Promise if Wisdom is Retained

Returning to Proverbs and the Theme of Wisdom

0:05 I've had many encouragements to believe that perhaps a number of you will be glad to know that we're returning to our studies in the book of Proverbs tonight. I think in the past week or two, there have been at least maybe three, four, who've said, when are we back in Proverbs? So it's good to know that when I say, let us turn again tonight after a lapse of some months to the book of Proverbs, that you will not groan or sigh, but that you'll have a little, at least, spirit of saying, well, good, it's about time. And I hope that the three or four are spokesmen for many more of you.

0:43 If not, well, I'm sorry, we're going back to Proverbs anyway. I trust that the digression through the summer months and early weeks of the fall, particularly our study in the parable of the publican and the Pharisee, will prove to be of long-range profit to all of us. But we do now return to this intense, intensely practical book, this book, the human author of which, the majority of which, anyway, is Solomon, but which falls within the compass of the statement of 2 Corinthians 3, 2 Timothy 3, chapter 3 and verse 16. All scripture is inspired of God, and therefore, Solomon's authorship is not the real important issue to us, but the fact that God himself has given this part of his word, that we're going to be able to read it, that we might learn from it, teaching, reproof, instruction, correction, to the end that as the people of God, we may be truly furnished unto every good work. I hope you will at least remember something of the general contents of the first two chapters, and in particular, in a larger sense, of the first nine chapters, in which you have these paragraphs of instruction, particularly of a father to his son,

2:04 and of course, the great theme of the book is found in verse 7, the fear of the Lord is the chief part of knowledge, but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction. It is the purpose of Solomon to convey to his son, and the Holy Spirit through Solomon to us, what true wisdom is. And because the wisdom of God is always a moral and an ethical and a practical thing, we find the book of Proverbs, an intensely practical book, touching on such things as of young man's companions, male and female, principles of economics, of personal relationships, the family, the home, the work ethic of God, so many things touched upon that are so necessary in our own generation particularly, in which we've lost our moorings of the biblical perspectives on the wholeness of life, life lived under the eye of God. And that's what the fear of the Lord is in its most simple essence. It is life lived under the eye of God and under the regulating and directing power of His Word. In the first chapter, after some introductory matters, you'll remember that we had this great invitation of wisdom and then the warning to those who despise wisdom.

3:32 In chapter 2, you had essentially two things, the path into wisdom and the blessings which wisdom will give. And then chapter 3 opens and then continues with some various exhortations for the retention of wisdom. Notice the emphasis in verse 1. My son, forget not my law, but let thy heart keep my commandments for length of days and years of life and peace will they add to thee.

4:03 Let not kindness and truthfulness forsake thee, but bind them about thy neck, write them upon the tablet of thy heart. So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and of man. So with that very brief and very surface overview of what has preceded, we want to focus our attention tonight upon verse 2 because we left off at the awkward spot of verse 1 in our previous study. So I will very briefly review for you the content of verse 1, and then we'll move directly to our study in verse 2.

Review of Proverbs 3:1 and Introduction to the Promise in Verse 2

4:39 In verse 1, you have basically this earnest entreaty that the son would not forget the law of God. Verse 2 then is followed with this gracious promise of what will happen if the entreaty is obeyed. The entreaty comes, first of all, with a negative and then a positive. My son, forget not my law.

5:03 Do not allow my law. Slip from your mind and from your affection and from your sphere of concern, but positively let thy heart keep my commandments in the seat of your being. Know what it is to fasten the word in your mind by memorizing it. Fuse the word to your affections by prayer and fix the word in your will by explicit obedience.

5:35 Now, to encourage... To encourage his son to comply with this entreaty of verse 1, Solomon gives this gracious promise in verse 2.

