Welcome to Wisdom Today with Bill Kelley. Today we will be going over Proverb 13. I will then key in on verse 3 - He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction. Friends, before you open your mouth, especially if the person you are planning on speaking with has just wronged you, and you are upset with them, think carefully - take your time- choose your words carefully. If you guard your mouth, you will preserve your mouth. On today's podcast we will continue our study on the Gospel according to Luke. Today we will pick up where we left off on Thursday's podcast. We will be going over ten verses - but these ten verses are as difficult to do as any ten verses in the Bible. By the end of this lesson there are three things that I ask that you consider:
1. Jesus says to love our enemies.
2. Do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
3. Jesus was kind to the unthankful and evil.
Call to Action - Think carefully about the instructions of Jesus that we have heard today. Ask yourself what you need to do in order to begin following these instructions.
[00:00:06] Welcome to Wisdom Today. My name is Bill Kelley and I'll be your host. In this podcast, we will be exploring the book of Proverbs.
[00:00:21] And in prayer, Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you would reveal to everyone listening how much you truly love each and every one of them.
[00:00:34] In addition, I pray that everyone listening would have favor with both God and man. I ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.
[00:00:43] This is Proverbs 13 beginning in verse 1.
[00:00:48] A wise son heeds his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
[00:00:56] A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth, but the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence.
[00:01:05] He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.
[00:01:15] The soul of a lazy man desires and has nothing, but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
[00:01:24] A righteous man hates lying, but a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame.
[00:01:32] Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.
[00:01:40] There is one who makes himself rich yet has nothing, and one who makes himself poor yet has great riches.
[00:01:49] The ransom of a man's life is his riches, but the poor does not hear rebuke.
[00:01:57] The light of the righteous rejoices, but the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
[00:02:04] By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well advised is wisdom.
[00:02:11] Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, but he who gathers by labour will increase.
[00:02:21] Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes it is a tree of life.
[00:02:29] He who despises the Word will be destroyed, but he who fears the commandment will be rewarded.
[00:02:37] The law of the wise is a fountain of life to turn one away from the snares of death.
[00:02:45] Good understanding gains favour, but the way of the unfaithful is hard.
[00:02:53] Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool lays open his folly.
[00:02:59] A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a faithful ambassador brings health.
[00:03:08] Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, but he who regards a rebuke will be honoured.
[00:03:18] A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul, but it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.
[00:03:27] He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
[00:03:36] Evil pursues sinners, but to the righteous good shall be repaid.
[00:03:43] A good man leads an inheritance to his children's children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
[00:03:53] Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, and for lack of justice there is waste.
[00:04:01] He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
[00:04:10] The righteous eats to the satisfying of the soul, but the stomach of the wicked shall be in want.
[00:04:19] Friends, today I'd like to take a closer look at verse 3.
[00:04:25] And Proverb 13 verse 3 says this.
[00:04:29] He who guards his mouth preserves his life, that he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.
[00:04:39] Friends, we will take a closer look at that verse prior to closing today,
[00:04:44] but what I'd like to do is begin the week where we left off on Thursday's podcast.
[00:04:52] And we are continuing our study in the Gospel according to Luke,
[00:04:58] and on Thursday's podcast we left off in chapter 6 of Luke, verse 26.
[00:05:07] So today we're going to key in on 10 verses of Scripture.
[00:05:12] And this passage is entitled, Love Your Enemies.
[00:05:19] So let's begin with verse 27.
[00:05:23] But I say to you who hear, love your enemies.
[00:05:29] Do good to those who hate you.
[00:05:32] Bless those who curse you.
[00:05:36] And pray for those who spitefully use you.
[00:05:42] So the first point that I would like to make as we begin this new week is Jesus says to love our enemies.
[00:05:52] Now friends, this is diametrically opposed to everything we hear in our world today.
[00:06:03] This goes totally against what our world is telling us to do.
[00:06:11] I want to go over the four points and briefly discuss what we can do about these instructions that Jesus leads with us.
[00:06:21] First of all, love your enemies.
[00:06:26] And basically I believe that who he is referring to here are people that are giving you a hard time.
[00:06:36] People who are persecuting you.
[00:06:39] Now the Bible promises that if we claim to be a Christian,
[00:06:44] if we go out there and go on a limb and let people know that we've taken that step,
[00:06:52] people are going to begin watching us, but people are also going to give us a hard time.
[00:07:00] And people are going to make fun of us and they will ridicule us
[00:07:05] and they will try to make our life as unpleasant as they possibly can.
[00:07:12] That is what I believe Jesus is talking about here, about enemies.
