Dr Greg Bahnsen - Proverbs: Proverbs 14:2 (Misdirected Disdain) (Part 54)

This Lord's day morning, we move into the 14th chapter of the Book of Proverbs, and we will take for Our consideration verse 2 and a number of other passages in the Book of Proverbs that pertain to the theme of misdirected disdain. Please turn with me in God's word to Proverbs 14. We'll take as our text verse 2. Hear now God's Word. He that walks in his uprightness fears Jehovah, but he that is perverse in his ways despises him. And thus far the reading of God's word. Everything is beautiful in its own way. Or so the old rock song went. The suggestion being that if we just looked at the world in the right way, we would see nothing at all to disagree with, nothing at all to feel bad about. There would be no need for negativity or to draw any kind of critical conclusions about things. Everything is beautiful in its own way. However, since the introduction of sin into the human race and the human experience, it is not true to categorically declare that everything is beautiful even if you see it in the right way. Not everything is beautiful. Not everything is right. It is impossible in this world to escape disdain, a negative spirit, a negative attitude, critical judgment about something is going to be necessary. It is no longer possible, as it might have been in the unfallen world that Adam and Eve enjoyed. It is no longer possible for people to look at everything and every attitude and every kind of conduct available to men and say, well, everything is beautiful. Something is going to be disdained, something is going to be criticized. You're going to take a stand for something and against the other. Even if you say, well, I refuse to take such a stand. I refuse to be negative about people who are negative. I refuse to be negative about having negative judgments. Then of course you're being negative, aren't you, about those who make such negative judgments. It is going to be impossible in a fallen world to say everything is beautiful. And so now the question before us this morning is going to be, what should we disdain? Nothing is more determinative. Nothing is more determinative of the quality and the direction and the outcome of your life than your attitude toward God. If you stop and think about it, nothing could be more significant than what you think of God, how you look upon the Almighty. The Bible teaches us that there are those who humbly respect the Lord, and on the other hand, there are those who despise and rage against him. And we're going to see, as we look at God's Word this morning that those who have a bad attitude toward God, those who despise God rather than despising ungodliness, those who despise God have a bad attitude not only toward him, but they naturally come to have a bad attitude toward God's people as well. So we'll consider a series of passages in Proverbs that teach us about our attitudes toward God and toward God's people. And we'll be looking at them from the standpoint of misdirected disdain. What should we be disdaining, since disdaining cannot be avoided? Proverbs 14:2. He that walks in his uprightness fears Jehovah, but he that is perverse in his ways despises him. Every departure from the path that God has prescribed for us amounts to a pitting of our will and our judgment against God's will and God's judgment. Stop and think about that. Sin is always a recapitulation of the attitude of Adam and Eve in the garden when they decided to take to themselves the authority and the right to determine good and evil. You see, God had set a tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the midst of the garden. And he said to Adam and Eve, you can eat of every other tree. You can fill yourself. Enjoy the pleasure, the aesthetic pleasure, the eating pleasure. You can just be so happy with everything else, but don't eat of this tree, because I determine what's right and wrong. Will you respect my boundaries? Will you respect my lordship? Will you see that I am the sovereign when it comes to your conduct? And Adam and Eve decided, under the temptation of Satan, that they would determine whether it was right or wrong to eat of that tree. Which is to say, in general, they would determine for themselves what was right and wrong. God would not be the authority in their lives. They, with their own reasoning, with their own research, with their own feelings and convictions, would decide what is right and wrong. And every time we sin, every time anyone sins in this world, it's the Adam and Eve story all over again. Because every time we sin, we are determining for ourselves what is the right thing to do contrary to the will of God. We are saying we will not submit humbly and in reverence to the word of God and trust that he is the sovereign in the area of ethics. And we will decide for ourselves. And you know, this is not a problem that we see only in the unbelieving world. We see this in the Christian world far too much as well. Often enough Christians decide whether they will obey or disobey some commandment from God based on whether they think it's reasonable, whether it fits into their lifestyle, whether it's not too inconvenient. That's absolutely rebellious, though. And the book of Proverbs tells us that when we act that way, whatever our outward profession might be, when we act that way, we are despising Jehovah. We are saying, God, you take second place. You are not sovereign. I do not respect you. Or if I do, I don't respect you as much as I respect my own opinion. I do not respect your concern for my well being in this world more than I respect my anticipation and expectation of well being in this world. I do not submit to your wisdom, I submit to my own. And so every departure from the path of God's prescribed word amounts to pitting our will against God's will, pitting our value judgments against God's value judgments. Those who are perverse in their way, as the book of Proverbs says here, chapter 14, verse 2. Those who are perverse in their ways, whether it be their attitudes or their words or their conduct or their lifestyle in general, those who are perverse in their ways thereby display the fact that they despise God. The Hebrew word that is used for despise here means to show contempt for something, to treat it in an arrogant fashion or as