The Threefold Promise: Long, True, and Tranquil Life

5:45 For, do what I'm telling you, my son, for length of days, years of life, and peace they will add to thee. So let us consider in the first place the promise itself and what Solomon promises his son if he will comply with his entreaty and then, in the second verse, and then, in the third verse, and then, in the fourth verse, and then, in the fifth verse, and then, in the fifth verse, and then, in the remainder of our time we shall consider some basic principles embodied in the promise. First of all, then, the promise itself. And it's quite obvious that Solomon promises three things to his son.

6:23 He says these three things will be added to your life. In other words, my son, if you will not forget my law, but if you do heart to keep my commandments, then added to your existence here upon earth will be these three distinct blessings. Number one, length of days, a long life. Number two, years of life, or we might call it a true life.

6:55 And thirdly, peace, or a tranquil life. So you have the three things. A long life, a true life, and a tranquil life. And let's spend a few minutes seeking to understand what Solomon meant by those words.

Length of Days: A Long Life in Old and New Testaments

7:09 First of all, then, length of days is a vital part of this promise. The man or woman, the fellow or girl, who makes conscience of laying up the commandments of God in his heart, having the totality of life regulated by the Word of God, that person, Solomon says, will have length of days. Now this idea that a long life is one of the blessings of godliness, is found in both the Old and the New Testaments. Let's look at a couple of promises concerning the connection between godliness and long life in the Old Testament, and then we'll look at a couple of specimen examples in the New Testament. Just turn down to verse 16 in this same chapter. Speaking about the happiness of the man who finds true wisdom and understanding, Solomon says in verse 16, length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand are riches and honor. He says, now if you go courting, court a woman like this.

8:19 She's got riches in one hand and she's got length of days in the other. He says, now if you're going to go courting, find a woman like that. That's a good find. He personifies wisdom and he pictures wisdom as this well-endowed woman endowed on the one hand with length of days and on the other with riches and with honor.

8:41 Chapter 4 and verse 10. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of thy life shall be many. Now just one other from the book of Proverbs. There are several others.

8:55 Chapter 9, verses 10 and 11. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom or the chief part of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding, for by me, by me, thy days shall be multiplied and the years of thy life shall be increased. So you have these statements scattered throughout the book of Proverbs in which Solomon the father, as he exhorts his son to a life lived in the fear of God, life lived under the eye of God in all of its relationships, he continually sets before him as one of the incentives to choose such a life, the promise, that it will grant him length of days. I'm sure many of us, I shouldn't say I'm sure, but I would be surprised if many of us had not already thought of that promise in the 91st Psalm. Psalm 91, verses 15 and 16, speaking of the man who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, who knows personal living communion with God. Of him God says he shall call upon me and I will answer him.

10:10 I will be with him in trouble and I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. Ah, but someone says that's a special promise for the people of God in the old economy when God was dealing in that theocratic structure, the structure in which blessing spiritually was almost inseparably joined to blessings materially and physically. God says, God said that if you obey me in the land into which I bring you, the heavens will give their rain, the earth will yield its crops, your wives will not miscarry, your animals will not miscarry, you'll be blessed in your kneading trough, you'll be blessed in the field, you'll be blessed in all your ways. Isn't this to be put in that same category of those promises that have such earthly and temporal connotations that they are now swallowed up in the higher, the loftier blessings of the new covenant? Should we not in that sense spiritualize this promise? Well, I would say yes if I did not have New Testament warrant for believing that the promise of length of days is still attached to the life of godliness.

11:26 Turn to 1 Timothy 4 and verse 8. Here you have the text that states the principle that the higher blessings of the new covenant are not the blessings of the new covenant. They are not the blessings of the new covenant. They are not totally spiritual.

11:46 1 Timothy chapter 4. Well, let's back up to verse 6 in the beginning of the paragraph. If thou put the brethren in mind of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Christ Jesus. Not of Moses, of Christ Jesus.

12:01 Here's a gospel minister holding forth gospel promises on gospel terms. You will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished up in the words of the faith, and of the good doctrine which thou hast followed until now. But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself unto godliness. For bodily exercise is profitable for a little.

