Dr Greg Bahnsen - Proverbs: Proverbs 15:3 (The Theology of Proverbs) (Part 64)

And when you begin to read the third verse, and we'll announce other verses that we'll be looking at as we go through that chapter and chapter 16 as well. Now there are more passages on the theology of Proverbs and what we will be reading in our script reading this morning, we'll be expounding them during the time of our sermon. Proverbs 15 at the third verse. Hear now God's word. The eyes of Jehovah, Jehovah are in every place keeping watch upon the evil and the good. The way of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah, but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness. Verse 11. Sheol and Abaddon are before Jehovah. How much more then the hearts of the children of men. Verse 26 of the same chapter. Evil devices are an abomination to Jehovah. The pleasant words are pure. In Proverbs 16:1 the plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is From Jehovah. Verse 4. Jehovah hath made everything for its own end, yes, even the wicked for the day of evil. In verse nine, a man's heart devises his way, but Jehovah directs his steps. Verse 33 the is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of Jehovah. And one more in 17 three the refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold. But Jehovah trieth the hearts, and thus far the reading of God's word. This morning I'd like to speak to you about theology. That may not seem all that unusual to talk about theology. After all, we're in a Christian church. You expect that sort of thing. Beginning to appreciate the fact that theology has fallen upon hard times. It's not really all that popular to talk about theology. And in fact, we should probably, for the sake of clarity, distinguish this morning between the use of the word theology in the broadest sense and what we call, at least in seminarian circles, theology proper. The word theology can denote anything pertaining to religion, anything pertaining to God. And when we use the word broadly, it would include the biblical view of man, or actually any religion's view of man. Our view of salvation, our view of sanctification, our view of angels, of creation, of consummation. It includes anything in the sphere of Christian doctrine. However, when we speak of theology proper, using that as a formal title, we are referring specifically to the doctrine of God himself. Who he is, what he is, like what he does. Who is God? Specifically this morning I'd like to speak to you about theology proper. Theology proper, as is found in the book of Proverbs, Theology proper, just like just about all of systematic theology in general has really come in for a bum lap in the 20th century. Increasingly the complaint has been made that theology is pure speculation. It's a study that is so ivory towering as to be devoid of real practicality for people. The study of God himself has been thought to be impractical for two reasons. On the one hand, there are those who say nobody can actually know anything about God. God is so wholly other from us, God is so different from us, God is so distant from us, he is so mysterious that no one really knows anything about God. So it's just vain speculation anyhow. On the other hand, there are those who say, well, whatever we could know about God, even if we could know anything at all, wouldn't really have any earthly significance. It wouldn't have any importance, for here and now it would only be an ivory tower of speculation without practical implications for where we live our lives on a day to day basis. I'm afraid sometimes in my cynicism I worry about what takes place at our Christian seminaries these days. You know, if you were to look at how seminarians sign up for classes, it would probably shock you that if there was something offered on the aseity of God, which is the specific doctrine having to just theology prosper. If you saw the sign up for that class over against Bus ministries, you'd be greatly discouraged about the interest in theology among those who are entering the pastor today. Theology has fallen upon hard times. In fact, there's been a real capitulation, a real emphasis placed upon what is now called practical theology. And it's not just because I taught in the systematics department when I was a seminary prophet, I feel this way. I want you to know that always has bothered me, even when I was in seminary. I thought that rather strange that we called what was studied there practical theology. As though what systematics is impractical theology. Is that what the opposite is supposed to be? The idea today is we need to get down to the nitty gritty of life. We need to do things that are relevant. We need to be involved in where people are, well, talking about the assailing of God or the sovereignty of God or the trinitarian nature of God. All those things just seem so dusty and dry and academic. Just a matter of what you write down on a piece of paper and well, really who actually. Well, can I suggest this morning that perhaps God cares what we think about him. Perhaps God finds it very important that we think proper thoughts about him, irreverent thoughts about him. That we are accurate in what we think and therefore how we live in his holy presence. So theology is extremely important. And I don't mean extremely important because