insignificant. There are a couple of illustrations of the use of that word that I think might be helpful for you this morning, if you bear them in mind. Esau came in one day, hungry from hunting, and he saw his brother Jacob developing this lentil stew. And Esau begged his brother Jacob to give him some of that stew. Jacob said, I'll be glad to do that if you give me your birthright. And Esau thought about it, and he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, as the Bible tells us. And the conclusion of the Bible at that point is in one sentence. And thus Esau despised his right of firstborn. Now, do you think that means that Esau out when he was hunting, or when he would privately reflect on this in his bedroom to say, oh, I just have contempt for my birthright. I hate being in a privileged position. I don't want to be the older brother. I don't want to receive something better. I don't want authority in the family when my father dies? No, he didn't do that at all. The word despised there means he treated it as insignificant, that when push came to shove, Esau was more committed to his belly than he was to the Lord. He was more committed to satisfying his immediate desires than he was to pleasing God and honoring his birthright. And so contempt is not always outward, explicit and self conscious contempt. Contempt can be taking a light attitude towards something, seeing it as unimportant. Not counting in Malachi 1, verse 7, the Lord indicts through the prophet Malachi the priests that are there in Jerusalem, and the indictment is, you have despised the Lord. Same expression here as in Proverbs. You despise Jehovah. And the priests cry out, as Malachi indicates it, wherein have we despised you? How can you say that those who have given their whole lives to the service of God in the temple, how can you say that those who live for the service of God despise you? And God says, because you have offered polluted sacrifices upon my altar, you go through the motions, but it's not important to you. You don't really think it's something that should be given your best. You're willing to give polluted sacrifices and you forget who I am. You're offering this to the Lord, the One who made you and sustained you and has redeemed you. You offer me the worst rather than the best. And in so doing you show that you treat me insignificantly. You dishonor me. And that is a form of contempt. Proverbs says that those who walk in a perverse way, despise. They show contempt for God. They do not honor his word, do not take it seriously, do not live in his holy presence. And so the despising spoken of here may be an unspoken form of contempt. In fact, it usually is unspoken. There are some people that you know and that I know probably that do outwardly talk against God. But that's not usually what unbelievers do. The fact that they don't speak of their contempt does not mean it's not real, however, because this contempt for God of which we are speaking this morning has to be disguised. It has to be reinterpreted and put in another light. Because, you know, if the sinner were to make an explicit acknowledgment of the true nature of his attitude toward God, it would be utterly irrational. You know, does it make much sense for somebody to say, I know that God made the heavens and the earth out of nothing. He is that almighty. I know that God governs every event of history, that he is the sovereign, that he has planned out every detail. I know that he is utterly holy. And on the day of Judgment he will read right through every one of us. He will see us for what we are, and that the consequences of disobedience will be being consigned to everlasting perdition. I know all those things, and I hate God. You see that series of premises, though it's not impossible for someone to utter. And I believe in history there have been some who have been just that explicit in their hatred of God. Nevertheless, the majority do not talk that way. They won't say, I believe that God says so and so, and I hate it and I'm not going to do it anyway. They usually come up with, what a disguise for their disobedience. I don't believe there is a God. You see, if there is no God, then what I'm doing can't be criticized. Or they'll say, I don't believe God has spoken clearly. You may think that the Bible is the word of God, but nobody knows for sure what God says. Or they'll reinterpret what's going on. They say, well, you have your opinion and I have my opinion. Even if there is a God. I mean, who are you to tell me what to do? And if you suggest, well, it's not me trying to tell you what to do. I'm trying to tell you what God says. They'll say, oh, no, no one can know for sure. And so, in so many different ways, unbelievers reinterpret their attitude, put a better face on it. But what the book of Proverbs tells you is that you should see through that to what is down deep in the heart of every unbeliever and everyone who sins against God. And that's an attitude of contempt for God. Those who are perverse in their ways despise Jehovah. Now, what does the proverb put in contrast to this despising? It says that those who walk in their uprightness fear Jehovah. You see, those who don't fear Jehovah despise him. Those who don't despise Jehovah must fear him. There is no mediating position. There is no compromise in this universe. You're either on one side of the divide or you're on the other side of the divide. And it is to our spiritual detriment that we so often compromise ourselves. When we look at that question, we think, oh, no, it's not a matter of hating God or fearing God. I'm somewhere in between. I'm not really living up to what God wants. And I know I rationalize my sins and I disobey, but I really do love him and I really do Respect him, and so forth. The book of Proverbs says there is no middle ground. You fear God or you despise God. And you can tell which is which by your lifestyle, by your conduct, your attitudes, your words, your opinions, the way you treat others, the way you behave. Who are those that fear the Lord? According to Proverbs, those who walk in their uprightness, they are the just, they are the righteous, they are the obedient. I want you to notice as well that the Bible says it's those who walk in their uprightness. It doesn't say those who talk about uprightness. Those who walk in uprightness are those who follow their profession of faith in God, follow the words that they speak about right and wrong conduct, follow their expression, verbal expression of the laws of God, with a lifestyle and a conduct and an attitude and a way of thinking that befits that profession. Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. So often many of us, especially in the theological circles in which we find ourselves, so many of us, reinterpret that in practice, as if you love me, talk about My commandments. Jesus said, if you love me, keep them. So on the one hand, we have the attitude of despising God, on the other, the attitude of fearing the Lord. We learn more about fearing the lord in Proverbs 16. At the sixth verse. Please turn then to Proverbs 16:6, where we read, by mercy and truth, iniquity is atoned for. And by the fear of Jehovah, men depart from evil. It's in this verse that we learn that fearing the Lord entails taking decisive action. Specifically, if you fear the Lord, you will what? Depart from evil. Fearing the Lord leads to a changed lifestyle. It leads to repentance. It leads to what we call conversion, a turning around and a turning away from our sins and our transgressions. And you know, the evil in our lives from which we must turn. According to this proverb, the evil in our lives includes the unrighteous things that we omit to do. There are righteous things that we should do that we don't do, and when we omit them, we are being unrighteous. It also includes those violations of God's standards that we so readily engage in. It involves our sins of omission as well as our sins of commission. But to fear the Lord is to correct both our deficiencies and our defections. Both our deficiencies and our defections are things we should turn away from. If we fear the Lord, if we really honor God, if we really humbly bow before him. If we if we reverence his name, then we want to turn from those things which are unrighteous in his sight. You notice how often the book of Proverbs gives us this message of departing from our evil ways. The word departing appears so many times. Proverbs 3:7. I want to look at some of these with you real quickly. Make the point. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear Jehovah and depart from evil. Proverbs 8:23. I was set up from everlasting from the Wait a minute now. That's not what I want. I've done it again. Let's turn to Proverbs 14:16. A wise man fears and departs from evil, but the fool bears himself insolently and is confident in verse 27 of that chapter. The fear of Jehovah is a fountain of life. The one may depart from the snares of death. So repeatedly the fear of the Lord is connected with departing. If you really fear God, then you must do something else. You must disdain and turn away from you must depart from the evil in your life. And so the question that we have to ask ourselves in all honesty and I hope you'll do this without any thought of who's sitting next to you or the public circumstances in which you find yourself, can you honestly before God now ask this question and answer it right. Do you hate your sins? Do you hate them? Do you depart from your sins? Do you disdain them? Or on the other hand, do you, perhaps, when all is said and done, cherish your sins? Do you protect them, and rationalize them, and make room for them in your life? The Westminster Confession of Faith Devastating Description of repentance in Chapter 15, Section 2 by repentance a sinner out of the sight and sense, not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature and righteous law of God, and upon apprehension of his mercy in Christ, to such as are penitent, so grieves for and hates his sins, as to turns from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with him in all the ways of his commandments, doesn't that just go right to your heart? Do you see the odiousness and the filthiness of your sins? Do you grieve over that? Do you have times when you just hate the things you do, and hate the things you say, and hate the things you feel and think and plan? Do you hate your sins? Do you fear the Lord, then depart from evil. The first part of this verse in Proverbs 16:6 says, by mercy and truth, iniquity is atoned for. The word atoned for means purged or covered over. In fact, it's the ordinary word used in the Old Testament for expiation. An expiation is a sacrifice made which has the effect of covering sin. Sin so that God no longer sees it, it purges it from his sight. It no longer is taken account of. Then when we interact with God, and so we find out that by mercy and truth, iniquity is expiated, it is covered over, it's purged and atoned for. What is it that atones for sin? Notice this. Mercy and truth. Another way of translating to Hebrew, I think perhaps more helpful, loving kindness and faithfulness. In fact, that Hebrew expression, if I can take this a step further, is usually read by commentators as a hendiades, which means two nouns are conjoined when in fact one is being used as an adjective for the other. Loving kindness and faithfulness could be translated faithful loving kindness, true love, true kindness, faithful love. And so faithful love atones for sin. But whose faithful love? Is it God's faithful love, or is it my faithful love that atones for sins? In this particular passage now, one of the commentators on this book of the Bible, Bridges tells us that it must be God's faithful love that is being referred to here. Because in the first place, he says, other passages of Scripture usually assign those two virtues to God. God. Loving kindness and faithfulness, or mercy and truth are often attributed to God. And it's very true. If we had time this morning, I could read a dozen or so passages where God is a God of mercy and truth, of loving kindness and faithfulness. No doubt about that. Secondly, Mr. Bridges tells us that we must see this as God's loving kindness, because if we don't, the gospel has been overturned. Because then we're being told that our faithfulness, our loving kindness, our true love, as it were, expiates sin. I'm going to suggest, however, that that is not what the passage means. Though I have respect for this commentator and have respect for those arguments. They're two good lines of argumentation. I think more local