Welcome to Wisdom Today with Bill Kelley. On today's lesson we will be going over Proverb 11. I will then key in on two verses - verse 6 - The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the unfaithful will be caught by their lust & verse 8 - The righteous is delivered from trouble, And it comes to the wicked instead. Friends, on today's podcast I will briefly review the two verses that I went over on Monday's podcast (if you did not get a chance to listen to Monday's podcast, it was Episode 701). We went over John 3:16 and 1 John 4:verse 17. I encouraged everyone to get a notebook and write these scripture verses down. I will then continue by going over two new verses. By the end of today's lesson there are three things I ask that you consider:
1. Knowing scripture well will benefit you greatly.
2. When satan comes after you to tempt you, you will now have the ability to resist him.
3. The righteousness of the upright will deliver them.
Scriptures referenced in today's lesson:
John 3:16; 1 John 4:17; 1 Peter 5:verse 8 (we went over verses 5-8); Matthew 4:4 (we actually went over verses 1-11)
[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.
[00:00:22] Let's open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you give everyone ears to hear and a heart to receive everything you have in store for them today. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
[00:00:39] This is Proverb 11, beginning in verse 1.
[00:01:10] Verse 1.
[00:01:13] Verse 1.
[00:01:14] The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, but the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
[00:01:23] The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but the unfaithful will be caught by their lust.
[00:01:31] When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, and the hope of the unjust perishes.
[00:01:40] The righteous is delivered from trouble, and it comes to the wicked instead.
[00:01:45] The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor,
[00:01:50] but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.
[00:01:55] When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
[00:01:59] and when the wicked perish, there is jubilation.
[00:02:03] By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted,
[00:02:08] but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.
[00:02:12] He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor,
[00:02:17] but a man of understanding holds his peace.
[00:02:21] A tale-bearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter.
[00:02:30] Where there is no counsel, the people fall,
[00:02:33] but in the multitude of counselors, there is safety.
[00:02:38] He who is surety for a stranger will suffer,
[00:02:41] but one who hates being surety is secure.
[00:02:45] A gracious woman retains honor,
[00:02:49] but ruthless men retain riches.
[00:02:52] The merciful man does good for his own soul,
[00:02:56] but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.
[00:03:00] The wicked man does deceptive work,
[00:03:04] but he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward.
[00:03:09] As righteousness leads to life,
[00:03:12] so he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.
[00:03:18] Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord,
[00:03:23] but the blameless in their ways are his delight.
[00:03:29] Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished,
[00:03:33] but the posterity of the righteous will be delivered.
[00:03:38] As a ring of gold in a swine's snout,
[00:03:42] so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.
[00:03:46] The desire of the righteous is only good,
[00:03:49] but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
[00:03:52] There is one who scatters, yet increases more,
[00:03:57] and there is one who withholds more than is right,
[00:04:01] but it leads to poverty.
[00:04:04] The generous soul will be made rich,
[00:04:07] and he who waters will also be watered himself.
[00:04:11] The people will curse him who withholds grain,
[00:04:15] but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.
[00:04:20] He who earnestly seeks good finds favor,
[00:04:24] but trouble will come to him who seeks evil.
[00:04:28] He who trusts in his riches will fall,
[00:04:32] but the righteous will flourish like foliage.
[00:04:35] He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind,
[00:04:40] and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
[00:04:45] The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
[00:04:48] and he who wins souls is wise.
[00:04:52] If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth,
[00:04:56] how much more the ungodly and the sinner?
[00:05:01] Now, friends, today I'd like to key in on two verses,
[00:05:06] And Proverb 11, verse 6 says,
[00:05:11] The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,
[00:05:16] but the unfaithful will be caught by their lust.
[00:05:20] And Proverb 11, verse 8 says this,
[00:05:25] The righteous is delivered from trouble,
[00:05:27] and it comes to the wicked instead.
[00:05:31] Now, friends, I will come back and revisit those two verses prior to closing today,
[00:05:38] but what I'd like to do is review what I went over on Monday's podcast.
[00:05:43] And on Monday, I told you that I am beginning a new study.
[00:05:48] And since we are in the last month of 2024,
[00:05:53] I thought it would be a good,
[00:05:56] kind of like a jump start into the new year,
[00:06:00] is to try to get into a habit of memorizing Scripture.
[00:06:06] Now, I know there are people in today's listening audience,
[00:06:10] you may be joining me for the very first time.
[00:06:13] You don't know anything about me,
[00:06:16] and by the way, my name is Bill Kelly.
[00:06:18] I am the host of this podcast,
[00:06:21] and this is episode number 703.
[00:06:25] So if you are joining for the first time,
[00:06:29] welcome to the podcast.