we look at it as dry and dusty and darkness as well. But I think it's important we should do it. It's important because what we think about how affect the way we live our lives, the way we approach life, our attitudes, our plans, our conduct, all of these things directly are affected by our view of the world, our view of ultimate reality, and therefore our view of God. Who he is, where he is, what he does, what he is like our understanding of God, whose relationship to us determines our lifestyle. Let me give you some examples. I mentioned a few moments ago that there are people who think God is unknowable. God is so different from us and so distant, so mysterious that no one can really know anything for sure about Him. Well, you know, it is not by accident that those who have that understanding of God, those who think that God is cognitively unknowable, cannot look upon the Bible as God's own word. If God cannot be known because he's so wholly other, then this book we call the Bible cannot be directly anyway the word of God. It can only be the religious expression of men. Remember fallible men who lived in a much different time, much different culture than our own. So what's the practical significance of that view of God? The practical significance is that we tend not to read the Bible. We tend not to care much for the Bible. After all, little comfort, little guidance can be seriously derived from it. Since it's only the word of men. So why bother studying it? When I was in seminary, I did missionary work in a liberal Presbyterian church. I knew that it was liberal. I knew I was going in as a missionary. But even I had my eyes open when I went to the congregation. And the first Sunday we preached and we found out the people didn't have any idea what the Bible was used for in worship. They hadn't read from the Bible in years. And with a pastor from time to time would screws up the service while he ate Bible, he'd have to tell them to take it out of their pews and give them their page number. They had no idea what the Bible is all about. I hope that shocks you and offends you as much as it shocks and offends me. It stands to reason that in a church that does not regard God as Having spoken clearly, definitively and authoritatively in this book, then the book will be ignored. Your theology affects your life. There are people in this world who think of God as some kind of impersonal, undifferentiating, pantheistic force. God is the all, he's the whole of reality. Everything is united in him. Well, what do you think about the world then? If you say that God is everything and there really are no distinctions within God, well, you have to look at your ordinary life as something of an illusion. The differences between you and another person, between you and the trees, the differences between one number and another, are all illusions. Or in the Eastern realm, that's what they're all Maya. Something that mislead us that we shouldn't really believe there are no real distinctions between things and daily experience is just an illusion. In fact, because there are no real distinctions in the world, God being everything, even the difference between good and evil becomes unreliable in Eastern thought. One cannot have an absolutistic ethic given Eastern religious thought, because that view of God doesn't allow for absolutism. Obviously, that view of the world, that view of God, if you will, does not prove to encourage mathematics, it doesn't encourage science, it doesn't encourage industry, it doesn't encourage a serious approach to lifestyle. That view of God has an effect upon what people do and how they feel about life, how they behave. On the other hand, there are those who think of God as a very distant person. He is a person, he is separate from other things. He is a distinct individual. But he doesn't really care to be actively involved in earthly affairs. We'll be told. Now people who think that about God, you will notice, don't often become warriors of prayer. People who think God not actively involved in the world and just way out there, maybe he wound up things and things are just running on their own now, don't tend to have a vibrant prayer life. They don't feel close to God. They don't feel they can talk to God. God's not involved anyway. Moreover, such people realize that they can't rely upon God's solutions to problems because God's not here. God doesn't speak to us. God's not involved in our lives. And inevitably, individuals with what we would call a deistic understanding of God, inevitably they tend to look to man that to the solution to their earthly problems. And that in turn eventually leads them to look to political solutions to their earthly problems. Men gather together with greater power in society to control things. A deistic understanding of God almost inevitably moves towards statism and humanism in our approach to life, a secularized understanding of how we should live in this world. There are those who see God as so spiritual, so removed from the material world that any events outside of the religious domain, any events outside of religious worship tend to be seen in a secularized way and religious worship tends to be seen in a non rational fashion. Because God is only interested in spiritual matters, then our minds don't matter, our bodies don't matter, the