considerations, more literary considerations will drive us to the other conclusion. The first place, one must recognize the parallelism of Hebrew poetry here. Proverbs 16:6 says, by mercy and truth, iniquity is atoned for. And the next phrase you see, is parallel to that. And by the fear of Jehovah, men depart from evil. Men departing from evil show their True loving kindness, their faithful love toward God and toward God's people. And although Mr. Bridges tells us that these are virtues assigned to God in the Bible and that's why they have to be assigned to God here, the fact is the book of Proverbs assigns those very two virtues to men. If you look at Proverbs 3, verse 3, we read, Let not kindness and truth, the very same Hebrew words, chesed and amet. Don't let loving kindness and faithfulness forsake you. Bind them about your neck, write them upon the tablet of your heart. And so clearly they are human traits in the book of Primary Proverbs. Well, does this verse then deny salvation by grace? Oh, not at all. Any more than the book of James denies salvation by grace. What this verse teaches, it seems to me what it affirms is the power of saving grace. It doesn't deny that we are saved by grace that is taught in so many different ways. The next verse we look at will teach that it is taught so often in the Bible, it's not being denied here. What is being applied, affirmed, is that saving grace is powerful, that those who have experienced God's grace will learn to imitate that grace in their lives. The very loving kindness and truth, the faithful love that God shows us, will come to be a virtue in our lives because his grace is just that powerful. Genuine religion, the true fear of the Lord involves the fruits that are appropriate to reverencing God. Jesus said, by their fruits you shall know them, those who are saved. Those who profess the grace of God in their lives will show the grace of God in their lives. And so James chapter one and then all of chapter two hits this too. James one tells us that true religion is what true religion is to visit the widows, those who are fatherless, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. And so the book of Proverbs, I don't think, is to be read as contrary to the grace of God, rather is affirming the power of God's grace to change our lives. It is by our mercy and our truthfulness, our faithfulness, that iniquity is atoned for. In Proverbs 16, verse 20, notice we read, he that gives heed unto the word shall find good and whoso trust in Jehovah, happy is he. There we have the confirmation that Proverbs does not teach a works righteousness way of salvation. Blessing is clearly said to rest upon trusting in Jehovah. Jeremiah 17, 7, 8 says, Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah and who Makes Jehovah his trust. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its root by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its leaf shall be green, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. What a good verse to read in the midst of this heat spell here in Southern California, right? The one who trusts Jehovah is like the tree that's planted right next to the river so that its roots can go down deep and can be sustained by the water that is there. And the leaf does not lose its greenness and all of its fruitfulness is restored and kept. And so we've got to learn to trust Jehovah and trusting Jehovah. The attitude of fearing him, humbly submitting to him, trusting him, leads to obedience, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. And notice that in Proverbs 16:20 that the kind of trust referred to involves attentiveness to God's Word. He that gives heed unto the Word shall find good. To put it another way, whoso trusts in Jehovah, happy is he. Trusting in Jehovah is parallel to giving heed to the Word. Do we claim to fear the Lord? Do we claim to be his people? Do we claim to reverence his name and to love Him? Do we say that we trust Him? Well, let's test that attitude. Do we attend to His Word? Do we listen to Him? How much respect do you think my children show me Me when they don't listen to me, when we bring them to the table and I try to instruct them in the way they should live and so forth. And their minds are somewhere else. They're watching things outside. They're watching the tv. They're talking to one another, but they're not hearing their Father speak. And yet I say, don't you honor your Father? Oh, yes, we trust you, Father. We love you. We honor you. Why don't you listen to me then? Don't you think your Heavenly Father has days when he feels that way towards you? Why do you say that you honor me? Why do you say you love me? Why do you say you care about me? Why do you claim to trust me? You don't listen. In fact, it's not just that you don't listen. You don't care to listen. I can't get you to read the Bible. I can't get you to become a serious student of the Scripture. You still have this misguided Roman Catholic idea that that's for the Priest, they study. They're the ones who are supposed to take out the Bible, Bible dictionaries and the commentaries. They're the ones who are supposed to have some kind of systematic approach to the analysis of God's Word. Not me. Do you attend to God's Word? Jesus said that if we abide in His Word, then we are truly his disciples. What conclusion would you draw if you don't abide in His Word? Peter says that as newborn babes, we should long for the spirit milk of God's Word. If you don't long for the spiritual milk of God's Word, are you born again? Where are the disciples of Jesus who will stand up and say, I'm living in the Word of God. I abide there day and night. I meditate upon it. In fact, you give me some free time, you know where you'll find me? In my study looking at the Bible. You know, I'm clamoring to get more time to study the Bible. I'm just crying out for the opportunity to have the milk of God's Word poured into me. And I don't see anybody jumping to their feet to claim that this morning. Do we really have an attitude toward God that reverences him and trusts Him? If we don't trust the Lord, who do we trust? Ourselves. Right. We're saying God. The reason why I didn't study the book of Proverbs during the week while the pastor was preaching on it, because I figured one, he, he'll tell me what I'm supposed to do