Welcome to Wisdom Today with Bill Kelley. Today we will be going over Proverb 25. I will then key in on verse 21 - If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. Friends, if we are to become like Jesus (and that should be our goal every day - to become more and more like Him) we need to do what He did. If He was still on Earth, and someone was hungry, He would give them food to eat, and if they were thirsty, He would give them water to drink. If that's what He would do, that is what we should do as well. On today's podcast we are continuing where we left off on yesterday's podcast. Yesterday, after completing the 4th chapter of the Gospel according to Luke, we went to the 16th chapter of John. The disciples were sorrowful when Jesus told them that He would soon be leaving them. He told them that He would send the comforter (the Holy Spirit) to them. On today's podcast I will go over the benefits of this - and these benefits are what helps us today. By the end of today's lesson I ask that you consider these three points:
1. The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin
2. The Holy Spirit will guid you into all truth.
3. The Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus.
Call to Action - If you still have questions on the purpose of the Holy Spirit - I invite you to revise yesterday's and today's podcasts. At that point I would encourage you to pray to God and have Him reveal the answers to you.
[00:00:00] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast, we
[00:00:13] will be exploring the book of Proverbs.
[00:00:22] Open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord,
[00:00:28] I pray that you would give everyone ears to hear and a heart to receive everything you
[00:00:33] have in store for them today. I ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. This is Proverb 25, beginning
[00:00:41] in verse 1. These also are Proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah copied.
[00:00:51] It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
[00:01:00] As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.
[00:01:08] Take away the dross from silver and it will go to the silversmith for jewelry. Take away
[00:01:15] the wicked from before the king and his throne will be established in righteousness. Do not
[00:01:22] exalt yourself in the presence of the king and do not stand in the place of the great,
[00:01:29] for it is better that he say to you, Come up here, then that you should be put lower
[00:01:36] in the presence of the prince whom your eyes have seen. Do not go hastily to court
[00:01:44] for what will you do in the end when your neighbor has put you to shame. Debate your case with
[00:01:52] your neighbor and do not disclose the secret to another, lest he who hears it expose your
[00:02:00] shame and your reputation be ruined. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings
[00:02:10] of silver. Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise rebuke her to
[00:02:18] an obedient ear. Like the cold of snow in time of harvest is a faithful messenger to
[00:02:26] those who send him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters. Whoever falsely boasts
[00:02:35] of giving is like clouds and wind without rain. By long forbearance a ruler is persuaded
[00:02:43] and a gentle tongue breaks a bone. Have you found, honey, eat only as much as you need,
[00:02:52] lest you be filled with it and vomit. Sell them, set foot in your neighbor's house,
[00:02:59] lest he become weary of you and hate you. A man who bears false witness against his neighbor
[00:03:08] is like a club, a sword at a sharp arrow. Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is
[00:03:18] like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint. Like one who takes away a garment in cold
[00:03:25] weather and like vinegar on the soda is one who sings songs to a heavy heart. If your enemy
[00:03:35] is hungry, give him bread to eat and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For so you
[00:03:43] will heap coals of fire on his head and the Lord will reward you. The north wind brings
[00:03:52] forth rain and a backbiting tongue and angry countenance. It is better to dwell in a corner
[00:04:00] of a housetop than in a house shared with a contentious woman. As cold water to a weary soul,
[00:04:10] so is good news from afar country. A righteous man who falters before the wicked
[00:04:17] is like a murky spring and a polluted well. It is not good to eat much honey, so to seek one's own
[00:04:27] glory is not glory. Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down without
[00:04:38] walls. Friends today I'd like to close in on verse 21 and Proverbs 25 verse 21 says this,
[00:04:49] if your enemy is hungry give him bread to eat and if he is thirsty give him water to drink.
[00:04:59] Friends we will come back and revisit that verse prior to closing today but what I'd
[00:05:05] like to do today is continue where we left off yesterday and I'm going to take a brief one day
[00:05:15] rabbit trail. Now I know that we are right now in the study of the gospel according to Luke
[00:05:25] but yesterday we completed chapter four and after completing chapter four I went into a little bit
[00:05:33] of detail how the disciples became troubled when they knew that Jesus was going to be leaving them.