physical world doesn't matter. So we're looking at different this morning. And it should be obvious as we go from one view to another to another that different lifestyles are attached to these different views. Theology affects what you do. Theology affects your behavior. Theology is very practical even within the circle of those who see God with more dignity and respect than the views we've been looking at up to this time. Those who approach a more biblical understanding of God's power and his person, but who do not hold to the whole counsel of God regarding things such as his concern for and for he over worship, live different kinds of lives from those who do. There's a difference even among professing Christians as who worship life gods. And they do not arise, as some may think first and foremost from cultural background and tradition, although that has an effect on them. They arise first and foremost from a different vision of who God is and how he relates to us and how he governs our worship. There are those who do not see God sovereignly controlling every event according to his own wise plan and pre determination. And you know, it's interesting, those who do not see God as having that kind of sovereign intervention in the affairs of life do not practically approach counseling with fellow believers in the same way that those who are more Calvinistic, they do not approach evangelists the same way as those who have a vital faith and God's hand directing all things too. You see, it would not be possible for somebody who was of the Reformed faith ever to go to a grieving parent about a child who has died and said Satan did this, not God. And that it is a prevalent counseling practice on the part of evangelicals who want to blame all the bad things in this world on Satan because God's been helping parents. That's not at all flattering to God. That's not at all honoring to God. But my point is it makes a difference how you counsel depending on whether you believe in the sovereignty of God, makes a difference in how you evangelize. Is it appropriate for us to go and Plead with sinners and say, please give Jesus a chance. When Jesus is the sovereign Lord who directs the hearts and minds of men. No, we should proclaim it as your obligation to repent and pray that God will grant you the grace to have your heart changed that you can do so. Our approach to evangelism is seconded by our view of God. And so theology problem One's view of God himself, who he is, what he is like, is extremely important in determining some very practical things in our lives. The way we live our lives. In the Book of Proverbs, we find a distinctive lifestyle set forth. I think the more I study this book, the more I preach out of this book. I'm just amazed. I should have that same feeling about every book of the Bible. And I trust in my sanctification I'll grow to have that same feeling, but I'll Book of Proverbs really looming large in my mind. There's just so much here, there's so rich. How can I communicate this? So you act in an adequate way. How can you receive it and put it to practice? If we all did what the Book of Proverbs did, it would just make such a difference in our lives. This book points to a particular manner of conduct, a very distinctive way of living in the world. It covers everything from laziness to protecting your reputation, from co signing loans to loose women, from foolishly ignoring rebuke to transgression, covering love, from the use of our mouths to the choosing of our companions, from our attitudes toward wealth to the raising of our children, from humility to being a troublemaker, from moods and anger to the very meaning of life. Proverbs has a very distinctive view of life, a distinctive culture for the Christian man or woman. There's a clear and extraordinary idea on how we can live our lives in the Book of Proverbs. The book addresses the general principles. It addresses the most likely details. Are you too neat in the things that you do? The Book of Proverbs has something to say to you about that. It's an amazing book. But you know, Proverbs also is a very definitive and an extraordinary view of God in terms of of which that lifestyle that I've just been speaking about makes sense. The view of God that we find in the Book of Proverbs cannot be found anywhere else than in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, of which Proverbs is an integral part. If we want to gain the wisdom that the Bible would impart to us. In particular, if we want to gain the wisdom of the Book of Proverbs that it's so eloquently setting forth. We need to learn to meditate upon and live in terms of the kind of God that Proverbs professes. The theology proper of the Book of Proverbs is crucial, I'm saying, to the conduct and to the character that this book would instill in us. You want to be wise? Learn to know the God of Proverbs, meditate upon his character, emulate him, respond appropriately to who he is, without the view of ultimate reality that was possessed by the inspired writers of this Book of Proverbs. You know, their guidance and their advice carries no persuasive afford. Those who have different views of God, those who have different views of man and of the world, and especially our relationship to God, do not readily endorse the wisdom of the Book of Proverbs. When they