514. I'm saved. Great! Now what? (#3) March 21, 2024

[00:00:00] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast

[00:00:12] we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.

[00:00:21] So open and prayer, Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today.

[00:00:27] Lord, I pray that you give every one years to hear and a heart to receive everything

[00:00:32] you have in store for them today. I ask this in Jesus name, amen. This is Proverbs 21

[00:00:40] beginning in verse 1. The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord like the rivers of water.

[00:00:48] He turns it wherever he wishes. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes but the Lord

[00:00:56] weighs the hearts. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

[00:01:04] A hotty look, a proud heart and the plowing of the wicked are sin. The plans of the diligent

[00:01:13] lead surely to plethe but those of everyone who is hasty surely to poverty. Getting treasures

[00:01:21] by a lying tongue is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death. The violence of the wicked

[00:01:29] will destroy them because they refuse to do justice. The way of a guilty man is perverse but as

[00:01:39] for the pure his work is right. Bettered at well in a corner of a house top than in a house shared

[00:01:48] with a contentious woman. The soul of the wicked desires evil. His neighbor finds no favor

[00:01:56] in his eyes. When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise but when the wise is instructed

[00:02:05] he receives knowledge. The righteous God wisely considers the house of the wicked over throwing

[00:02:14] the wicked for their wickedness. Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry

[00:02:22] himself and not be heard. A gift in secret pacifies anger and a bribe behind the back strong wrath.

[00:02:34] It is a joy for the just to do justice but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.

[00:02:43] A man who wanders from the way of understanding will rest in the assembly of the dead. He who loves

[00:02:51] pleasure will be a poor man, he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. The wicked shall be a

[00:03:00] ransom for the righteous and the unfaithful for the upright. Bettered at well in the wilderness

[00:03:08] than with a contentious and angry woman. There is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of

[00:03:17] the wise but a foolish man squanders it. He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life,

[00:03:25] righteousness and honor. A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the trusted

[00:03:35] stronghold. Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles. A proud and hotty man

[00:03:45] scoffer is his name he acts with arrogant pride. The desire of the lazy man kills him for his hands

[00:03:55] refuse to labor. He covets greedily all day long but the righteous gives and does not spare.

[00:04:03] The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination. How much more when he brings it with wicked intent?

[00:04:12] A false witness shall perish but the man who hears him will speak endlessly. A wicked man

[00:04:22] hardens his face but as for the upright he establishes his way. There is no wisdom or understanding

[00:04:32] or counsel against the Lord. The horse is prepared for the day of battle but deliverance is of the Lord.

[00:04:42] Friends today I'd like to take a closer look at verse 7 and Proverbs 21 verse 7 tells us this,

[00:04:52] the violence of the wicked will destroy them because they refuse to do justice. Friends we will take

[00:05:01] a closer look at that verse prior to closing today but what I'd like to do today is to go over

[00:05:08] the last point of what might happen should you make the decision to receive Jesus as your Lord

[00:05:17] and Savior. And if you are a regular listener to this podcast or if you're turning in for the first

[00:05:24] time this is something I believe everyone should be aware of is that everyone in your family

[00:05:33] may not be too excited for you to make the decision to choose Jesus and invite him to come into

[00:05:42] your heart. Some family members may actually not want anything to do with you anymore and basically

[00:05:51] cast you out because you have chosen to become a Christian. And friends I'd like to go over

[00:05:59] a passage of scripture which talks about that and it's found in the Gospel of Luke chapter 12.

[00:06:08] I am going to begin in verse 49 but this passage of scripture is entitled Christ brings division.

[00:06:18] So let's begin with verse 49 of chapter 12. I came to send fire on the earth and how I wish

[00:06:28] it were already tindled but I have a baptism to be baptized with and how distressed I am till

[00:06:38] it is accomplished. Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you not at all but rather

[00:06:48] division for from now on five in one house will be divided three against two and two against three

[00:07:00] father will be divided against son and son against father mother against daughter and daughter

[00:07:08] against mother mother in law against her daughter in law and daughter in law against her mother in law

[00:07:18] friends this actually happens let's go to a different passage of scripture also found in Luke

[00:07:28] and this will be in chapter 16. Now this is entitled The Rich Man and Lazarus so we're going to begin

[00:07:39] Luke chapter 16 beginning in verse 19 there was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and

[00:07:49] fine linen and fared sumptuously every day but there was a certain beggar named Lazarus full of

[00:07:58] sores who had laid at his gate desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's

[00:08:06] table more over the dogs came and licked his sores so it was that the beggar died and was carried by

[00:08:16] the angels to Abraham's bosom the rich man also died and was buried and being in torments in

[00:08:26] Hades and that is another word for hell he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off

[00:08:36] and Lazarus in his bosom then he cried and said father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus

[00:08:47] that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame

[00:08:56] but Abraham said son remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and likewise

[00:09:05] Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and you are tormented and besides all this between us

[00:09:16] and you there is a great gulf fixed so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot nor can

[00:09:26] those from there pass to us then he said I beg you there for father that you would send him

[00:09:35] to my father's house for I have five brothers that he may testify to them lest they also come

[00:09:44] to this place of torment Abraham said to him they have Moses and the prophets let them hear them

[00:09:55] and he said no father Abraham but if one goes to them from the dead they will repent

[00:10:04] but he said to him if they do not hear Moses and the prophets neither will they be persuaded

[00:10:13] the one rise from the dead now friends this is reality you may and there's a good chance you

[00:10:26] probably will face hardship or objection from some family members and you have to make that

[00:10:37] choice of whether you are willing to do that or not to me it was a simple choice I sat there and

