published. I think Reader's Digest did it. It was a Reader's Digest version of the Bible where parallel accounts were merged into one account. For instance, in the Gospels you wouldn't have to read the story over and over again. Or say in Chronicles and Kings and Samuel, you wouldn't have to have those parallel accounts in the way and the genealogies, of course, away with those sorts of things. Just wasted space. Someone might think the Book of Proverbs would be a good candidate for that kind of treatment. You know, you try organizing the Book of Proverbs for a preaching series. I want you to put yourself in my shoes for a while. Sit at my desk poring over this book, trying to figure out what's the rhyme or reason for moving from one thing to another. What's the connection between why, in fact, almost word for word, sometimes a proverb is repeated later on in the book. Why? I want you to stop and think about that. Why is the Book of Proverbs so full of repetition? What would you say? What would you say? I can think of three reasons why God repeats himself in the book of Prophecy, Proverbs, and throughout the Bible too, for that matter. One of the reasons that we have thoughts or themes in the Book of Proverbs that come up over and over again is because of the inherent importance or the wide ranging significance of the thought that's being expressed. It just may be that this is such a heavy, such an important, such a significant idea that it bears repeating. How would you feel if the doctrine of God's predestination were taught in only one passage of God's Word? And that wouldn't really seem proportionate, would it? I mean to the importance of the doctrine. We might begin to question whether that doctrine, because it's difficult to accept and understand in the first place, we might begin to wonder whether the doctrine of God's sovereignty is really taught in the Bible was only in one place, but it was so crucial, it is so important that you can go through the Bible. In fact, I have a very close friend who went through the Bible and marked down all the places where God's sovereignty was taught. And that Bible ended up being a pretty marked up book. Likewise, many of the proverbs or the theme anyway, or the thought of a proverb is repeated because it's just so important that it bears repeating. There's a second reason why I think God repeats these proverbs, and that's because of the weakness of sinful human nature. Isn't it true it takes a long time for things to get through to us? Sometimes I confess that's true of me. We're so thick, you know, we hear it and we hear it, we hear it. I sometimes wonder about what we go through in worship. For instance, we say the Lord's Prayer every Lord's day here. I'm wondering if it's possible that you sometimes fall into the habit of uttering words and sounds which you know are in the right cadence and in the right place, but you're not thinking about the words at all. We tend to be a spiritually thick people. It's hard to get through to us. We take things for granted. We sometimes hear things we've heard many times and we say, yeah, I know that, but does it affect us? Does it change our lives? Often it doesn't. And that's why God sees the need to repeat and repeat and to prod and to prod and to poke and poke until it finally gets through our thick spirit. What we're supposed to know. Here In Hebrews the fifth chapter, verse 12, you will notice that the author of Hebrews says, I'd like to go into greater depth about this Melchizedek. He says, I can't because you all have become so slow of hearing, so dull of hearing, when at a time that you ought to be teachers, you have need that someone teach you again. The root of it. Someone teach you again. And so it is with human nature. We sometimes fall away from the Lord. We sometimes are indifferent to the things of the Lord. Sometimes we just let it go in one ear and out another. And the fact is it has to be repeated and repeated and repeated. And so Proverbs does that. But Then I think there's a third reason why some of the proverbs are repeated so frequently. And that's that it's precisely in such a matter as is being repeated that we are most tempted to compromise, that we are most tempted to make exceptions for ourselves and to neglect the principle being taught. That is to say, God knows just exactly our human nature. God knows our frailty. God knows that there are certain places that. That we need a spacious, shoring up, strengthening to walk in the paths of righteousness. And so many of these proverbs, don't let it bother you that they're repeated. That just shows God knows what he's doing. God says, this is really important. It bears repeating. God says, I know you're slow to learn. Let me repeat this for you, make sure you got the point. God also knows where we are so prone to fall and come short of his glory. And so he repeats for us. And that's what we have in Proverbs 10:3. We have here a theme that is just laced through the book of Proverbs. Jehovah will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish, but he thrusteth away the desire of the wicked, away the desire. We have to ask ourselves, when we look about our world, we look at our lives, look at the way we think and behave, how we manage our conduct. We think, is it true how we manage our. Good guys never win. Is it true that good guys never. Yeah, we hear that, right. You play by the rules, you're