[00:05:42] So we took a diversion and we went to the gospel of John in chapter 16. Now I ended yesterday's
[00:05:52] podcast going over verse seven and we are going to pick up right where we left off. So here we
[00:06:00] are in the gospel according to John chapter 16 beginning in verse 8. And when he has come
[00:06:11] and we here are referring to the Holy Spirit he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness
[00:06:22] and of judgment. So friends the first point in today's lesson is the Holy Spirit will convict
[00:06:31] the world of sin. Now friends today's primary lesson is on the Holy Spirit so I am going to
[00:06:41] take the liberty to read a number of commentaries from my Bible because I believe this is one of
[00:06:51] the points of contention for people in the world today. I don't think many people understand the
[00:06:59] difference in the relationship between God, his son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I think some people
[00:07:08] are confused by the concept of the Trinity and how these three people the God the Father and the
[00:07:18] Holy Spirit are interrelated. So what I'm going to do is I'm reading out of the Nelson study Bible
[00:07:25] I'd like to read the commentary for verse 8. Convict means to convince or reprove. The Holy Spirit
[00:07:37] would demonstrate the truth of Christ beyond the fear of contradiction. The Holy Spirit convicts
[00:07:47] unbelievers through believers who witness about Christ. Believers are the mouthpiece for God's
[00:07:57] voice and this is us as believers today. The content of the witness that the Spirit reinforces
[00:08:08] includes truth about sin, righteousness and judgment. Let's go to verse 9 of sin because they do not
[00:08:20] believe in me. Now let's read the commentary for verse 9. Note the singular sin not sins. Our
[00:08:32] witness should not focus on sins such as adultery, gluttony, pride and other sins but on the full
[00:08:45] payment that Christ has made for all sin. Reception of the full pardon is the only cure
[00:08:56] for the disease of sin. And friends that is what Jesus did on the cross. By going on the cross
[00:09:05] he has forgiven each of us of all of our sins even those that we have not even thought about
[00:09:17] committing yet. You have to think when he died it was over 2,000 years ago so at that time
[00:09:25] all of our sins were in the future. So now when we look at ourselves today he hasn't just forgiven
[00:09:33] those that we've already done. He also has forgiven those that we're going to commit
[00:09:40] in the future. Let's go to verse 10 of righteousness because I go to my Father and you see me no more.
[00:09:52] Listen to the commentary for verse 10 of righteousness. After Christ's departure,
[00:10:00] the Holy Spirit would convict the world of the nature of righteousness and the need for righteousness.
[00:10:11] I think this is a crucial point. We need to understand that and as believers we need to
[00:10:21] understand the importance of being righteous. Jesus's work on the cross was completely righteous.
[00:10:32] This is demonstrated by the Father's emptying of the tomb, signifying his satisfaction with the
[00:10:42] righteous payment and his acceptance of Christ into his presence. Now there is a verse in the
[00:10:54] Bible that says, God will never inhabit sin. So when Jesus was on that cross and all of the sins of the
[00:11:04] world were put on him he could not be in the presence of God but by dying on that cross and being
[00:11:16] buried in the ground and rising from the grave now he was reconciled to his Father God
[00:11:28] and now he has been accepted back into the family as have each one of us today.
[00:11:37] Let's go to 11 of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. Listen to this commentary.
[00:11:48] Satan, the ruler of this world rules in the hearts of unregenerate people and blinds their minds.
[00:11:59] Now friends these are people who haven't received Jesus yet and I say yet because God
[00:12:08] is not willing that any should perish. God's desire and therefore Jesus's desire is that all of us
[00:12:17] come to the point in our lives where we need and realize we have need of a Savior.
[00:12:25] Satan was judged at the cross and the Holy Spirit would convince people of the judgment to come.
[00:12:34] Satan has been judged so all who side with him will be judged with him.
[00:12:43] Hopefully that makes sense to you. There is no room for neutrality. A person is either a child of God
[00:12:51] or a child of the devil and some people simply have a hard time with that concept. That is why
[00:13:01] so many people are hesitant to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Let's go to verse 12.
[00:13:08] I still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now. You here refers to the apostles.
[00:13:22] Remember Jesus is speaking with his apostles here. He's trying to convince them of why
[00:13:30] they are going to be better when he leads them.
[00:13:34] Technically what the Lord says about the ministry of the Holy Spirit applies
[00:13:41] primarily to the apostles because they are the ones that are going to continue
[00:13:49] the ministry that Jesus began on earth. The Holy Spirit's ministry to them was threefold.
[00:13:58] Listen to this. Number one, he would guide them into all truth. Number two,
[00:14:05] he would tell them of the future and number three, he would help them glorify Christ.