and if I don't remember it, and if I don't go to the Word, I'll pretty much know what to do on my own. I'm doing okay. At best, Christianity will refine my very good ethical insights. At best, Christianity will bolster the things that I already know are right and wrong. So that's why I don't study your Word, God, because I'm okay as far as I go. I can be a little better, but I don't need your word now. Who are you trusting when that's your attitude? And again, no one says that because it's so irrational to say it. It takes a preacher to stand up here and say, don't you know that's what you're saying? Don't you hear that's what you're saying to God when you don't study His Word, when you are not diligent in pursuing it and knowing it and living it. You see, you need to learn to distrust yourself. That's the problem. Your attitude toward God is wrong. Because you have such a good attitude toward yourself. You need to distrust yourself. You need to say, you know, I tend to rationalize. I tend to be foolish. I tend to be impatient. I tend to do things which are contrary to my own best interest and the best interest of my neighbor. I tend not to love God with everything that is in me. And my neighbor is myself. And because I'm that kind of a person, and I honestly admit it and confess it before God, I don't want to trust myself. I want Scripture to be my guide. I want to live there. I want it in me every day. Said, be a helpful attitude for the arrogant and for foolish sinners to obtain a healthy distrust of themselves that they might learn to trust God. And so we've seen thus far from Proverbs, there are two basic attitudes men have toward God. There's an attitude of despising God. Those who are perverse in their ways, whether they say it or not, despise God. They show him contempt. They have scorn for him and His Word. Those who reverence God, those who have the fear of the Lord before their eyes, walk uprightly, depart from evil for faithful love toward God and their neighbors. They trust in the Lord and thus give heed to His Word. By this point, you've probably figured out that these responses say something about what we think of ourselves as well as what we think about God's wisdom and God's holiness and God's authority. Indeed, it's just because we think too highly of ourselves that we think too lowly of the Lord. In Proverbs 19:3, we find out what happens when people don't think highly enough of God. Proverbs 19:3 says, the foolishness of man subverts his way and his heart rages against Jehovah. Some of the older translations will say frets against Jehovah, but in the archaic English, frets means to rage. You know, you have a heart that's agitated against God. The foolishness of man subverts his way. Then his heart is agitated against Jehovah. What we learn here is that men get angry at God for their own foolishness. And that's worthy of a sermon in itself. What a devastating message. Men get angry at God because of their own foolishness. God, you see, gets blamed for what we bring on ourselves. The foolishness of man subverts his way. We go out there and we act like minnies spiritual ninnies. And what happens is our lives don't go well. All sorts of Things get heaped upon us because of our sin. And then we look at God and say, why, what are you doing this to me for? I deserve better than this. And the heart of man rages against Jehovah because of the foolishness he's brought upon himself. Our own sinful foolishness trips us up, it says, subverts our ways in the Hebrew. It trips us up. And then we turn around and rage against the Lord. Of course, by quarreling with what we cannot change. You know what we can't change. We can't change the holy character of God. And we can't change the consequences of that holy character for living in this world. And by quarreling with what we cannot change, we only double the burden of our sin. Do you realize that it does you no good to rage against God because your life's not going well in your sin? Isaiah wrote, woe to him who strives with his Maker. Shall the clay say to him that fashioned it. What do you think you're doing? Paul writes the same words in Romans 9, verses 20 and 21. Who are you to reply against God? The foolishness of man subverts his way, brings sorrow into his life, trips him up. And then he turns around and he contends with his Maker. Why did you make me this way? What do you think you're doing? Who do you think you are? And here we see the heart of the matter, whether with that intensity or with those words or not. Sinful men despise God and they blame him for what goes wrong in their lives. The arrogance of the sinner, I think, is never so evident as just here that he dares to have the attitude that God better not cross the sinner's will. And then when God dares to cross the sinner's will, he rages at God for the just consequences of going to war with God. You cannot win in going to war with God. And when you attempt to do that by sinning and expecting nice things to happen in your life anyway. When you go to war with God and you find out you can't win, then you rage against the one that you've declared war upon. It makes no sense. The Bible assures us that sin and sorrow are linked together. And yet fools rush into sin and then rage against their sorrow. I'm going to say that again. It's something bearing repeating. I think sin and sorrow are inseparably linked. But fools rush into sin and then they rage against their sorrow. Be not deceived, Paul says. God's not mocked whatever a Man sows, that shall he reap. But it's perennially the way with sinners to rage against God and blame him. They blame God for their disobedience, and they blame God for their entire ensuing misery. We see this throughout the Bible. It started right there in Genesis, the third chapter. Adam clearly disobeyed the commands of God. He clearly felt the misery of his sin immediately in so many different ways. And when God comes walking in the garden and he says, adam, what have you done? Adam immediately says, God, it's your fault. Look at the woman you made for me. Couldn't you have given me a better mate? Don't you hate Adam for acting that way? You know why you don't? Because you see yourself in Adam, don't you? You see yourself saying, God. Actually, you set it up this way. You kind of put me in a bad situation. It's