[00:10:47] said is it worth going to heaven and being with Jesus all the days of eternity as opposed to being

[00:11:00] with a couple family members and living in torment or hell the rest of eternity friends there really

[00:11:10] is no choice what I'd like to do is go to the book of Revelation chapter three verse 20

[00:11:19] I want you to listen to this here I am I stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice

[00:11:29] and opens the door I will come in and eat with that person and they with me friends Jesus is knocking

[00:11:41] at the door of your heart are you going to let him in and this is a prayer that I suggest that maybe

[00:11:52] you could pray for unsaved family members now I am going to use the name Bob I'm not talking about

[00:12:03] anybody in particular I'm just putting that name in but listen to this prayer dear Jesus thank

[00:12:11] you for knocking at Bob's heart please help him to hear your knock and open the door to respond

[00:12:21] to your voice allow him to let you enter in to a relationship with him please show him the joy

[00:12:30] that comes from knowing you personally and trusting you with his whole heart I ask this

[00:12:37] in your name amen now friends I want to spend just a few moments going through the importance of

[00:12:48] reading scripture now this week we talked about coming to Jesus we talked about Romans chapter 10

[00:12:55] verses 9 and 10 that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus

[00:13:04] and believe in your heart that he was raised from the dead you will be saved I've also talked

[00:13:11] about 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 15 where talks about that we must show ourselves approved friends

[00:13:22] once you realize the love of God and what he has done for you and save you from the pit of hell

[00:13:32] and he has also taken away all of your sins we should be eternally grateful

[00:13:41] and now we should consider living the rest of our lives to try to please him so how do we please

[00:13:50] him we please him by getting to know him and the only way we can truly get to know him better is

[00:14:01] through his word we've talked about Romans chapter 10 verse 17 now then faith comes by hearing

[00:14:12] and hearing by the word of God friends we need to get into scripture yesterday I suggested that if

[00:14:21] you're not familiar with scripture you go to the book of Proverbs and read the chapter every day

[00:14:29] I suggested you may want to go to the book of Psalms and read a Psalm or two every day I also

[00:14:39] suggested that you go to the gospel of Luke and I will begin that on Monday now I was going

[00:14:47] to go over the introduction to Luke tomorrow but actually the spirit has told me to do something a bit

[00:14:55] different so on tomorrow's podcast I invite you to listen and what I'm gonna do tomorrow is take a

[00:15:03] quick glance at the Bible and you may want to tune in because if you've never heard some of these

[00:15:13] stories in the Bible you may say wow I'd like to read that story so I invite you to do that

[00:15:21] but what I'd like to do today is since this is the 21st we read the 21st Proverb and I keyed in

[00:15:31] on verse 7 and Proverbs 21 verse 7 says this the violence of the wicked will destroy them

[00:15:41] because they refuse to do justice now friends this one particular verse speaks about someone

[00:15:51] who has definitively made the decision not to receive Jesus into their heart these are people

[00:16:02] that do not acknowledge God in their life they may say that they don't believe in God they may

[00:16:10] do everything on their own trusting in them sells in all the decisions they make in life but listen

[00:16:19] to the verse again the violence of the wicked will destroy them and friends they are intent on doing

[00:16:28] evil they don't care about other people all they think about is themselves and what is best for

[00:16:37] them even if what they do hurts other people they are not thinking about trampling on other people

[00:16:47] and their rights they are only thinking about themselves listen to the last part of that verse

[00:16:55] because they refuse to do justice friends we can substitute the word right there but they refuse

[00:17:08] to do right or we could say they refuse to be gracious they refuse to be honest they refuse

[00:17:18] to be gracious they refuse to love other people and friends regardless of which word you fill that

[00:17:30] sentence with they are not thinking about other people and they are welfare so friends my

[00:17:38] call to action today is this are you opening up scripture and at least beginning to become

[00:17:49] familiar with the word of God our goal in life should be to become more and more like Jesus and

[00:17:59] live our life trying to please God and make him happy the suggested scripture reading today would

[00:18:08] be to reread our proverb of the day, proverb 21 and if you get a chance meditate on the verses that

[00:18:18] I talked about today knowing that you will have that important decision to make that if you

[00:18:29] do receive Jesus or if you have already received him be prepared to face opposition whether it is

[00:18:40] your immediate family family members that are a little bit more distant that don't live with you

[00:18:47] or your best friends sometimes we have to give up the friends that we've had our entire life

[00:18:55] if we make this decision and we need to be willing to do that knowing that God loves us

[00:19:05] and is immediately as soon as we breathe our last here on earth we will be with him in heaven forever

[00:19:16] friends I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus

[00:19:22] as their Lord and Savior if there's anyone listening today you've never taken that step I invite

[00:19:28] you to repeat a simple prayer after me today Jesus I recognize that I am a sinner and I have need

[00:19:39] of a Savior I believe that you are the Son of God I believe that you came to earth and died on a cross

[00:19:46] for me I know that you were raised from the dead on the third day and now reside on the right hand

[00:19:56] of God in eternity Jesus I invite you to come into my heart I ask that you lead me and guide me

[00:20:04] from this point forward I make you my Lord and Savior friends if you repeated that prayer do me a

[00:20:12] favor go on my web page wisdom today bk those are my initials bill kelly.com and if you would click

[00:20:23] on the contact tab if you would give me your name give me your information let me know you said

[00:20:29] that prayer and I want to get back with you welcome to the family of God now may the Lord bless you

[00:20:38] and keep you the Lord make us stay shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his

[00:20:46] countenance upon you and give you peace friends please join me again tomorrow as we close out the week

[00:20:55] with wisdom today