[00:14:13] Jesus's words were fulfilled in the apostles preaching and writings. The Holy Spirit guided
[00:14:21] the apostles by revealing to them not only the truths embodied in Jesus's life and death
[00:14:30] but also the glorious future of all believers. The apostles in turn wrote it down in the New
[00:14:41] Testament which glorifies that is reveals Jesus Christ. Let's go to verse 13.
[00:14:52] However, when he the spirit of truth has come he will guide you into all truth for he will not speak
[00:15:03] on his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and he will tell you things to come.
[00:15:12] So friends my second point today is the Holy Spirit will guide you in to all truth.
[00:15:21] Let's read the commentary for 13. The spirit of truth, the phrase means that the Holy Spirit
[00:15:30] is the source of truth. What does guide mean in this verse? The Holy Spirit would not compel
[00:15:41] or carry the disciples into truth. He would lead, their job was to follow. What does all
[00:15:52] truth mean? All truth refers to the truth necessary to be mature saints and thoroughly
[00:16:02] equipped servants. And that is our role today. Things to come means truths about the church
[00:16:13] as well as future events. Let's go to verse 14. He will glorify me for he will take of what is mine
[00:16:24] and declare it to you. Friends my third point today is the Holy Spirit will glorify Jesus.
[00:16:34] Listen to this commentary. Four indicates that the last part of the verse explains glorify me.
[00:16:45] The Holy Spirit glorifies Christ by declaring him or making him known. It is the work of the Holy
[00:16:57] Spirit to throw light on Jesus Christ who is the image of the invisible God. Christ is to be
[00:17:09] on center stage. That is the desire of both the Father and the Son. The apostles received truth
[00:17:18] from the Holy Spirit, truth about things to come, and truth about Christ. Then under the guidance
[00:17:28] of the Holy Spirit they wrote those truths in documents known today as the New Testament. And
[00:17:38] friends most of the New Testament was written by the 12 disciples or by Paul who came a bit later
[00:17:50] but he knew about Jesus and once he met the Spirit of Jesus in Acts wrote about two-thirds of the New
[00:18:01] Testament. But we have Peter who wrote first and second Peter. We have John who wrote the Gospel
[00:18:07] of John as well as first, second and third John and Revelation. We have Matthew who was one of
[00:18:13] his disciples and let's close with verse 15 all things that the Father has are mine. Therefore I
[00:18:23] said that he will take of mine and declare it to you. One more commentary for 15 to say that the Holy
[00:18:33] Spirit will take what belongs to Christ does not mean he will concentrate on Christ to the
[00:18:41] exclusion of the Father. There is no division within the Godhead. What the Father has, the Son has.
[00:18:51] What the Son has, the Spirit will declare. However, the focus will be on Christ because he
[00:19:01] is the image of the invisible God. His steps are the only ones we can follow because he is
[00:19:09] the only one we have seen. Now friends I hope that answers many of the questions that you have about
[00:19:20] the Trinity. Before we close today I'd like to go back to our verse of the day and verse 21
[00:19:27] of Proverbs 25 says, If your enemy is hungry give him bread to eat and if he is thirsty
[00:19:38] give him water to drink. Friends all I'm going to say on this verse today is think about Jesus.
[00:19:47] If we are like Jesus and that should be our goal to become more and more like him. If we see people
[00:19:59] are hungry we need to feed them. If we see they are thirsty we need to give them something to drink.
[00:20:08] It doesn't matter who they are. Friends my call to action is very simple today. If you still
[00:20:19] have questions about the Holy Spirit I ask that you pray to God and have him give you clarity.
[00:20:30] And if you still have questions you may want to go over yesterday's podcast and today's podcast.
[00:20:40] Delve in to the commentary that I've gone over with you and I believe and declare your mind will
[00:20:48] become a little bit sharper and clearer as to this whole Holy Spirit idea. Friends I will never end a
[00:21:00] podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. If there's
[00:21:07] anyone listening today and you've never taken that step I ask that you repeat a simple prayer
[00:21:13] after me today. Jesus I declare that I am a sinner and I have need of a Savior. I ask that you forgive
[00:21:22] me of all my sins. I ask that you come into my life into my heart lead me and guide me from this point
[00:21:29] forward. I make you my Lord and Savior. Friends if you said that prayer I believe you are now
[00:21:37] in the family of God. Congratulations and welcome. Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord
[00:21:45] make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you
[00:21:53] and give you peace. Friends please join me again tomorrow as we close out the week with wisdom today.