your fault. Second Samuel, chapter six, verse eight. We read that following the death of Uzzah. You remember Uzzah? It's kind of a funny name. But the account is very important for learning about the holiness of of God. The Israelites were going to move the Ark of the Covenant, which stood for the very presence and holiness of God in the midst of his people. They were going to move the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem. And God said, you're to do it in a certain way. The cart is to be drawn by a certain type of calf and so forth. And you have to put rings on the side of the ark and carry it with poles. And no one, no one is to touch the covenant. No one is to touch the Ark that symbolizes it, because that is my holy presence. And you need to respect that distance between God and sin. Don't you touch it. And as the oxen were pulling the Ark along the road, it hit a bump and the ark tilted and Uzzah reached out to steady it, and God struck him dead. Don't you touch the ark of my holy presence. Don't you think I need you to save the Ark from falling on the ground? And Uzzah is struck dead. And we stand back and we go, whoa. David, we read in 2nd Samuel 6, 8, was displeased because Jehovah broke forth upon Uzzah. We go on to read, and David stored it nearby, and he wouldn't bring it further to Jerusalem because he didn't like God's attitude. Well, you wonder why God didn't break forth upon David and say, david, you apparently need to learn the lesson of holiness too. You don't touch what I tell you not to touch. Isaiah 8, verse 21. Isaiah says, Assyria will break forth upon Judah. And we read these words, and they shall pass through it, sore, distressed and hungry. And it shall come to pass that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves and curse their king and their God. Isaiah says, assyria will punish you for your sin, and in the midst of your misery, in the midst of your hunger, you will curse God for it. It's perennially the way with sinners. Sin and sorrow are tied together, and when you rush to sin, don't be surprised at your sorrow. But what sinners do is they blame God. Ezekiel 8:25 following the threat that the wicked who sin and do abomination will die. Ezekiel says, yet you say the way of the Lord is not fair. Hear now, O house of Israel. Is not my way fair? And are not your ways unfair? God says, you don't like the way I run the universe. You don't like my holy justice, but my ways are fair. Don't you dare blame me for being unfair. I want you to turn to one more passage showing us this attitude in sinners. Revelation 16:9, 11, 21 Revelation the 16th chapter and the context here has to do with the plagues of judgment that God will send upon the wicked, wicked Roman Empire. Now I want you to see how men will respond to God's judgment upon their wickedness. Revelation 16 at the ninth verse and men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God, who hath the power over these plagues, and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened, and they gnawed their tongues with pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and they repented not of their works. And one more verse 21 and great hail. Every stone about the weight of a talent comes down out of heaven upon men, and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail. For the plague thereof is exceeding great. And so from beginning to end, from the fall of man into sin, through all the judgments of God in the Old Testament, to the book of judgment, Revelation, we read that this is the way with sinners. They rush into sin, sorrow comes into their lives, and then they blaspheme God, then they rage against God because of this. It's a sinful trait of human nature. Offenders blame the judge for their just sentence, and Their punishment. You know, we see that in social affairs too. You notice how often judges get threatened by people that the judge doesn't even know. He's just sitting behind the bench doing his job. He's in, here's the evidence against you. You're guilty, here's the punishment. And the person who is guilty, rather than hating himself for what he brought upon himself, threatens the life of the judge. And that's what sinners do toward God day in and day out. They hate the just judge of all the earth. And Jude tells us in verse 15 of his book that the Lord will come with myriads of angels. Listen to this. To execute judgment upon all and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness, which, which they have ungodly wrought and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. This is the judge who's going to say, I don't have to put up with you talking back to me. You don't rage against me for my justice upon your sin. And he will convict him of all the hard things that they have ungodly spoken against him. And so let's learn from this, my friends, that true repentance, true repentance involves the attitude and the conviction that we deserve the misery that we've undergone. Don't you ever cry in self pity against the way things have gone in your life. Don't you ever say, God, why are you treating me this way? Just remember that sorrow is linked to sin. And if you're repenting of your sin, that involves the attitude of saying, God, I deserve the sorrow through which you've put me. Leviticus 26:40, 41. If then their uncircumcised heart be humbled and they accept the punishment of their iniquity, then will I remember my covenant. Do you accept the punishment of your iniquity? You say, God, as a matter of fact I have it good in comparison to what I should have come upon me that the way I've been treated in this world really shows your mercy. And the suffering that I've endured has been my fault and should be ten, a hundred, a thousand times worse. If they will accept the punishment of their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant. Jeremiah 31 verses 17 to 20 tells us that Israel bemoans itself for God's chastisement. But in true conversion, Jeremiah says, Israel will accept its own guilt and will become ashamed of itself for what has happened. And God says, and then I will love as the Father Loves the son. Micah 7, verse 9. I will bear the indignation of Jehovah because I have sinned against him until he plead my cause and execute judgment for me. He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. Micah's