find out what the book is saying, they find it inaccurate. They find it impractical. Now, I've got a whole library of commentaries on the Book of Proverbs at home. I think you'd be amazed. Over half of them feel that it is the place of the commentator to tell us, well, of course, we can't really do that. The book is just, you know, impractical here, or it's overstating a point there. And to repeatedly try to correct the book of Proverbs because, you know, the. Read, the people who write those commentaries don't believe in the God that the writers of this book believe in our culture. It does not exemplify the wisdom of this book. It does not exemplify the godliness endorsed by the book of Prophecy. Let's look at some examples from this. Last week, as I was writing a sermon, I figured I'd only take two days of the register and look through it and tell you. What kind of culture do we live in? Is it the culture of the Book of Proverbs? Does it demonstrate the righteousness and wisdom of God? Last week we executed a killer who murdered someone in the process of robbing them of $1. We have a sitting state governor who's been indicted for perjury and fraud. Kind of leaders that we have, I guess. In fact, we found out this week that 25% of those who were surveyed said they would not inform their sex partner they had aids. It's not terribly encouraging about her honesty, is it? They have a story about a crappy uptown Manhattan young man who kills a woman while having sex with her in the park and blames it on her. A womanizing Candidate who tells us Americans cannot expect perfection in their leaders. Boy, carrying poles to Newcastle, aren't they? Hebrew University announced this week they uncovered what they have called a sabotage of virus in their computer system. And I'd love to take time outside of the study to explain that to you. Someone who has a lot of intelligence knowing how to program computer functions has put the analogy of a virus into the system there. So that every disk that is used on that system has that program written onto its operating structure and it begins to destroy the programs that are there. And every computer that has used the disk from that has that infection in it now too. The potential is there. Although there are so many computers in the world, we're not worried about no potential. It's there that someone with enough intelligence could sabotage all the computers anybody in the world could ever, because every program we would go to use would have that program that sabotages programs in it. Now the reason I bring that up is what kind of use of human intelligence is that, but a destructive and mean low down use of the mind. We have a cryogenics facility that's being investigated for perhaps decapitating a woman before her actual death. And the Episcopal Church of all things, has recognized the ordination of a sex altered woman. Whatever. You just look at a couple days of paper and you get to see a glimpse of the kind of culture in which you live. It's not the culture of the book of Proverbs, but culture that reflects the wisdom and righteousness of God. And you know, those stories don't really touch upon the repeated day to day jealousies of our lives, the divorces, the laziness, the interpersonal disputes, the greed, the despising of parents, the unteachable spirit that's among us, the lust, the lost friendships, the bad moods and everything else which makes up life for most people in our culture and which is directly addressed by the Book of Proverbs. We are far from exemplifying the wisdom this book teaches us. But you see, frankly, it should come as no surprise that we're far from the exemptifying the wisdom of Proverbs in a very practical way, because we don't believe in the theology of the Book of Proverbs in our culture. Our culture is not characterized by convictions about God that are set forth in this book. Our culture is, to be very kind, theologically deliberate. We have reached a day of almost unparalleled ignorance of the word of God and of theology among the general population in our culture. We are incredibly ignorant of God and his character. And what is believed about God for the most part in our culture is but a massive superstition, human imagination and downright distortion. In fact, even many Christian churches, when I have pessimistic days, I would say most Christian churches do not fully and do not faithfully profess the theology of the book of prophets today. It is no surprise then that such churches are not paragons of wisdom in a foolish book. We have a world that is acting so foolishly, so self destructively that we have a church that cannot proclaim a theology that puts a finger in the dice, that can stop the erosion, ethical and cultural, all about us, because our churches are not informed by this theology. And so I've labored my point by way of introduction. I know this is longer than most of my introductions. My point is the theology proper of Proverbs is crucial to the practice wisdom of promise. We need to know that theology and I'd like to survey it for you this morning before we close. I'd like you to see some of the key characteristics of God set forth in the Book of Proverbs. Because if you know that God then your life is going to change. If you know that God live in terms of that perception of him in his relationship