12:28 It will help some of you reduce your waistline and be a little firmer and a little less flabby. It is profitable for a little. But godliness is profitable for all things. Now here's the phrase.

12:41 Having promise of the life which now, is of that which is to come. Godliness has certain promises which attach themselves to the life which now is as well as the life which is to come. And can you think of some of those promises? What about Matthew 6 and verse 33?

13:05 Dealing with the material matters of food and clothing and the temporal supply or the supply of our temporal needs. What did our Lord say? But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. The things necessary for the sustenance and the maintenance of life.

13:28 Then look at Ephesians chapter 6.

13:32 And I think this is perhaps the most powerful text in all of the New Testament.

13:38 Paul writing to an assembly of Christians assuming that there were children in their midst who had been brought to faith.

13:49 And were part of the visible church.

13:55 Children, parents in the Lord for this is right. Under thy father and thy mother which is the first commandment. Paul is not at all adverse to using the ten words of Moses as regulative in the life of the people of God. This is the first commandment with promise.

14:19 And then he takes the promise and he gives it to us altering but one little part of it. That it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long on the earth. The Old Testament rendering of the promise that thou mayest live long in the land. There there was peculiar reference to the land into which God would bring His people.

14:41 Here the promise is length of days to the son or daughter who takes serious conscience about obeying and honoring father and mother. So then you see this particular promise in the book of Proverbs. For length of days is that general promise found in the Old and the New Testament which brings together into an intimate connection a life of godliness and length of days. Now like so many of these promises they must not be absolutized and forced into as it were some kind of a wooden application so that in every single instance godliness will need to mean a long life. Let me quote from Hodge who commenting on the text in Ephesians 6 says the following words and I find them so helpful that rather than give them to you in my own words I shall read directly from Hodge. If it be asked whether obedient children are in fact thus distinguished by long life and prosperity the answer is that this like all other such promises is a promise of life. This is a promise of life.

15:56 This is a promise of life. This is a promise of life. This is a promise of life. This is a promise of life.

15:56 This is a revelation of a general purpose of God and makes known what will be the usual course of his providence. You get those two phrases the general purpose of God the usual course of his providence that some obedient children are unfortunate and short-lived is no more inconsistent with this promise than that some diligent men are poor is inconsistent with the promise that the hand of the diligent maketh rich. Diligent as a general rule does secure riches and obedient children as a general rule are prosperous and happy. The general promise is fulfilled to individuals specifically just so far as it shall serve God's glory and their own good. Now I find that distinction very helpful. This is the general promise of God His general promise the general purpose the usual course of his providence. So then as Solomon's son hears the entreaty of his father my son don't forget my words lay up my commandments and my precepts in your heart for a length of days shall it add to you the son should immediately connect a lengthy life with the course of obedience.

Years of Life: A True Life Defined Biblically

17:20 Now why this is so is obvious in the very context. What had he been warning him about? In the previous chapter he warned him about evil companions who are quick to shed blood and who often in that course of shedding blood are themselves destroyed. He warned him about immoral women.

17:39 We know in our own day that the plague that comes with the promiscuity and looseness the physical afflictions that come as a result of indulgence in those sins. You see there is a built in factor of sin that often sin itself has its own retribution built into it here and now.

18:00 Now the full extent is not realized now but generally speaking this is the promise so that any young man sitting here tonight any young woman should immediately associate as a general rule godliness length of days. But now what's the second part of the promise? It's rendered in the ASV years of life and the emphasis you see is not so much on the extent of life but the quality of life. In other words he says my son if you forget not my words but if you treasure them up in your heart to obey them and to implement them in all the facets of life it will not only mean a long life but it will mean true life in the midst of a long life. Now you've got to take the word life in its biblical setting. Life in the Bible never refers to mere existence such as an elephant or a tortoise might have who quote lives for X number of hundred years. No, no the biblical doctrine of life is far more rich than this.

19:09 You see how it's introduced to us don't you in the very opening chapters of the Bible?