got it exactly right, doesn't he? I will bear the indignation of Jehovah because I have sinned against him. And my only hope is that he will plead my cause well, when he need to take this a little bit further. What happens to those who won't assume that responsibility? What happens to those who rage against Jehovah for their own sin and sorrow? Proverbs 29:10. Proverbs 29:10 tells us, the bloodthirsty hate him that is perfect. And as for the upright, they seek his life. The bloodthirsty hate him that is perfect. Perfect. And as for the upright, they seek his life. That expression seek his life means to seek it to kill it. That's used throughout the Old Testament for hostility toward a person. David says of his enemies, they seek my life. That doesn't mean they're seeking me. Good. That means they're seeking to kill me. The book of Proverbs tells us that unbelievers hate believers. You take that seriously. Does it surprise you? Does it depress you? Does it somehow throw you off a bit when in the world you find out that your righteousness and your profession of faith and your attempt to humbly show devotion to Jesus Christ is met with hatred? Not just hatred, animosity. Active, hostile animosity, and indeed even violence. In the this world, the bloodthirsty hate the upright. And the reason for that, very simply, is since they hate God, they hate God's people. Since they despise God's character, they despise godliness in his people. And this is just a hard lesson you had better learn. It is not true that everything is beautiful in its own way. There is going to be a despising in this world. And one will either despise God or one will despise sin. And if you don't despise God, you're going to hate sin. If you do despise God, you're going to love sin. And if you despise God, you'll despise those who are on his side. Yes, and all those who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. So Paul said to Timothy in second Timothy three. Does it surprise you then, that you suffer persecution? Should it distress you, confuse you? Not at all. You should expect It, I dare say, if you are not undergoing some persecution, you might wonder whether your testimony is all that clear in this world. Because in this world you will have persecution if you show the character of God. If men hate God and despise his character, they will despise you for whatever degree you reflect that character. It's this way throughout the Bible from the very beginning. Cain slew his brother. And why did he slay him? John says in First John 3, because his works were evil and his brothers righteous. Marvel not, brothers, that the world hates you. Cain could not stand the righteousness of his brother Abel, and he killed him for it. Listen to Stephen's indictment of the Jews in Acts 7. And which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? They killed them. Who showed beforehand the coming of the righteous one, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers? Stephen says, all of the prophets of old you hated and persecuted. And then when God's own son came, you betrayed and murdered him. And Jesus tells us in John 7:7 why that is, he says, the world hates me because I testify that its works are evil. What is the customary lot of God's work faithful in this world then? Hebrews 11:35,38 tells us very clearly at the end of the hallmark of faith, the list of all the faithful of the Old Testament. The author tells us that time doesn't allow for him to go through all of the illustrations that he might give. He tells us in verse 35 that he would tell us of others who were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of mockings and scourgings. Yes, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill treated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and the holes of the earth. So does it surprise you, if you are faithful to God, that the world hates you? It shouldn't. I want you to know what Jesus says about this in the 15th chapter of John's Gospel. He explains it so clearly to us. If Proverbs hasn't indicated it already, listen to the words of your Lord. John 15 at the 18th verse. I wanted to remind you Jesus spoke these words before he went to the cross. This was the last discourse he had with his disciples. He said, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, because I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said unto you. A servant is not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. He that hates me hates my Father also. And if I had not done among them the works which none other did, they had not had sin. But now they have both seen and hated both me and the Father. But this has come to pass that the Word may be fulfilled. It is written in their law. They hated me without a cause. What a heavy passage. Jesus says, yes, they're going to hate you. And you know they're going to hate you because they hated me first. And then he takes it a step further. And the reason they hate me is because they hate my Father. The world hates Christians because they hate the Christ. Christians follow and they hate that Christ because they hate the Holy Father who sent him into this world. And that will entail persecution. Jesus says, don't be surprised. You're not better than me. The servant's not above his master. If I'm going to go to the cross, what do you think they're going to do to you? And why does this come about? He says, very simply, because. Because you're not of the world. I called you out of the world. I called you out of their lifestyle. I called you out of their manner of conduct and their way of thinking. I made you something different. You're no longer part of the world, and for that they hate you. And yet Jesus goes on to say that this is the fulfillment of the prophetic word, they will hate me without a cause. There is no good reason for hating Christians. And yet we see Christian bashing all about us, don't we? It gets to the point where you don't even want to watch the TV or read the newspaper when they cover some Christian issue or some Christian individual, because you know how the world loves to bash Christians. Don't let that surprise you. Don't be surprised that people at work talk behind your back and malign you. Don't be surprised that people try to undo your good reputation. Don't be surprised