going to lose. People are going to take advantage of you. Others are going to get ahead. Good guys come in last. Don't you understand? Good guys come in. It may be one thing in the nursery school, in the kindergarten to play by these rules and have an overseer make sure everything works out in the end. But out there, in the right real world, where it's tough, where people are lying and cheating and scheming and all sorts of things, you're going to have to rough and tumble with them. You're going to have to play by their game rules or you're going to come. I think our society promotes that idea that if you play by the rules or if you show kindness to others, take a risk, if you conduct yourself on principle, if you're a person who shuns self indulgence, then you're going to miss out on happiness. You're never going to get ahead. So we hear people say rules are meant to be broken. Don't worry about these exceptions. If you don't exploit the situation, somebody else will. So get in there. There really aren't too many prime time TV programs that I have found that are dedicated to promoting a life of righteousness, that are dedicated to. I mean, try writing up a program, you know, a 13 part series that you're going to sell to CBS or NBC or abc. And the whole point of the series is to live a life of decency and principle, honesty, integrity, family loyalty, these sorts of things. And the whole point of the series is going to show that righteousness is good. And you know, they're going to say, who's going to buy commercials for this kind of thing? Nobody's going to tune in to watch that. TV programs don't promote a life of righteousness. You see, on the tv, it's taken for granted that people sleep together outside of marriage. I mean, that's just a way of life outside of marriage. Maybe 20 years ago that may have been kind of bold to suggest that. But everybody knows that's the way it is in this world. And the TV promotes it. It's taken for granted on the tv. The telling lies is part of getting along in the real world. I mean, it shocks me how often in watching a program, how often I just, you know, drink it down, here comes this program, here's someone who says he's got a compromise here and tell this lie. But I ought to be incensed. I ought to say, no, don't live that way. We take it for granted. So does the tv. It's taken for granted that dishonesty, as long as you're not caught, dishonesty is acceptable. Or I love this, as long as it didn't hurt anyone else, dishonesty is acceptable. The TV promotes this idea. In fact, it's so much taken for granted that religious people who strive after righteousness are dull, hypocritical losers in this world, that the theme is virtually threadbare. You know, I almost, you know, have a conditioned response. They're going to introduce a religious person into this program and I'm almost waiting to see the hypocrisy of the person or the dullness or how they come out, you know, the loser in a situation, because that's the way our society sees things. This is such a generalized theme that I almost struggle to get across to you what I want you to see, because you see what I want you to. Part of our problem, I think, is that we don't focus on what's being told to us. The message is so low key, it's so subtle, it's so pervasive that it's kind of like catching the measles. No one watches himself catch the measles. You know, it's just kind of an influence overtakes your system. And so there's an influence at large in our society and all influence societies to suggest that righteousness doesn't pay. Cutting corners, compromising, indulging yourself does. This is coming across. Just think about the advertisements that you see all around you. What is it that occupies the thoughts? What occupies the daydreams and the enthusiastic talk of people. Where is glamour to be found? Where is success to be found? Where is happiness to be found? To be found? Well, I'll tell you. We're not directed to a life of righteousness for these things. That's not glamorous, that's not successful, that's not the road to happiness. Quakers and nuns may lead lives of quiet devotion. Most people think they must get some kind of perverse, peculiar self satisfaction out of that. But I mean, that may be for religious weirdos, but the rest of us have got a little. Little don't. And that means cutting corners and flirting with evil and indulging our desires. And what the book of Proverbs is making clear to us by repeating over and over and over again this theme about righteousness is that that kind of thinking that you have caught like the measles and has infected your outlook and your conduct, that kind of thinking is an affront to God's character. That kind of thinking, whether it comes through malicious devotion or benign neglect, that kind of thinking is an assault on the very character of God. You see, this is God's word. He made this world. He governs this world. This world runs on his principles and according to his designs. And God is involved in our lives. God is involved in the workings of this world. Now what kind of God do we have? If this is his world and he is here and he is active in the affairs of life here, what kind of God do we have? Is He a God who says righteousness doesn't make any difference to me? Is he a God who says unrighteousness? I'm indifferent to that as well. Is he a God who is too weak to affect his will or to do anything? Of course