19:15 In the day that thou eatest thereof and what happened? Adam took of the fruit he didn't keel over dead he didn't have to go kick some dirt aside and bury him but God said in the day that thou eatest thou shall die what is life? Well you see in the biblical context life is not mere animal existence life is existence that realizes human existence communion fellowship with God the knowledge of God and it's that which Adam lost immediately when he sinned he became spiritually dead he was cut off from realized communion and fellowship with God so that God says in a most unique statement in Deuteronomy Deuteronomy chapter 30 that he himself is the life of his people and then we'll look at the New Testament parallel in Deuteronomy 30 verses 19 and 20 God says I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that I've set before you life and death the blessing and the curse you see the parallels? life is existence within the first framework of God's blessing

20:44 death is existence within the framework of God's cursing therefore choose life that doesn't mean existence they already had existence you can't choose something you already have he says choose life that is choose the course which leads into and maintains the reality of communion with God life that thou mayest live thou and thy seed to love Jehovah thy God to obey his voice and to cleave unto him for he is thy life and the length of thy days that's it you see what he's saying? he's saying if you would know life there must be the choosing of the Lord as your portion for he is thy life refuse him and you're living in a living you're under the curse of God and to be under his curse is to be in the path of death to be under his blessing is to be in the path of life I'm sure many of you have thought of the New Testament parallel John 17 I have given unto them eternal life and what is that life? this is life eternal John 17 3 that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent I am come that ye might have

Peace: A Tranquil Life in God

22:12 that they might have life and have it more abundantly they already had existence he said I've come that they might have life that they might be brought into the knowledge of God into communion with God from thence to have all of life regulated by the word and the will of God so you have the second part of the promise it is not only for a long life but a life in which there is the enjoyment of God a true life and then the third part of the promise is this for length of days and years of life and peace will they add unto thee and the word peace a good synonym in our English language is a tranquil life that tranquility of soul and mind that no matter what happens around me there is the sense that I am shut in with the peace of the living God the peace that Isaiah spoke about in Isaiah 26 3 thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee what Paul talked about in Philippians chapter 4 in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall guard shall be like a garrison of soldiers around your heart and your mind through Jesus Christ Romans 14 17 the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness

23:41 peace and joy in the Holy Ghost great peace have they that love thy law amen may have much conflict without and may have many struggles within but the dominant characteristic of their existence is peace they've been brought to that relationship of peace with God through the provisions of His grace and now the peace of God is shed abroad in their hearts for the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace and so we have these three things promised to the young man that as he sees his whole life spread before him and all of the inducements to evil that he shall meet and he hears his father's words ringing in his ears my son my son don't forget my law let thy heart keep my commandments my son here's the promise that I hold before you length of days a long life years of life a true life and peace a tranquil life will they add unto you now having I trust simply expounded the meaning of the words think with me in the second place to the principles of truth contained within this promise now I want to lay before you three things as time permits number one this promise is a scathing

Principle 1: Indictment of the World's Folly

25:10 indictment of the folly of the world you say where do you see that well right here men of the world generally desire what is promised in the world in this passage don't they they want a long life they want a true life and they want a peaceful life but now the promise is how do they the problem is how do they think it's attained well you ask the average man how can you be sure of a long life and he says well you must have clever competent physicians we must have advanced medical technology and some would say and this will suit some of you very well you must have very careful dietary habits and he must make sure that he gets his backbone aligned at the right time and in the right situation and if he attends to chiropractic and others would say and my mother's on this kick now if he attends to Vermont medicine she carries her bottle of vinegar and honey with her wherever she goes but all jesting aside you see what I'm driving at don't you that generally speaking when men think of a long life and when believers think of it in other than biblical terms we think that that kind of life