[00:06:31] I have been doing this almost three years now,
[00:06:35] and I do it Monday through Friday.
[00:06:37] But what I like to do is to emphasize
[00:06:41] the importance of reading Scripture.
[00:06:44] So on Monday's podcast, I began with John 3.16.
[00:06:50] And on Monday, I encouraged people
[00:06:54] who do not know Scripture very well.
[00:06:57] You've never memorized Scripture.
[00:06:59] Maybe you have never even thought about memorizing Scripture.
[00:07:04] But I emphasized that it is important
[00:07:08] to know the Word of God.
[00:07:11] And if you would, I said,
[00:07:14] I encourage people to buy a small notebook,
[00:07:19] either a 5 inch by 8 inch,
[00:07:21] or a 10 by 11.
[00:07:23] It doesn't matter.
[00:07:24] But begin to memorize Scripture verses.
[00:07:29] So on Monday's podcast,
[00:07:31] I went over John 3.16,
[00:07:33] and that is probably the most famous
[00:07:36] verse in the entire Bible.
[00:07:39] And I will just go over that.
[00:07:41] For God so loved the world
[00:07:44] that He gave His only begotten Son
[00:07:47] that whoever believes in Him
[00:07:50] should not perish,
[00:07:52] but have everlasting life.
[00:07:55] And friends,
[00:07:56] I used to teach special education,
[00:07:58] and one thing I learned,
[00:08:00] when you are trying to memorize something,
[00:08:03] a lot of people just try to verbalize,
[00:08:06] but what I've learned is that
[00:08:09] if you verbalize it
[00:08:11] and say something out loud
[00:08:13] over and over and over again,
[00:08:15] you can hear your voice
[00:08:17] and it will come into your memory.
[00:08:19] But also,
[00:08:20] that if you write something down,
[00:08:25] you will tend to remember it
[00:08:28] a lot easier as well.
[00:08:30] So the second verse that I went over
[00:08:33] is 1 John 4.17.
[00:08:39] Now, these first two verses
[00:08:41] are a little bit lengthy,
[00:08:43] so you might need to allow
[00:08:46] three or four or five lines
[00:08:48] to write down these verses.
[00:08:50] But let me just go over 1 John 4.17.
[00:08:54] And that one says,
[00:08:57] Love has been perfected among us in this,
[00:09:01] that we may have boldness
[00:09:03] in the day of judgment,
[00:09:05] because as He is,
[00:09:07] so are we in this world.
[00:09:10] And the He that the author, John,
[00:09:14] is referring to is Jesus in the Bible.
[00:09:18] We are to literally be like Jesus was
[00:09:22] when He walked on the earth.
[00:09:24] And I know some of you may scoff at that.
[00:09:27] And some of you may say,
[00:09:28] We can't be like Jesus.
[00:09:30] Well, John is telling us
[00:09:32] that that is exactly what we should do.
[00:09:34] We should be like Jesus.
[00:09:37] So what I'm going to do today
[00:09:39] is I am going to go
[00:09:41] to a very famous passage of Scripture.
[00:09:44] And on Monday's podcast,
[00:09:47] I mentioned 1 Peter 5, verse 8.
[00:09:52] And let's review what that says.
[00:09:56] Okay, this is the last chapter of 1 Peter.
[00:10:00] And I went over verse 8.
[00:10:03] That is the verse that I would like for you
[00:10:06] to write down and to memorize.
[00:10:09] But what I'd like to do
[00:10:11] is begin in 1 Peter 5.
[00:10:14] And let's begin with verse 5
[00:10:18] and go all the way through verse 8.
[00:10:23] Likewise, you younger people,
[00:10:26] submit yourselves to your elders.
[00:10:29] Yes, all of you be submissive to one another
[00:10:33] and be clothed with humility.
[00:10:37] For God resists the proud,
[00:10:39] but He gives grace to the humble.
[00:10:42] Therefore, humble yourselves
[00:10:45] under the mighty hand of God,
[00:10:48] that He may exalt you in due time,
[00:10:51] casting all your care upon Him,
[00:10:55] for He cares for you.
[00:10:56] And this is verse 8.
[00:10:58] This is the one I'd like for you to remember.
[00:11:01] Be sober.
[00:11:02] Be vigilant.
[00:11:04] Because your adversary, the devil,
[00:11:07] walks about like a roaring lion,
[00:11:11] seeking whom He may devour.
[00:11:15] Friends, it is important
[00:11:17] that we acknowledge Satan.
[00:11:19] I don't like talking about him a lot,
[00:11:21] but he's real.
[00:11:23] And he will come after you.
[00:11:25] He will come after you.
[00:11:27] And it's just a matter of time
[00:11:29] before you can allow him
[00:11:34] to get under your skin.