not. This is God's world. And because it's God's world, the best way to get along in the world is God's way. This is God's world. It is not truly productive. It is not emotionally satisfying to live contrary to the righteous requirements of God. We've got it all wrong. We tend to think, well, if I give up all the happiness and the glamour and the glitter and the fun of this life, and I put up with this religious righteous lifestyle, then eventually it'll pay off. Boy, do I have to suffer to get there. Wrong. You've got the wrong world. You've got the wrong God when you think that way. Because in this world under God's control, righteousness pays off, unrighteousness doesn't. God so supervises the affairs of men that unrighteousness, at least in the long run, unrighteousness doesn't really advance a good life in this world. When we live contrary to God, we live contrary to all the things that finally make life worth living. You see, if things were other than that, then God would either not truly care about human righteousness or God would be simply too inefficient to do anything about it. And both of those can play are an affront to his holy and sovereign character. So you see how important it is that we have repeated and repeated and repeated. Righteousness leads to happiness, not unrighteousness. Principle, integrity, honesty, fidelity, holiness of life. Bring you the things that are most desirous in this life, not the opposite. Holiness of love. So just because God is who he is, we should take it as theologically axiomatic that obeying God is the best way to get along. It's the best way to get ahead in this world. Because God ordains the means and the ends in this world in such a way that wickedness doesn't pay off and happy ends are not reached by illicit. You know, it's just because God is providential and in control and conducts the affairs of this world in the way that I've described. That there is a kind of persuasiveness to two pagan notions I want to talk about briefly. There's a kind of persuasiveness to the ethics of natural law and to the Eastern notion of karma. I think there's a kind of persuasiveness. Not that everybody buys into this or buys into it right away, but there is something attractive in both of these ideas. The ethics of natural law suggests if you just look at the world, the world of nature, see the way it operates. If you understand what the most efficient way to get from this point to that point is, if you understand the means to end structure just of the natural world, then there's an ethical code that's built into nature. If you understand the means, you'll find out, for instance, that if you lead a life of drunkenness, that nature will be its own, will have its own way of punishing you. What happens when you get drunk repeatedly? Well, you have hangovers and you're sick to your stomach and no one enjoys that kind of thing. And you get liver disease, and there is breakdown within families and all sorts of terrible consequences come from being a drunkard to. And so the ethics of natural law says, it's just the law of nature. You shouldn't get drunk. Be moderate in your desires. Ethics of natural law. Look at nature. You expect that the way nature runs will show you the white, the right way to live. That's kind of persuasive. There's also a persuasiveness to the Eastern notion of karma. Many of the Eastern religions teach you can live your life and you can get ahead, you can do all these sorts of things, but it won't pay off in the end if you don't live righteously, at least what they defined as righteous. If you don't do the right sorts of things, then you're building up bad karma. And bad karma is kind of like an impersonal cosmic law of moral retribution. It's as though there's no personal God, but the universe itself is keeping a tally of your life. And you're building up good karma or you're building up bad karma. And it's either going to play itself out in your life right now or in some future life. Especially tied in with the Hindu idea of reincarnation. Your karma will determine what kind of life you have when you come back after die. So you're on the cycle or the wheel of life, reincarnated repeatedly to play out your karma. I'm saying there is a kind of persuasiveness to this natural law ethic and to this idea of karma, because it is true that God controls the world so that righteousness does not lead to evil effects and unrighteousness does not lead to good effects. God is in control in that way. But of course, the ethics of natural law, the Eastern notion of karma, secularizations of the Christian idea, they are both naturalizing of a supernatural intervention by God, an emanatizing, if you will, of God's providential supervision of the world so that righteousness rather than unrighteousness, can be conducive to security and to personal satisfaction. Even the ancient Egyptians had a proverb that was very similar to what we find here in the Word of God, which was. An Egyptian writer of proverbs once said, wrongdoing has never brought its undertaking into port. Fraud may gain riches, but the strength of justice is that it lasts. Wrongdoing has never brought its undertaking into port. You'll never successfully complete a project. Wrongdoing is part of it. Fraud may gain riches, but only justice will last. So even the pagan world you see, in all of its lost condition, cannot so eradicate the image of God and the truth of