26:37 is to be attained by these natural means and generally speaking the man of the world as he thinks of his desire for a long life and the means he will use to gain it God doesn't enter the picture at all except in so much as he might say well I believe there's some kind of power up there running things and I just hope he's smiling and it isn't in his purpose that I get knocked off on Bloomfield Avenue or on Route 46 or something else you'll find some kind of a you know a blind resignation to something that they call God that is more like the fatalistic concept of a Mohammedan than submission to the biblical God but that's how they think long life is to come what about true life ah when you ask them now look if you live out your three score and ten plus another ten or fifteen what do you think will really make those years to be true life and the answer of the worlding is why to have everything my flesh could desire when I want it and nothing to hinder me 1 John 2 15 and 16 all that is in the world the lust of the eyes the desire to have things the lust of the flesh the desire to enjoy things and the pride of life the desire to be somebody in the eyes of a few people at least John says that's what the world is comprised of for all that is in the world the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh and the pride of life

28:06 is not of the father but is of the world and the world passeth away and the lust thereof no you see the worlding says true life comes by being able to indulge my appetites and my flesh to have a minimum of work and a maximum of pleasure and then when you ask him what about a tranquil life how do you get that he says well if the UN will always be and only begin to function if we can just get rid of international tensions and if the UN will really function the way it ought to and if President Nixon will just go make a few more trips over there to those nasty people on the mainland of China and drink a little more of that hard rice wine with them and smile and shake hands and we just loosen up the tensions internationally and if we can just sort of contain our relationship with Russia and Cuba and if they can keep putting out tranquilizers so that when things get beyond me I can pop a few and go off to sleep that's how you attain a tranquil life now that's the world's assessment and I say this passage is a scathing indictment of the world's folly because it longs to know what Solomon promises to its son but it wants them in a way utterly condemned by Solomon in this very book it wants all of these things without reference to God and to the life of holiness

Principle 2: Exposure of the Devil's Lie

29:34 Solomon says oh my son as you think of your life spread before you this is the path for length of days a long life years of life a true life peace a tranquil life it's the path in which you receive my words you lay up my commandments with you you incline your ear to wisdom you cry after discernment you diligently obey and run in the way of the precepts of your God and if I'm speaking tonight to someone whose whole pattern of thought has been dictated to by the philosophy of the world I say this text unmasks you tonight and it does so to show you that you'll never know these ends if you reject the means that God has ordained to attain in the second place this promise that we've considered is not only a scathing indictment of the world's folly but it is a penetrating exposure of one of the devil's great lies the scripture tells us in John 8 44 ye of your father the devil and the lust of your father ye will do he was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth for he is a liar and the father of it two things are said here about the devil he is a murderer

31:02 and he is a liar he seeks to destroy life by means of the devil by means of his lies and what was the first lie he perpetrated on our first parents was it not this that the way of godliness or obedience to God is the way to ruin your life wasn't that the lie he perpetrated God had come to his creature Adam and said now Adam of all the trees in the garden you may freely eat but of that tree in the midst of the garden you may not eat for in the day that thou eatest thou shalt die here are the clearly revealed limits the ground rules of our relationship if I may state it that way and Adam for your good as well as for my glory I say you must remain within the framework of my revealed will to use the language of Proverbs Adam walk in my fear walk as beneath my eye and there you will be blessed and I will be glorified and what did the tempter do he came and said hath God said hath God said that you'll die has God put the emphasis Adam upon your good in abstaining from that tree well Adam that's really not the case at all there is some blessedness to be found outside the sphere

32:31 of obedience to God God knows in the day you eat you'll be like him knowing good and evil you see Adam if only you'll break out of those trees those restricting bonds you'll enter into what true life true life is outside the boundaries that God has imposed upon you you see those boundaries Adam and the emphasis here of course was upon we might say the intellectual upon the moral life there is an element of knowledge that's withheld from you the knowledge of good and evil eat and you'll know Adam if you're to know life indeed you've got to break the restrictions of the commandments of God God has said death is outside those boundaries life inside the devil said life is outside death is on the inside and that's exactly the lie that he perpetrates to this very hour you know why some of you young men and women aren't converted you know why because the commandment of God to repent and to believe has impinged upon some specific issues in your life things that look to you like the essence of life and you say if I relinquish these that will be death