to you, it's going to alter your lifestyle and behavior. If you know that God is going to change the things that you do, it's going to make you want to make so what does the Book of Proverbs teach us about God? I'd like to set forth five or six aspects of God's character today. The first of which is God's flawless revelation and the spirits of wisdom. We didn't read this in our scripture passage, but turn in Proverbs to the 30th chapter, verses 5 and 6. Proverbs chapter 30, verses 5 and 6. God's flawless revelation and exclusive wisdom. There we read. Every word of God is purified. You may have in your translation is tried. Every word of God is purified. He is a shield unto them that take refuge in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee and thou be found a liar. Every bit of God's word is pure and it's not to be tampered with. See what the Book of Proverbs says is. When God speaks, His word is reliable. When God speaks, it is something that is tried and true. When God speaks, his word is pure. Every bit of it. Every word of God is purified. The next verse says, therefore you don't add to his words, because what can you Add to the wisdom of God, you start tampering with His Word and you're going to be found out a liar. You should notice the worthlessness of man's speculation According to verses 2 and 4, which precede the problems of we've just read in chapter 30, verse 2 it reads, surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man, and I have not learned wisdom. Neither have I the knowledge of the Holy One, who hath ascended up into heaven and descended, who hath gathered the wind in his fist, who hath bound the waters in his garden, who hath established all the ends of the earth. What is his name, and what is His Son's name? If thou knowest, here's a challenge. You see the human arrogance, the human pride. It says, recognize how little you know. Recognize your lack of wisdom, see your foolishness. And then with that background it is declared, but every word of God is purified. And we don't mess with that word. We don't tamper with that word. If you dare add to his word, you will be found out a liar. Psalm 12:6 says, the words of Jehovah are pure words, and silver tried in a friend of silence. Purified seven times purified perfectly. God's Word cannot fail. And since God's Word is that pure, there's no place left for our misgivings about it. There's no place left for our tampering wicked. Proverbs 21:30 tells us that the wisdom of God cannot be outsmarted. Proverbs 21:30 no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against Jehovah. When God is strovent, there's no wisdom that can overcome that. There's no counsel against what he has to say. His Word stands exclusively wise, unchallengably true, utterly pure. First Corinthians, chapters 1, 2 and 3. Paul, in so many different ways expounds on the same theme when he says that the wisdom of this world is no match for the wisdom of God. Indeed, the wisdom of this world is full of in the eyes of God, and is made to be foolish in the outworking of human experience. God's Word is above what the natural man can imagine. God's Word is beyond what the natural man can understand. God's Word is submitted to only when our hearts have been changed toward God Himself, to submit to him, and be willing to see the wisdom of what he says. The book of Proverbs then lays out before us a God who lays to never utters things that are not true. Never makes mistakes. A God who speaks with a pure revelation and a wisdom that cannot be challenged, cannot be outsmarted, cannot be undone. Well, that certainly affects a lot of. When you look at God that way. I think of two controversies in our day real quick that touch on that we're talking about. First of all, the controversy with cults over added to the Word of God. You see, there are so many purportedly religious groups that want to take the Bible as a starting place, but then add their own wisdom to it. Proverbs says, don't you dare. You'll be found out a liar if you try to do that. The cults are always improving upon the word of God as they understand improving, but rather being found out to be foolish for what they are doing. A second controversy in our day that I think the theology of Proverbs bears on is the controversy over the inerrancy of God's Word. We have people today who tell us, well, you know, the Bible can be trusted as an authority when it comes to religious matters, but the Bible's not really interested in being accurate or being correct when it comes to geography or history or matters outside of the narrow religious domain of salvation and faith. Well, we could say about that view, of course, that it has much too narrow a view of religious, which it does. Religion encompasses all life. And so anything the Bible says of a religious nature touching on any aspect of life should be relied upon. But the book of Proverbs says it specifically. Every word of God is pure. If it's God's word, it cannot be impure, it cannot be inaccurate, it cannot be untrue. In the same circles where the inerrancy of God's being challenged in our. In those very same circles, you find things happening, like a more tolerant attitude toward homosexuality, a more tolerant attitude toward the ordination of women. My friends, the two go hand in hand. That's not an accident that the