God through nature round about. Even the pagan world cannot get so far away from the Lord that it will miss truth. Righteousness really, in the end, is what pays off. And so Proverbs drives us home many times, and it does so in many ways. The wise sages of Israel wanted to impress upon the hearts of their hearers that righteousness is the best security and righteousness is the only true satisfaction to be found in life. Their message was over and over and over again that sin seen as folly. In the Book of Proverbs, sin places a strain upon life and the relationships of life, which inevitably leads to breakdown. You see, God is actually the one in control. And because he is the short run success of the wicked, the short run success of the wicked is only so much rope that God gives them that they might hang themselves. And because God oversees the affairs of his people, only the righteous are truly rich in this world, Whatever their outward condition, whatever things may seem to your outward senses, only the righteous are truly rich. But you see, things sometimes seem so otherwise, if we look on outward appearances. And the temptation to moral compromise is always before us in this world. And so the book of Proverbs, I think, is trying to inculcate in us an eye of faith. I have faith that makes a controlling presupposition that righteousness is the way to security and satisfaction. Now, those of you who have studied presuppositional apologetics, either here in our church or with me individually, will understand better than perhaps many of the others what I mean by a controlling presupposition. You see, presuppositions control our evaluation of our sensations. It's what we understand about the nature of reality and life and value that determines what we make of our outward sensations. All right, so I see a man who blasphemes God. I see a man who cheats on his income. I see a man who is wicked to his employees. I see a man who cuts corners and is dishonest. I see a man who's unfaithful to his wife. I also see a man who drives a wonderful car. I see a man who doesn't seem to be in any financial Straits takes wonderful vacations, just seems to have a life of ease. You see, you can't draw any conclusions from what I've told you without some binding values, without some view of life and the world by which you put all this together and then draw your conclusion. Now, what is the controlling presupposition we should bring to that? What I'm saying is that Proverbs says, you may see one thing, but the controlling presupposition must be this. Righteousness is the only thing that pays off in the end. What is the controlling presupposition? And that's why it's repeated over and over and over again. What I'm saying is that Proverbs says, you may. So I'd like to go through a series of these Proverbs as we conclude this morning, see if maybe by repeating it and repeating it, repeating it, God might, through this preaching, get it through to you once and for all. Once and for all. That the cause, effect, relationship is not such that unrighteousness pays off. It doesn't once and for all. I hope so. We look at Proverbs 10:3. Jehovah will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish, but he thrusteth away the desire of the wicked. The word soul here stands for the life, the person himself or herself. It does not mean soul as opposed to body. Jehovah will not suffer the life of the righteous to famish. Actually, the Hebrew word for soul can mean the appetite itself. You'll see that in Proverbs 23:2, a man who has great soul should be careful at the king's table. He should put a knife to his throat. It says, lest you display your appetite too much at the king's table. Likewise here I think the word soul, especially in light of the contrast to the next phrase, should be taken in the sense of appetite, the lively appetite of man. Jehovah will not suffer the lively appetite of the righteous, the faith famish, but he thrusteth away the desire of the wicked. You see, the cravings of the wicked are forcibly thrown away. And again, the key is the intervention of God. Jehovah won't allow it to be otherwise. Jehovah looks at the righteous desires of his people, and he says, they will be granted, they won't famish. But you see all those things the wicked want all those things the wicked think they're moving closer and closer, closer to God says, I will eventually thrust them away with force. They will not get their heart's desire. Look at Proverbs 10:24 25. The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him, and the desire of the righteous shall be granted. When the whirlwind passeth, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. Each and every one of these, you ought to memorize them, commit them to memory, repeat them all through the day. It'll change your outlook, it'll change your conduct, it'll change your life. Just look at that. What the unrighteous dreads the most, the fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him. Whereas the righteous will get their heart's desire. Isn't that interesting? God's going to see to it that we. We get what's within our hearts, whether we're righteous or unrighteous. It's just that for the righteous, what they want most, they'll get. And what the unrighteous want least, they're going to get. What they dread the most is going to come upon them. You find that to be true, don't you? Even in a limited way. I bet you