Principle 3: Assertion of Legitimate Self-Interest

34:00 God says if you relinquish them that will be life the battle for man's soul is going on within your own breast you see it God says no my son lay up my words with thee walk and run in the way of my precepts and my commandments for this is lengthening your life the devil says no the commandments of God are restricting the commandments of God are limiting the commandments of God are binding the commandments of God will rob you of some facets of true life that's a lie of the devil whether you be young or old I say to you tonight in the name of Christ it's a lie of the devil and this text exposes it for what it really is and then and this is the dominant note that I want to sound tonight for the instruction of God's people as well as for the exhortation to the unconverted this text becomes a powerful assertion of legitimate self-interest I've used some big words but I don't know how else to say it I'll explain what I mean it's a powerful assertion of the legitimacy of true self-interest

35:27 now look at the context my son don't forget my law let thy heart keep my commandments for he could have said God will thereby be glorified and it would have been true is God glorified when a man keeps the word of God from his heart of course he is but he doesn't say that he does not appeal in this instance to the glory of God but he appeals to natural self-interest in his son look at it again I didn't write it the Holy Ghost did my son don't forget my law for length of days years of life and peace will they add to you he could have said glory, honor and praise they will bring to God it would have been true but this is equally as true so then the text becomes a powerful assertion of the legitimacy of true self-interest now let's examine this for a minute the scripture says that the essence of God's law is to be found in this commandment thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart mind, soul and strength and thy neighbor as what? thyself you see you cannot keep God's law

36:54 unless you love yourself for it says the second part of the law of God is love yourself your neighbor as yourself indicating unless I have some proper self-love I have no measure by which to love my neighbor I didn't put it there that's what the book says that's what our good friend Arshiel would say that's what the book says that's what the book says I told him for two or three weeks I'd be getting Arshielisms out of my system whenever I listen to anybody who can really preach I get so absorbed with it without knowing it some of their mannerisms and phrases become a part of you and that was one when it came out I knew it wasn't me but I didn't do it purposely it'll be a catharsis in a couple of weeks I'll be back to normal in a few weeks you see your life is given as a trust and a stewardship from God and that is not to be lightly regarded it is not to be regarded with indifference if I've been made in the image of God and I'm responsible for the preservation not only of the lives of others but my own when the scripture says thou shalt not kill or do no murder it's not only a conversation it's not only a conversation it's not a commandment to preserve the lives of others it's a commandment to preserve the dignity and the worth of all human life my own included so then Solomon is saying to his son

38:24 son as a creature made in the image of God a creature who is to have a proper sense of self-love my son don't go out destroying your life by abandoning yourself to sin and evil and the path of disobedience my son preserve your life see your life augmented to its truest noblest highest potential forget not my law but let thy heart keep my commandments it will give you length of days it will give you years of life it will give you peace you see the Lord Jesus used this very same motive again and again in his own evangelism let's look at a couple of New Testament texts to confirm the principle that we're looking at turn to the 8th chapter of Mark if you will please Mark chapter 8 and this particular saying of our Lord is found in several other places in the Gospels but the setting here in Mark is so explicit that I've chosen this particular account notice to whom our Lord is speaking in Mark 8.34 and he called unto him the multitudes with his disciples in other words there was this mixed multitude

39:51 a people who were following Christ for a multitude of people and he called unto him the multitudes with his disciples for a multitude of reasons as well as his own disciples and even one of them of course was Judas the betrayer and he said unto them if any man would come after me let him deny himself here's an area of saying no to yourself take up this cross and follow me now he's going to give reasons why this should be done for whosoever would save his life that is his selfish self-centered life shall dishonor God now is that true if he said that sure it'd be true but that isn't what he said he says he that would spare this life the man who faces the implications of self-denial which is just another term for repentance say no to a damically governed ego I want what I want when I want it how I want it I want to do my own thing God says you've got to say no to that you've got to deny it repudiate it turn your back upon the idolatry of self-love take up the cross an instrument of death the symbol that you are no longer your own and he says follow me now he's going to encourage them into that path of discipleship of repentance of faith all synonyms in the scripture and here's how he does it whoever would save his life