outlandish ethical views of some churches and seminaries is tied to their defective view of the Word of God. The theology of Proverbs is very fragile. What should you first remember about God when he speaks? It is true and no one can challenge his wisdom. Or to use two expressions that we used in the Reformed circles, the Book of Proverbs would encourage us to be committed to sola scriptura and to tota scriptura, Latin expressions for to the Word of God alone, but to all of the Word of God. Don't you add to his Word. But you pay attention to every bit of. You cannot challenge it. All of it must govern your life. What else do we learn about God in the Book of Proverbs? Secondly, this morning you should see the Book of Proverbs teaching the providence of God and his common grace. The providence of God and his common grace. Turn to Proverbs 20, verse 12, a very tender verse. There are learnings there. The hearing ear and seeing eye. Jehovah hath made even both of them. The Book of Proverbs says, every ability we have, everything we can do in this world, comes from the hand of God. How often we take that for granted. I want to suggest to you, my wife can understand, more importantly, after the last few weeks, what the Book of Proverbs says to me. She's been struggling with her eyes, the dark difficulties, getting her contacts changed, and so on. But she hasn't been made blind. Even she continues to have some sign. Those who have been made blind begin to understand, don't they? The significance of the blessing of being able to see. Think about the significance of the blessing of being able to hear. What Proverbs says is, every business comes from God. Everything you are able to do in this world, every enjoyment you have, every ability that is yours, comes from the hand of God. We call this the providence of God, how he provides for his people. Proverbs 27, 25, 27 says, he not only gives us our abilities, he provides for our daily needs. Proverbs 27, 25th verse. The first time you read this, you may say, why is this in the Bible? What's so significant about this? It seems to be making such a simple point, although it's a profound, religiously deep and important. The hay is carried and the tender grass shows itself, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in. The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field, and there will be goat's milk, enough for thy food, for the fruit of thy household, and maintenance for thy maidens. So what you see, what Proverbs is saying in a very pastoral, very poetic way, is God sees to it that the sunshine is rain, that your crops grow, that there is provision made for your daily needs. The hay is brought in, the grass grows, the goats give them milk, and everything goes along well in the world. But you see, we shouldn't take that for granted. Atheists and deists and other sorts of religious fanatics may just take it for granted, but Christians should be intimately aware that it's God who provides for their needs. He's the reason why you get up and there's milk in your refrigerator. He's the reason why you can turn on the hot water at home, to be able to wash your hands. He's the reason that our food is there, our clothing is there, and the world runs as well as it does. Praise God for his providence to the sons of men. He meets our needs. In fact, Proverbs 29:30 says, Healing is happiness to the undeserving. The poor man and the oppressor meet together. Jehovah lighteneth the eyes of them both. Oh, I love that verse. The poor man, the man who is really the innocent and who is put down, and the oppressor. They both nevertheless have God lighten their eyes. What does it mean, lighten their eyes? No, in our fault we talk about someone having a twinkle in their eye, someone who is happy. You can almost see it in their eyes. That's what the expression means in Hebrew. When even the oppressor, when even the evil man in this world has a day that he's happy, and his eyes show that that comes from God. So that the innocent and the wicked together enjoy the blessing of God. Happy moments in their lives when their eyes spun. God gives sunshine and rain to both the wicked and to the righteous. God loves even his enemies. God shows a common grace even to those that he has no intention of saving. And so, friends, consider the incredible lack of gratitude that you see all about you. How many people do you know who get up every day, say, God, thank you for the sunshine, thank you for the rain, thank you, I have a car to drive, or that I have good health. You've given me children that bless my family. Thank you, thank you. We don't see that. In fact, if someone would add that we were kind of, well, a little squeamish about that, we feel like pushing a little too hard. Aren't they kind of too delicious? Worshipful devotion to God is what characterized the authors of the various proverbs here. That worshipful devotion to God is not characteristic for a whole people about us do not thank God. And naturally enough, they don't rely upon God because they do not believe in his promise. The book of Proverbs, then, teaches us about the false revelation of God which cannot be challenged. It teaches us about the providence of God. Thirdly, it teaches us that God is all seeing and has a morally probing knowledge God knows. The technical word in theology is