could give me illustrations of that. You've seen that in your family and your friends. What people are trying to get away from, what they're so afraid of, they want to avoid so badly, ends up being their lot in life. Life, isn't that right? And God is the one who intervenes to see to it. God says, what you dread the most. And of course, in the ultimate sense, what does the unbeliever dread the very most? The very face of God. The whole life of the unbeliever is calculated to escape God, to put him out of the picture, to not have to pay attention to him and not face him. God says, but what you dread the most, you will get. You will face me. And likewise with the righteous, what is their highest desire? Well, the righteous hunger and thirst for righteousness, don't they. They wish to see God. And Jesus tells us, as part of the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, that we will be filled and we will see God. Our heart's desire will be granted, even as the dread of the unbeliever will come upon. The next. Verse there tells us that the unrighteous man's life is geared completely to temporal matters. When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more. His desires, his expectations have to do with this world, and that's all. And so a whirlwind comes, he's gone. That's it. No more to be said for him. But when devastation such as an outward whirlwind comes into the life of the righteous, it doesn't even touch him. His security is not affected because he has an everlasting foundation. But you see, his sights are not set on this world. His values are not determined by nature, but by supernatural things. And so whirlwinds, you see, don't devastate the righteous, though they do the unrighteous. And you've seen that too. Turn to Proverbs 10, 27, 30. The fear of Jehovah prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. The way of Jehovah is a stronghold to the upright, but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity. The righteous shall never be removed, but the wicked shall not dwell in the land. What is righteousness conducive to? Long life, Satisfaction of one's hopes, strong safety, security. Notice also how righteousness stands in parallel in all these verses to the fear of Jehovah and the way of Jehovah. The way of Jehovah, God's paths, the fear of God respecting him above all righteousness brings these things. But now memorize this. If you don't memorize all the ones we look at today, memorize this phrase. The expectation of the wicked shall perish. Run that through your mind. The expectation of the wicked shall perish. As you're driving on the freeway and you see guys acting in a way that is so full, the expectation of the wicked will perish. When you're at work and you hear people lying and cheating, remember, the expectation of the wicked will perish. When you're watching TV and you see people so readily go to bed outside of marriage, remember, the expectation of the wicked shall perish. The expectation of the wicked will perish. Don't you see how that changes your evaluation? How you look at things so much differently? Proverbs 11, 7, 8. When a wicked man dies, his expectation shall perish, and the hope of iniquity perishes. The righteous is delivered out of trouble, but the wicked comes in his stead. Unrighteous hopes and expectations are destined to perish. The Bible says. On the other hand, the righteous will be delivered from trouble, while the wicked are delivered into trouble. The very things that the wicked think will come upon the righteous will end up coming upon the wicked instead. In chapter 11, verse 18, we need to ask ourselves, will our achievements be lasting ones? The wicked earns deceitful wages. But he that sows righteousness has. Has a sure reward. Why deceitful wages because they lie to you, they deceive you. You think you're going to be able to get by with them, but they don't last. I think of greyhound dog race. You know how you get the greyhounds to run in a race? They had this little fuzzy ball that's put on a wire that goes around the track, and I guess the dogs take that for a rabbit or something and they chase after it, right? Well, I guess there was this occasion where that little fuzzy ball exploded or sailed off somewhere. But anyway, the dogs were running after this thing and it's gone. What do you do? You know, some kind of moaned and groaned and whimpered off and laid down. They didn't know what to do. Now others got into fights with one another. It's kind of a parable there about the unrighteousness of life. Pursuing all these things out there, this fuzzy ball. And then when it's not there, what's left but moaning and groaning and fighting. The Proverbs understands that deceitful wages over against the sure reward. 