[00:11:37] You might get upset with him.
[00:11:39] Friends, you should get upset with him
[00:11:42] because he is going to try to trick you.
[00:11:45] He's going to try to connive you.
[00:11:47] He's going to try to lie to you.
[00:11:50] And he may have success
[00:11:53] if you don't know Scripture.
[00:11:56] So what happens when He comes after you?
[00:12:01] I'm glad you asked
[00:12:03] because I have an example in the Bible
[00:12:06] and it's found in Matthew's Gospel,
[00:12:10] chapter 4.
[00:12:11] And for those of you with knowledge of Scripture,
[00:12:15] this is right after Jesus has been baptized
[00:12:20] in the River Jordan
[00:12:22] by His cousin, John the Baptist.
[00:12:26] So let's begin in chapter 4 of Luke,
[00:12:29] verse 1.
[00:12:31] Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit
[00:12:35] into the wilderness
[00:12:36] to be tempted by the devil.
[00:12:39] And when He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights,
[00:12:43] afterward He was hungry.
[00:12:46] Now when the tempter came to Him,
[00:12:49] He said,
[00:12:50] If you are the Son of God,
[00:12:53] command that these stones become bread.
[00:12:57] Satan is trying to tempt Jesus here.
[00:13:02] How does Jesus respond?
[00:13:06] But He answered and said,
[00:13:10] And these are the words of Jesus.
[00:13:12] How do I know?
[00:13:13] They are in red.
[00:13:14] And friends,
[00:13:15] if you don't have a red-letter Bible,
[00:13:18] I suggest that you get one.
[00:13:20] It's one of the most influential things
[00:13:23] that you can do
[00:13:24] in order to learn to memorize Scripture.
[00:13:28] Key in on the red words of the Bible
[00:13:32] because those are words
[00:13:34] that Jesus literally spoke
[00:13:36] when He was on earth.
[00:13:38] But Jesus replied,
[00:13:40] It is written,
[00:13:43] Man shall not live by bread alone,
[00:13:46] but by every word
[00:13:48] that proceeds from the mouth of God.
[00:13:51] Then the devil took Him up
[00:13:54] into the holy city,
[00:13:56] set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
[00:13:59] and said to Him,
[00:14:01] If you are the Son of God,
[00:14:03] throw yourself down.
[00:14:06] For it is written,
[00:14:08] He shall give His angels charge over you,
[00:14:11] and in their hands they shall bear you up,
[00:14:15] lest you dash your foot against a stone.
[00:14:19] Friends, I'm going to pause
[00:14:20] for just a minute here.
[00:14:22] Some of you may be asking,
[00:14:24] Wait a minute.
[00:14:25] This is Satan.
[00:14:26] Does Satan know Scripture?
[00:14:30] Yes, he does.
[00:14:33] Satan knows Scripture,
[00:14:34] and he knows it very well.
[00:14:38] But what he does is he twists Scripture.
[00:14:42] He twists it,
[00:14:43] so when he talks to you,
[00:14:45] he will put it in such a way
[00:14:48] that you believe you're hearing the Word of God,
[00:14:52] but it is not the Word of God.
[00:14:54] It is the Word of God
[00:14:56] that has been twisted into a lie.
[00:15:00] So once again,
[00:15:01] Satan is tempting Jesus,
[00:15:03] and how does Jesus respond this time?
[00:15:07] Jesus said to him,
[00:15:09] It is written again,
[00:15:11] You shall not tempt the Lord your God.
[00:15:14] So two times Satan has come to Jesus and tempted him,
[00:15:20] and each time Jesus referred to the Word of God
[00:15:25] and spouted it back at Satan.
[00:15:28] Let's go to verse 8.
[00:15:29] Again,
[00:15:31] The devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain
[00:15:35] and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
[00:15:40] And he said to him,
[00:15:42] All these things I will give you
[00:15:45] if you will fall down and worship me.
[00:15:49] Then Jesus said to him,
[00:15:52] Away with you,
[00:15:53] Satan!
[00:15:54] For it is written,
[00:15:57] You shall worship the Lord your God,
[00:15:59] and him only you shall serve.
[00:16:03] Then the devil left him,
[00:16:06] and behold,
[00:16:07] angels came and ministered to him.
[00:16:11] So friends,
[00:16:13] my first point of today's listen is,
[00:16:17] Knowing Scripture well will benefit you greatly.
[00:16:23] Let me say that again.
[00:16:25] It bears repeating.
[00:16:27] Knowing Scripture well will benefit you greatly.
[00:16:33] Number two.
[00:16:35] When Satan comes after you to tempt you,
[00:16:39] you will now have the ability to resist him.
[00:16:45] Let me say number two again.