[00:07:20] The second point he says is to do good to those who hate you.
[00:07:26] Now what I'd like for you to do is close your eyes for just a moment and think about the people who don't just dislike you,
[00:07:37] but people who really have it in for you, people who have harmed you in the past,
[00:07:46] people who just simply don't like you.
[00:07:51] And the instructions Jesus giving us is to do good to those people.
[00:07:57] In other words, we are doing the opposite of what our flesh is telling us to do.
[00:08:07] And the only way that we can do any of these four things that Jesus is asking is that we be led by the Spirit of God.
[00:08:16] We need to remember that he was willing to die on a cross for these people who had condemned him to death.
[00:08:27] And friends, what we face today is nothing like what Jesus faced while he was on that cross.
[00:08:36] So we have the ability to do good to these people.
[00:08:41] The third one is bless those who curse you.
[00:08:47] I want you to think about that.
[00:08:50] Now when I think of people placing curses, I go back to the Wizard of Oz.
[00:08:56] I think about witches and people trying to place curses on you.
[00:09:01] Although I don't believe in witches, but I do believe that curses can be placed on people.
[00:09:07] And Jesus is telling us that we're to flip that over.
[00:09:12] And I think of flipping a pancake.
[00:09:14] They do this to you.
[00:09:16] Well, I'm going to flip the pancake over and do the opposite.
[00:09:21] I'm going to just take a totally different perspective and surprise them and do this.
[00:09:28] And finally, the fourth one is pray for those who spitefully use you.
[00:09:34] Now friends, we have all been used by people in our life.
[00:09:40] And I'm going to be honest here.
[00:09:42] When people use me, I don't like it.
[00:09:46] I don't think anyone likes to be used.
[00:09:50] And you know when you've been used, you know, you feel that you've been manipulated.
[00:09:56] And people who have, you know, thought, you thought they were meaning well for you.
[00:10:02] And they just led you down the wrong road and you ended up really getting, you know, taken advantage of.
[00:10:12] I want you to think about these.
[00:10:15] And these are in red letters.
[00:10:17] Jesus is actually telling us to do this.
[00:10:21] And friends, like I said, I know it's not easy, but let's go on to verse 29.
[00:10:26] To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also.
[00:10:33] So this is saying if somebody slaps you, don't slap them back.
[00:10:39] They're saying turn your face and let them slap the other side also.
[00:10:44] And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
[00:10:51] Now friends, the cloak is the outer garment that you're wearing.
[00:10:57] Usually a coat of some kind.
[00:11:00] The undergarment is what is underneath.
[00:11:04] So if they take your coat, say, hey, do you want my shirt too?
[00:11:09] Give to everyone who asks of you and from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them back.
[00:11:18] And what Jesus is asking us to do is to forgive and to forget.
[00:11:27] To just simply let it go.
[00:11:31] And I kind of like the thought of this.
[00:11:35] Maybe they need it more than you do.
[00:11:39] I know that's a thought and a lot of you don't want to go there.
[00:11:44] But if we are to follow these commands, we need to kind of think in that type of way.
[00:11:55] And verse 31, and just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
[00:12:04] So friend, that is my second point of the day is do under others as you want men to do to you.
[00:12:11] And friends, this is often referred to as the golden rule.
[00:12:17] We have been taught this at an early age.
[00:12:21] If you want people to treat you well, then you treat them well.
[00:12:28] And this goes directly to Paul's letter to the Galatians in chapter six in verse seven.
[00:12:35] It goes hand in hand with that verse.
[00:12:37] And that verse says, be not deceived.
[00:12:42] God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.
[00:12:49] In other words, what you do to other people is going to come back to you.
[00:12:57] But one point I really want to make very clear is that not everyone will be that way.
[00:13:07] And you may be that way to somebody and they may not do it back to you.
[00:13:14] But this is a spiritual law.
[00:13:18] So basically in general, most of the people will behave accordingly.
[00:13:28] But there are always going to be exceptions to the rule.
[00:13:32] So if one person doesn't treat you the way that you treated them,
[00:13:39] let it go and understand that some people just don't do things like that.
[00:13:46] And we refer to those people as evil people.
[00:13:51] They don't think because obviously they're probably not Christians or they just may be having a bad day.
[00:13:57] But we need to not take offense to people who don't respond in kind.
[00:14:06] Let's go to verse 32.
[00:14:08] But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
[00:14:14] For even sinners love those who love them.
[00:14:18] And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?
[00:14:24] For even sinners do the same.
[00:14:25] And if you land to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?
[00:14:35] For even sinners lend the sinners to receive as much back.