omniscience. Proverbs 15:3, which we read this morning, already says, the eyes of Jehovah are in every place. Who may watch upon the evil and the good? Interesting Literary applies. He knows both the good and evil, receives it all, and he sees it with moral discernment. Proverbs 15:11 we learn that even our hearts are penetrated by the gaze of God. Sheol and Abaddon are before Jehovah. How much more then the hearts of the children of men? If God even sees and understands the pit of hell, how much more does he understand the pit of your heart? He knows. Now, do you think that is any practical constitution? What do you what do you think that's going to do to you when you live your life and you remember that God's eyes are everywhere and God sees right through you, sees right down to the depth of your soul. He sees into your heart. Is that going to change you? Well, unless you're some kind of brute or beast, some kind of rock or stone, it better change you. You take seriously that theology. It's going to affect your life. Proverbs 17:3 says that God doesn't look with idle curiosity either. The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold. But Jehovah tries the harvest in the same way that the refining pot purifies and burns off the dross of the silver and separates those. So the gaze of God will try our hearts and will separate between what is right and what is wrong there. God doesn't look without curiosity. He weighs us. He sees through us. And Proverb says he doesn't miss it. Thing. Chapter 24, verse 12. Yet thou sayest, behold, we knew not this Doth not he that weigheth the hearts consider it. And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it, and shall not he rendered every man according to his work. Don't say God didn't see it. Don't think he got away with anything. Don't you think the one who weighs the heart sees? He asks absolutely does, and he will judge you accordingly. So that leads me to a fourth point about the theology of Proverbs. God's moral absoluteness and the just judgment that he will bring. Proverbs 15, verses 8 and 9. This wisdom is communicated. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah, but the prayer of the upright is his delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination to Jehovah, but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness. God is not democratic. God does not grate on a curve. God is not tolerant. He wouldn't fit into modern American culture. God says even the sacrifice, even the religious duty of the wicked is an abomination in his sight. He does not hear their prayers. He does not wish for their prayers prayers. He does not regard their religious good intentions. The wicked are an abomination, and only the way of the righteous is acceptable to them. Notice that moral discrimination. There's black and there's white according to the book of Proverbs. And our behavior elicits from God strong feelings of disgust on the one hand or delight on the other. God is not mandatory. He's not wishy washy. God has a definite moral character and he applies it as he judges us. Look at the certainty of judgment that will be ours. Proverbs 16, verse 5. Everyone that is proud and hard is an abomination to Jehovah. Though hands join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. Proverbs 11:21 had said something similar. Though hand join in hand, the evil man shall not be unpunished, but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. The judgment of God is certain, and God's judgment will be proportionate to our works. He will judge with absolute equity, absolute fairness. Proverbs 24:12 we read just a moment ago. Notice what else it teaches us. Though if thou sayest, behold, we knew not this doth not he that weigheth the hearts consider it. And shall not he render to every man according to his work? Don't be deceived. Paul says in Galatians the sixth chapter, God is not whatever a man sows, that shall he reap. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 16 for the son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then shall he render unto every man according to his deeds. In Romans 2, verse 6, Paul says speaks of the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works, you'd better know God sees you through and through. You better know God knows every detail of your life, and he weighs your heart, and he will judge you accordingly. He misses nothing, and he will judge with absolute moral equity and justice that affects the way you live, that affects your outlook and the things you do and what you contemplate doing. Beyond these things. The Book of Proverbs says God is actively involved in earthly affairs. He intervenes in Our Affairs, Proverbs 24:18, Lest Jehovah see it, and it displeased him, and he turned away his wrath from him to you. We can't kind of explain this proverb in its full context, but what's being said here is that if you gloat over your enemy, the wrath of God that you're seeing worked out in your enemy's life may very well be transferred to you. Now what does that tell you about God? That tells you first that wrath comes in history. God does punish in time on earth the sins of men. And he also zachary involved enough that if your attitude is bad that wrath will be transferred to you. Proverbs 21:1 tells us that God readily affects the hearts of the