704. Scripture Verses That can Guide Your Life - #3 - He who Speaks truth declares righteousness - December 12, 2024

[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] Let's open in prayer. Father God, I thank you for anyone listening to this podcast today. Lord, I pray that you open everyone's ears to hear and heart to receive everything you have in store for them in this particular podcast. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.

[00:00:40] This is Proverbs 12 beginning in verse 1.

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[00:01:31] Verse 1.

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[00:01:55] A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

[00:02:04] He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, but he who follows frivolity is devoid

[00:02:12] of understanding. The wicked covet the catch of evil men, but the root of the righteous yields

[00:02:20] fruit. The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous will come through

[00:02:29] trouble. A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth, and the recompense of a man's

[00:02:38] hands will be rendered to him. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel

[00:02:47] is wise. A fool's wrath is known at once, but a prudent man covers shame. He who speaks truth

[00:02:57] declares righteousness, but a false witness deceit. There is one who speaks like the piercings of a

[00:03:07] sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health. The truthful lip shall be established forever,

[00:03:15] but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors

[00:03:26] of peace have joy. No grave trouble will overtake the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with

[00:03:35] evil. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are his delight.

[00:03:43] A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness. The hand of the diligent

[00:03:53] will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor. Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression,

[00:04:03] but a good word makes it glad. The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the

[00:04:12] wicked leads them astray. The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, but diligence is man's precious

[00:04:22] possession. In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death. Friends, today I'd like

[00:04:33] to take a closer look at verse 17, and Proverbs 12 verse 17 says this,

[00:04:41] he who speaks truth declares righteousness, but a false witness deceit. Friends, we will come back and

[00:04:51] take a closer look at that verse prior to closing today, but what I'd like to do is to continue our study

[00:04:59] on scripture verses that can guide your life. Now, I began this study on Monday, and on Monday I went over

[00:05:09] two foundational verses that I think everyone should know. I encouraged everyone to buy a notebook

[00:05:17] and begin writing these scripture passages down. And what I'd like to suggest is once the new year

[00:05:25] begins, 2025 is coming up and will be here before we know it, is to try to memorize one or two new

[00:05:35] scripture verses each month. Now, that should not be a lot, but if you can build on what we are going to do

[00:05:44] prior to closing out 2024 and learn and memorize these verses so when Satan comes and attacks you,

[00:05:54] you will have ammunition and you can refer to the word of God and you will be able to better resist him.

[00:06:05] So on Monday's podcast, we went over John chapter 3 verse 16, arguably the most famous verse in the

[00:06:14] entire Bible, and then we also went over 1 John chapter 4 verse 17. And then yesterday we went over

[00:06:25] 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8, and then we went over Matthew chapter 4 verse 4. That was the verse that I wanted you

[00:06:39] to memorize and to write down. Today we're going to continue that pattern, and today we'll be going over

[00:06:47] 1 John chapter 2, and the one that I am looking for you to memorize is verse 15. But we're actually going

[00:06:59] to go over verses 15 through 17. So if you have your notebook ready, or if you have a scrap piece of paper,

[00:07:10] write down 1 John chapter 2 verse 15. And if you're really ambitious, write down 15 through 17 and write

[00:07:22] all of this down, because these are wonderful verses. And these three verses of scripture are entitled,

[00:07:30] Do not love the world. Now, I want you to think about that. Do not love the world. Listen to verse 15.

[00:07:41] This is the verse I would like for you to memorize. Do not love the world or the things in the world.

[00:07:51] Now that is going to be my title of today's lesson. Do not love the world or the things in the world,

[00:07:59] but if you're writing verse 15 down, we need to write another sentence. If anyone loves the world,

[00:08:08] the love of the Father is not in him. And friends, we're not talking about your earthly father here.

[00:08:15] We're talking about Father God. So let's listen to the entire verse 15 again. Do not love the world

[00:08:23] or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Now,

[00:08:32] let's go to verse 16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,

[00:08:40] and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. Now, friends, on yesterday's podcast,

[00:08:50] I went over the first 11 verses of the fourth chapter of Matthew. And the Holy Spirit led Jesus

[00:09:02] into the wilderness. Okay? Jesus had just been baptized in the River Jordan by his cousin,

[00:09:11] John the Baptist. We all know that. And then immediately, the Holy Spirit tempted Jesus and said,

[00:09:19] come on into the wilderness. Come on. So after 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus was hungry. He is in the

[00:09:27] wilderness. And yesterday, in the fourth chapter of Matthew, we learned that Satan, our adversaries,

[00:09:36] tempted Jesus three times. And every time Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus responded with the word of God.

[00:09:48] And the three items that Satan tempted Jesus is what we're referring to here in 1 John chapter 2,

[00:09:58] verse 16. First, he talked about the lust of the flesh. Then, he talked about the lust of the eyes.

[00:10:08] And finally, he talked about the pride of life. Now, friends, these are really the only temptations

[00:10:15] in our world, even today as we are living 2,000 years after Jesus lived on earth. It's the same

[00:10:25] temptation. These are the only temptations that we can have. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,

[00:10:31] and the pride of life. These are the things that bring people down to their needs. Let's look at verse 17.

[00:10:38] And the world is passing away, and the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever.