11:23 the desire of the righteous is only good, but the expectation of the the wicked is wrath. What will come upon the wicked? The wrath of God. The outcome will be controlled by the judgment of God. Chapter 13, verse 6. Righteousness guardeth him that is upright in the way. Though wickedness overthroweth the sinner, only honesty gives true safety. Proverbs 13:9. The light of the righteous rejoiceth, but the lamp of the wicked shall go out. Proverbs 13:21 says, we'll reap what we sow. Evil pursues sinners, but the righteous shall be recompensed with good. Proverbs 13:25 says, the unrighteous will never be filled, and never be satisfied. The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul, but the belly of the wicked shall want. Isn't that true? You see, people who have got it made in this world, people who have riches or power, they still commit suicide. They still have marital distress. They still are unhappy with their lives. They're still yearning for more and more and more. Their bellies are never filled, don't you see? Because they don't fill it with the right stuff. Proverbs 14:11. The house of the wicked shall be overthrown, but the tent of the upright shall flourish. Which would you choose if you looked on the outward appearance? A house or a tent? Well, if the tent is righteousness, it's going to last. The house will be overthrown if it's ungodly. Proverbs 14 verses 26 and 27. And the fear of Jehovah is strong confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of Jehovah is a fountain of life, that one may depart from the snares of death. Here we have godliness, a fortress, and a fountain to us of life. And our children will be secure if we live properly before them. Proverbs 14:32. The wicked is thrust down in his evil doing, but the righteous hath a refuge in his death. Will death be the final ruin for you, or the final refuge for you? Proverbs 15:6. In the house of the righteous is much treasure, but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble. Oh, they may have gotten a lot of revenues to themselves, but they took in more than money. They took in a world of trouble too. Think of Achan. Achan boy, I'll tell you. He came back from battle and he had all those riches, and he buried them in the floor of his tent. Many revenues to that wicked man. But, boy, did he buy trouble with it as well as you know the outcome of the story. Proverbs 15:24. The crown of the wise is their riches. But I have to turn the channel here. Proverbs 15:24 to the wise. The way of life goeth upward that he may depart from Sheol beneath. Remember last week's message. Righteousness delivers from death. Proverbs 16:31 says, Long life is in the path of the righteous. The hoary head is a crown of glory. It shall be found in the way of righteousness. Proverbs 17:11. An evil man seeks only rebellion. Therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. What we seek, we find. The Bible says so. Don't play with fire. You play with fire, you're going to have a messenger of fire come after you. Proverbs 17:20. He that hath a wayward heart findeth no good. He that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief. In the end, evil cannot be successful. Where is safety to be found? Only in the name of God. Proverbs 18:10. The name of Jehovah is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it, and is safe. Proverbs 19:8. He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul. He that keepeth understanding shall find good. See, wisdom is in your own best interest. The bible says. Proverbs 27. A righteous man that walketh in his integrity. Blessed are his children after him. The best way to bless your children is to leave them a legacy of righteousness. Proverbs 21:8. The way of him that is laden with guilt is exceeding crooked. But as for the pure, his work is right or straight. A clear conscience brings a clear path in life. And I'm going to read only one more. I'll tell you very honestly, I had intended just to read these to you and just have you sit there saying, why is he doing that? Just reading verse after verse after verse. And I say, I don't have the heart to do that. I have to add these comments. But that's what Proverbs does. You read through it. It just keeps coming back to it and coming back to it. Coming back. You say, well, come on, we want to be entertained. Say something new. Say it in a new way. Proverbs just keeps coming back to it and back to it and back to it. You say, why all that repetition? Well, go back to the beginning of the sermon. You have the answer to that. Finally, Proverbs 21, verse 21. To put it all together. He that followeth after righteousness and kindness finds life, righteousness and honor. Last week I said righteousness delivers from death. A lot of people hearing that message, which is crucial. It's at the heart of the Christian gospel. A lot of people hearing that message tend to say, oh, yeah, Christianity, pie in the sky, by and by, right? In the future, something's laid up for you, but here and now of no earthly good. Well, I want to suggest to you, those people don't understand the gospel. Those people don't understand the message of God's word. Because righteousness not only delivers from death, righteousness gives security and satisfaction. Now, we're not talking about pie in the sky, by and by. We're talking about a new life and a new creation that begins now and continues into eternity. Let's pray, Father, turn us around and change our thinking. Help us not to be so accepting of that general mentality, that atmosphere that is all around us, that suggest that unrighteousness is exciting, that it's fun and successful, that it is glamorous, that it brings happiness. Help us to see what you want us to see and tell us so often in so many ways, over and over in your word, that true security and true satisfaction can be found only in a life of righteousness that not only will deliver us from death in the future into your everlasting kingdom begins for us even now, the abundant life of those who know Jesus Christ as their savior. For we pray in his blessed name. Amen.