[00:16:48] When Satan comes after you to tempt you,
[00:16:53] you will now have the ability to resist him.
[00:17:00] Friends,
[00:17:02] what I'd like to do now
[00:17:04] I'm actually going to make this my call to action.
[00:17:08] I really am wanting,
[00:17:12] and I hope that people will take this seriously.
[00:17:16] I am hoping that you will literally
[00:17:19] write these passages of Scripture down.
[00:17:24] So if you would,
[00:17:26] if you don't have a notebook right now,
[00:17:28] I encourage you to get one
[00:17:30] before tomorrow's lesson.
[00:17:32] And if you don't have a notebook,
[00:17:36] get a scrap piece of paper
[00:17:37] and at least write these four verses down.
[00:17:43] So number one,
[00:17:44] John 3, 16.
[00:17:48] Number two,
[00:17:50] 1 John 4, 17.
[00:17:55] And the two from today,
[00:17:59] 1 Peter 5, 8.
[00:18:03] And the one that I really want you to memorize
[00:18:09] and write down is Matthew's Gospel,
[00:18:13] chapter 4, verse 4.
[00:18:16] And that is the one that says,
[00:18:19] it is written,
[00:18:20] and you write down,
[00:18:22] man shall not live by bread alone,
[00:18:27] but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
[00:18:32] Friends,
[00:18:34] that one verse
[00:18:36] talks about the importance of Scripture.
[00:18:39] I cannot overemphasize how important it is
[00:18:43] to know the Word of God.
[00:18:45] Satan is going to come after you.
[00:18:48] How do you respond?
[00:18:50] Jesus showed you three separate times
[00:18:54] in Matthew chapter 4, verses 1 through 11.
[00:18:58] He told you three times Satan comes at him,
[00:19:01] bam!
[00:19:02] And how do you respond?
[00:19:03] It is written.
[00:19:04] It is written.
[00:19:05] It is written.
[00:19:06] Friends, we need to know the Word of God.
[00:19:09] Write it down.
[00:19:10] If you write it down,
[00:19:12] it will make it easier to remember.
[00:19:14] Before we close,
[00:19:15] I'd like to go back to our proverb of the day
[00:19:18] for our third point of the day.
[00:19:21] We are in proverb 11.
[00:19:23] Verse number 6 says,
[00:19:25] The righteousness of the upright
[00:19:27] will deliver them,
[00:19:29] but the unfaithful
[00:19:32] will be caught by their lust.
[00:19:34] And number 8,
[00:19:36] The righteous is delivered from trouble,
[00:19:39] and it comes to the wicked instead.
[00:19:43] So friends, these two verses go hand in hand
[00:19:47] with Monday's lesson
[00:19:48] and with today's lesson.
[00:19:51] If you know the Word of God,
[00:19:54] then you are righteous.
[00:19:56] The Bible tells us that we are
[00:19:58] the righteousness of God.
[00:20:00] As soon as you receive Jesus into your heart,
[00:20:03] we become the righteousness of God.
[00:20:07] Not because we deserve it,
[00:20:09] not because we've done anything to earn it,
[00:20:11] but solely because of what Jesus did
[00:20:15] on that cross
[00:20:16] for everyone listening to this podcast today.
[00:20:18] But the second part of both of those,
[00:20:21] but the unfaithful,
[00:20:23] will be caught by their lust.
[00:20:25] And friends,
[00:20:26] this goes back to 1 Peter 5, verse 8.
[00:20:30] Satan is going to come after you.
[00:20:32] He's going to try to tempt you.
[00:20:34] He's going to try to lure you.
[00:20:35] And you need to have ammunition
[00:20:38] to resist him,
[00:20:40] whatever it takes.
[00:20:44] Friends,
[00:20:44] I will never end a podcast
[00:20:47] without giving anyone
[00:20:48] an opportunity to receive Jesus today
[00:20:51] as your Lord and Savior.
[00:20:54] If you've never made that decision,
[00:20:57] I invite you to repeat a simple prayer
[00:21:00] after me right now.
[00:21:02] Jesus,
[00:21:03] I confess that I am a sinner
[00:21:05] and in need of a Savior.
[00:21:07] I ask that you come into my heart.
[00:21:09] I ask that you lead me
[00:21:11] and guide me from this point forward
[00:21:14] in my life.
[00:21:15] I make you my Lord and Savior.
[00:21:18] Now,
[00:21:19] may the Lord bless you
[00:21:21] and keep you.
[00:21:22] The Lord make his face shine upon you
[00:21:26] and be gracious to you.
[00:21:27] The Lord lift up his countenance upon you
[00:21:30] and give you peace.
[00:21:32] Friends,
[00:21:33] please join me again tomorrow
[00:21:35] as we further explore
[00:21:37] wisdom today.