[00:10:47] So, friends, my call to action really today is to write down 1 John chapter 2, write down verse 15,

[00:10:58] or I challenge you to write down verses 15, 16, and 17. And if you're going to write down all three of them,

[00:11:12] write the number 15 in front of verse 15. Then after that, put down 16 and write that down,

[00:11:21] and then write 17 and write that down. So, before we go on, that was my first point of the day.

[00:11:30] Do not love the world or the things in the world. Now, let's go to our second passage of scripture

[00:11:40] today, and that is found in John 10 10. And that is,

[00:11:46] the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. Now, friends, that is my second

[00:11:55] point today. But if you're going to take the time to write down John chapter 10 verse 10,

[00:12:05] you need to add the second part to that. And the second part is by far the most powerful. First of all,

[00:12:14] we need to know that Satan is real. But after we have Satan, Jesus comes in and says, I have come

[00:12:23] that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. So, friends, that is the second

[00:12:32] scripture verse of the day. And let me say it one more time. John chapter 10 verse 10,

[00:12:41] the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life

[00:12:51] and that they may have it more abundantly. So, friends, before we go on and review our verse from

[00:13:02] our proverb today, let's think about John chapter 10 verse 10. Let me remind you, our adversary is real.

[00:13:13] And if you listened to Monday's or yesterday's podcast, I went over 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8.

[00:13:22] And Satan is real. And he goes around this earth seeking whom he may devour.

[00:13:34] He cannot harm us if we are true Christians, if we know the word of God and know scripture.

[00:13:41] He can not harm us. We have the ability to resist him. But if you don't know scripture,

[00:13:47] you may not know that. And that's what this whole study is about. So, we need to be aware that Satan

[00:13:56] is real, that he's going to come and he's going to do everything he can to throw us off our present

[00:14:06] trajectory in our life. He's going to try to come in. He's going to try to destroy your marriage in any

[00:14:13] way he can. He's going to try to tempt you with women outside of your wife. And are you going to give

[00:14:22] into that? He's going to try to tempt you. He's going to try to get you to get upset with your kids and try to

[00:14:28] cause friction among your family. You know, your wife, your kids, he's going to come in and try to throw like a

[00:14:35] fireball at you. He's going to try to throw things at you and say, can I mess this family up? And, you know,

[00:14:43] you may not think that's real, but it's very real. And let's see what he's going to try to kill you

[00:14:49] to steal and destroy. Destroy your life. And he's going to try to steal. He's going to try to wreck it

[00:14:56] in any way he can. And friends, a lot of people have their lives ruined by the devil. They do things.

[00:15:05] They're tempted. They see things. They get in arguments with their kids, with their wife.

[00:15:10] There's disarray. And that's what causes marriages to separate. That's what causes marriages to fall

[00:15:17] apart is adultery and things like this and arguments and, you know, anger. And friends,

[00:15:26] don't allow that to happen. Don't allow that to happen. You need to have ammunition when Satan

[00:15:35] comes against you. Friends, before we close today, I'd like to go back. We are in Proverbs 12 today.

[00:15:42] Today is the 12th of December. And the verse that I selected today was verse 17. And it says,

[00:15:49] He who speaks truth declares righteousness, but a false witness deceit. Let's read that one more time.

[00:16:00] He who speaks truth declares righteousness, but a false witness deceit. Now, friends, the false witness

[00:16:11] here could be Satan. He is a liar, and the Bible tells us he's the father of lies. He is going to

[00:16:22] bear false witness. He's a liar. He is deceitful. But Jesus speaks truth. He declares righteousness.

[00:16:35] In the gospel of John, Jesus declares in chapter 14, verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

[00:16:47] No man goes to the father but by me. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is righteousness. And once we receive

[00:16:57] Jesus into our heart, we now become the righteousness of God, not because of anything we've done or

[00:17:06] anything that or that we deserve it. We don't deserve anything. We don't deserve anything. The only

[00:17:15] reason we are the righteousness of God is because of the sacrifice that Jesus made on that cross for us.

[00:17:26] So, friends, my homework that I would like to go over with you is by the time you go to bed tonight.

[00:17:36] Let's review. All of these should be in a notebook. John chapter 3, verse 16. First John chapter 4,

[00:17:46] verse 17. Number 3, 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8. Matthew chapter 4, verse 4. First John chapter 2,

[00:18:01] and I challenge anyone to write down 15, 16, and 17. But if you don't feel you can handle that,

[00:18:10] just write down verse 15. And finally, the sixth one is John chapter 10, verse 10. But make sure you

[00:18:20] write down not just about Satan, but also what Jesus said in the second part of that verse. But before we

[00:18:31] close today, I will remind you my third point of the day is he who speaks truth, and that's, of course,

[00:18:39] Jesus declares righteousness but a false witness deceit. That is my third point of the day. Friends,

[00:18:50] I will never end a podcast without giving anyone an opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and

[00:18:57] Savior. If there is anyone listening today and you've never made that decision, you know,

[00:19:03] you've heard about Jesus, you've contemplated making this decision sometime in your life, and yet

[00:19:11] you've never taken the step to do it, today is your day of salvation. All I ask is to repeat a simple

[00:19:18] prayer after beta day and just say, Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and in need of a Savior. I ask you

[00:19:26] to come into my heart. I make you my Lord and Savior. And friends, that's all you need to do. If you said

[00:19:33] that prayer, I believe and declare you are now in the family of God. Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

[00:19:41] The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and

[00:19:50] give you peace. Friends, please join me again tomorrow as we close out the week with wisdom today.