[00:14:41] But love your enemies do good and land hoping for nothing in return.
[00:14:50] And your reward will be great and you will be sons of the most high.
[00:14:59] For he is kind to the unthankful and evil.
[00:15:05] Therefore, be merciful just as your father also is merciful.
[00:15:13] So friends, my third point today is Jesus was kind to the unthankful and evil.
[00:15:24] And what I'd like to do, and I am reading out of the Nelson Study Bible,
[00:15:30] and I would like to read the commentary just for verse 35.
[00:15:34] The practice of loving one's enemies is modeled by God himself,
[00:15:41] who is kind to the unthankful and evil.
[00:15:45] Jesus also notes that the reward will be great for the losses suffered
[00:15:53] while practicing this type of love.
[00:15:56] This reward will be a hundredfold.
[00:16:01] That is 10,000%.
[00:16:06] Now friends, what I really would like to etch into your memory
[00:16:12] and have you really consider and think about is that when you do these unusual things,
[00:16:22] if you actually practice these things that Jesus is telling us to do,
[00:16:28] God notices and your reward will be great in heaven.
[00:16:37] Now we may not be rewarded on earth.
[00:16:42] We may be, but we may not be.
[00:16:46] But that's not the point.
[00:16:48] The point is that we are doing as Jesus told us to do
[00:16:52] and we are doing what He would do if He were still on earth.
[00:17:00] Friends, before we close today, I'd like to go back to our proverb of the day
[00:17:06] and we were in Proverbs 13 verse 3.
[00:17:10] He who guards his mouth preserves his life,
[00:17:15] but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.
[00:17:20] Friends, I'd like to look at a sister verse to this
[00:17:27] and that's also found in the book of Proverbs.
[00:17:31] Proverb 18 verse 21 says death and life are in the power of the tongue
[00:17:39] and those that eat it shall eat the fruit thereof.
[00:17:43] So friends, I kind of look at it this way.
[00:17:46] In life you are going to get the words that come out of your mouth.
[00:17:53] We can bless people with our words or we basically can curse people with our words
[00:18:02] and bring forth spiritual death in their life.
[00:18:07] The Bible tells us that we are to edify people by the words that come out of our mouth.
[00:18:12] So with that in mind, let's look back at verse 3 one final time.
[00:18:18] He who guards his mouth preserves his life.
[00:18:23] So friends, before you say something to someone
[00:18:29] and you're maybe not enjoying this person,
[00:18:32] maybe they have just wronged you
[00:18:35] and you are tempted to say something unkind,
[00:18:39] something mean, something that you may later regret doing.
[00:18:46] Guard your mouth and if you do that,
[00:18:52] you will preserve your life.
[00:18:56] But if you open wide your lips shall have destruction.
[00:19:03] And friends, the words that come out if you blurt them out
[00:19:09] you will probably regret the words that you said.
[00:19:15] Think, be sober, be vigilant.
[00:19:19] Prior to speaking, think of the consequences that may come
[00:19:25] if you actually say those words.
[00:19:29] Friends, my call to action today, I want you to give this some serious thought.
[00:19:34] How often do you do these four things that Jesus has instructed us to do?
[00:19:44] And I'll go over them one more time.
[00:19:47] Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.
[00:19:52] Bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you.
[00:20:00] And one thing I've learned over the years is if you pray for someone on a daily basis,
[00:20:10] this may be someone you don't like.
[00:20:12] So this is really something to consider.
[00:20:16] If you don't like somebody, begin to pray for them on a daily basis.
[00:20:21] And the next time you see them, you probably are going to think a little bit differently about them
[00:20:30] because you know that you're praying for them and you are now wanting good to come to them instead of evil.
[00:20:41] Friends, I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity
[00:20:47] to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
[00:20:52] If there is anyone listening today and you've never taken that step, I invite you to repeat a simple prayer after me right now.
[00:21:01] Father God, thank you for sending your son Jesus to earth.
[00:21:06] Jesus, thank you that you were willing to come to earth and die on a cross for everyone listening to this podcast today.
[00:21:15] Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and in need of a Savior.
[00:21:22] Jesus, I believe by dying on that cross all of my sins have been forgiven.
[00:21:28] I'd like to thank you for that.
[00:21:30] And yet I ask that you come into my heart.
[00:21:34] I ask that you lead me and guide me from this point forward.
[00:21:39] I make you my Lord and Savior.
[00:21:42] Friends, now may the Lord bless you and keep you.
[00:21:47] The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
[00:21:52] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
[00:21:57] Friends, tomorrow is testimony day.
[00:22:01] Please join me and a special guest as we further explore wisdom today.