if they jump on any little thing they can with you. Don't be surprised that the world despises you and mistreats you. They crucified your Lord. Are you better than him? They hated him for being a witness to righteousness. And to whatever degree broken, inconsistent, imperfect though it may be, to whatever degree, you are a witness to righteousness in your life and in your words, the world will hate you. I have one final word from the book of Proverbs, though you need to remember that's a mutual disdain, though. Proverbs 29:17. I'm sorry, 29:27, Proverbs 29. At the 27th verse, we read. An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he that is upright in his way is an abomination to the wicked. No way around it, you see, because the righteous and the wicked have conflicting ultimate standards. They find each other abominable. The righteous find the unrighteous abominable, and the unrighteous find the righteous abundance abominable. They have different yardsticks. They have different standards. And therefore they measure each other differently. And they find not just a nice intellectual difference of opinion. They are emotionally involved. They hate what they see. So, three lessons. I want to draw from this as we close this afternoon. First, the antithesis between the world and God's people should not be erased. It should not be ignored. They should. It should not be de emphasized. Notice what Paul tells us in First Corinthians 1 about this antithesis. For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us who are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. And the discernment of the discerning will I bring to nothing. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn't God made foolish the wisdom of this world, foreseeing that in the wisdom of God the world, through its wisdom knew not God. It was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe that antithesis will never be wiped away. That antithesis will never be undone. The world, in its wisdom, will see the gospel as foolishness. It will be mocked. It will be utterly despised. And yet, for those of us who believe it with all of our hearts, it's the power of God and the wisdom of God to salvation. And you'll never be able to harmonize that. There'll never be any detente between those two attitudes. Different worldviews, different ultimate standards, different lords are being followed. And therefore the world must hate the Gospel, and those who follow the gospel must hate the world. The antithesis cannot be erased. Secondly, remember, my friends, that separation from sin is important imperative. In Second Corinthians, chapter 6, verses 14 to 18, Paul says, Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness and iniquity? What communion has light with darkness? What concord has Christ with Belial? What portion has a believer with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, even as God said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, touch no unclean thing and I will receive you and will be to you a father, and you shall be to me sons and daughters. God says, you do not have concord with the world. Light and darkness don't mix. The believer has no portion with the unbeliever. And so in your businesses, don't enter into business arrangements with unbelievers. Remember that you in your business must have a godly sovereign control over the affairs of that business. You do not then have an unequal yoking as business partners in this world and in your marriages. Don't be united to unbelievers. Don't be united to those, whether they profess the name of God or not, who walk contrary to his commandments and thereby show they trust themselves and despise the Lord God Almighty. And you young people remember that. Don't you dare even think about dating or marrying those who do not belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no concord, there is no agreement. There is no fellowship between the temple of God and idols. And so this mutual disdain the righteous disdain the unrighteous, and the unrighteous disdain the righteous. That mutual disdain creates an antithesis that comes, cannot be wiped away, and also calls for separation from ungodliness. God says, come out from among them. Touch no unclean thing. And so ask yourselves, as we come to a close today, do you abhor sin? Do you abhor it? Or have you become jaded towards your sin? Are you willing to touch the unclean thing, to compromise, to make your excuses for it? Do you compromise your faith by your social commit? The last lesson of the three I wanted to bring before you is just to remind you that disagreements over Christian commitment and disagreement over Christian values cannot remain detached intellectual areas of different opinion cannot. For you see, these disagreements touch the very heart of what we trust in most what we hope for, most what we desire and what we believe. They touch the very center of our being. They touch our hearts. And for that reason, peaceful coexistence between the righteous and the unrighteous, peaceful coexistence between the obedient and the disobedient, peaceful coexistence between the committed and the lukewarm is impossible. Spiritually. Those who disdain God cannot get along with, cannot dwell in peace with those who fear Him. There is no detente. Romans 8 tells us that the carnal mind is enmity against God. And that's why the carnal mind cannot bear God's reflection in his children either. So this morning I'm going to call on you to examine your attitude toward God. Disdain is going to be seen in this world. It cannot be taken away in a fallen world. You must disdain sin something. Fools disdain God, and they do so by violating his word. And then they rage against him for their misery. And fools disdain the godly too. The wise, on the other hand, reverence the Lord and disdain sin. Through repentance and trust in God. They hate their sin. They depart from evil. They walk uprightly and maintain a necessary separation from worldliness, their thoughts and values, their conduct and their social commitments. May God powerfully drive away our foolishness today, powerfully change our attitudes toward him and toward the world. Replace our foolish compromises with a sane and a sanctified attitude toward the One who is our Maker and our Redeemer. And finally.