monkey. The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah. As the water he turns it whithersoever he will. It is nothing to God to change the heart of the monkey, the heart of the proud and the powerful in this world, even kings and their hearts change. Just like the farmer directs the water courses on his farm, so God changes the hearts of men. Proverbs 21:31 says that even when there are secondary causes, earthly factors that come into play in our lives, victory in our lives is ultimately God's word. The horse is prepared against the day of battle because victory is from Jehovah. And so the book of Proverbs doesn't allow deistic view of God, either in theory of God's assignment or in practice, the way we live, like we're deists, as though God were far away, he didn't pay attention or he didn't care about our lives. God is actively involved. Finally this morning I'd like you to see what Proverbs presents. The all controlling sovereignty of God as well. The all controlling sovereignty of God. Proverbs 19:20. There are many devices in a man's heart, but the counsel of Jehovah that should stand Proverbs says we do genuinely make choices. We do genuinely have counsels of our own heart. We devise and make sense, we make choices. And yet everything we do only upholds the ultimate planned counsel of God. In fact, every trivial and apparently random detail is included in that. Proverbs 16:33 says, the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of Jehovah. The casting of lots will be similar to the casting of dice. Today the casting of the lot seems random, and yet according to Proverbs, it's controlled the dice fall. The way God is free to the whole disposing thereof is of Jehovah. Proverbs 16, verse 1. We see that this does not override man's freedom, the genuineness of his will. It just means that in a mysterious and a mighty way that we don't understand, God is able to prevent one of three choices. The plans of the heart belong to man. The answer of the time is yet from the Jehovah. So the book of Proverbs says in verse nine a man's heart devises his way, yet it's Jehovah that's directing his death. How far does this go? Does it include even the destiny of men? Well, many, of course would be inclined to say yes, it does. God predestines those who will come to him. God puts it in their hearts to turn to the Savior. And yet it is not at all popular to say that God also predestined damnation of men, that men freely reject God, and yet in so doing they only keep his plan that they would do that. They are not Hus. They are not forced against their will to hell. They choose to go to hell, and yet God chose that first. That's what we call the doctrine of reprobation. It's not at all possible, yet it's very clearly possible. Proverbs 16:4 Jehovah made everything for its family, and yes, even the wicked for the day of Eden. God even made the wicked for their reparation. He made them for that day of evil. Romans 9, verses 21 to 23 Paul will say, doesn't the potter have to ride over one lump of clay to make some vessels of honor and others vessels of dishonor? Doesn't God have the right to bring some people in this room world who magnifies its justice by their condemnation, freely chosen by them, justly deserved by them, and on the other hand, to demonstrate his mercy and love by giving grace to others who are just as worthy of death? Yes, he does. And so theological questions about predestination are not always they're not insignificant in ivory tower issues. They affect the way we look at heaven on earth. They affect our understanding of ourselves and how we relate to God and how we should behave. Let's review what we've learned this morning. The theology of the Book of Proverbs and its practical significance to our lifestyle and ethnic the Book of Proverbs sets forth a view of God that says that he flawlessly reveals himself with indisputable wisdom that he providentially provides for us even in our that he sees every single detail of our lives and he judges every man's heart and works with absolute justice that he actively intervenes in our earthly affairs and sovereignly plants and determines every detail of what happens to us. A marvelous view of God. An extraordinary and unique view of God. And it's one that if we endorse none, we believe in the one that we meditate upon will make us wise people. If you're struggling with the foolishness of your life, my friend, you don't need less theology. You need more theology. We need the theology of the book of Proverbs so that you can gain true wisdom and learn to put it into practice. By lording us God. We pray today that you would put within our hearts and minds a true and accurate representation of who you are and what you belong. We pray that you would forgive us so so often wanting to devise our own concept of God to make you in our image rather than to grant that we have been made in your own. Help us to think your thoughts after you. Help us to submeti your pure and holy word. Help us to know who you are and in so knowing enjoy eternal life. For we do remember the blessed words of our Savior Jesus himself, who said that this is life eternal to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you have sent. So we pray in the name of that one who has sent, our only Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.