41:21 here's the person says no I can't do that I know the implications I think of the specific issues in my life and if I relinquish those that's relinquishing life Jesus said no no no no if you save that self-centered life and all that has attached itself to that life what will you do? you'll end up forfeiting true life but he says let me encourage you look it's the next phrase whoever shall lose his life for my sake in the gospels the same shall save it he says do you want to save your life? then relinquish that self-centered life and all that has attached itself to it and he says you'll not be the loser in losing it you gain the life that is life indeed what is that but Proverbs 3 too length of days years of life and peace will lay out unto thee turn to John chapter 12 where we see our Lord doing essentially the same thing appealing to legitimate self-interest demanding the right to live relinquishing of wicked self-interest in the interest of true self-interest John chapter 12 our Lord announces to those who would see him that they must see him

42:47 as the crucified one verily verily verse 24 of John 12 except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die it abideth alone but if it die it beareth much fruit he that loveth his life loseth it and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal if any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall my servant be now look at this if any man serve me him will the Father honor now he could have said if any man serve me the Father will be honored by him and that would be true a man who serves Christ brings glory to God but in this setting Jesus appeals to legitimate self-interest and says if a man serve me my Father will honor him would you like to be honored by the Father as the old Texan would say you're plum loco if you don't say yes to that to have the God of heaven and earth proclaim your name before myriads of angels and the redeemed and own you as his own to honor you by conferring upon you his name and the title to all the blessings of heaven forever

Confluence of God's Glory, Obedience, and Well-being

44:14 of course Jesus said here's the pathway you've got to say no to that self-centered life you've got to hate that life in which you've been at the center your plans your will your ideas your theories your philosophy your goals your ends say no to it and in so doing out of it will emerge the life that is real the life we need and so I say this text becomes a very powerful and a very eloquent assertion of the legitimacy of true self-interest now to sort of round out what we've been saying under this third head and this is where some of you have problems you've been sort of digging your heels in a little bit and that's good that's always good don't anybody put anything over on you as a Christian you would never want your individuality interests promoted or secured at the expense of God's glory would you if you're a Christian you would not want your interests promoted if the price to be paid was God's glory diminished but thank God that in the context of what we're looking at in Proverbs 3, 1 and 2 and the rest of the Bible obedience to God

45:41 and being an instrument of glorifying God and in the process securing my own best interests are not in opposition to one another there is a blessed confluence of all three of those things the glory of God the obedience of the servant of God and the well-being of the servant of God they all flow together you see that's why Solomon can appeal to his son and he can appeal to his son and say to him my son lay up my commandments keep them run in the way of my precepts walk in the light of them yes God will be glorified but you'll be blessed that's why Jesus can say yes you ought to take up the cross you ought to deny yourself why? because the God of heaven commands it it's only right he's God you're the creature he's the offended you're the offending well that's enough we ought to repent and believe simply because God commands it but ah my friend the Bible not only brings the message of repentance and faith to us in the context of the divine commandment it comes to us in the context of the divine promise that your own best interests are thereby secured and I say as I said some months ago I reject all perversions of the scripture

Exhortation to Unconverted and Believers

47:09 that would take self-interest and completely obliterate it and remove it to some no man's land of suspicion of suspicion as being a sin of suspicion as being a sin contrary to a thoroughly biblical and reformed perspective how are you going to cut out these passages that we've looked at tonight you cannot do it they're there and thank God and this to me is the thrilling thing as a pastor as a father particularly as I think of my own children trying to train their minds in the way of godliness and obedience to say to them that my children my dear ones the fruit of my own life lines for good is secured in the path that mommy and daddy lay out for you God should be glorified yes and that emphasis I trust receives its due and proper weight in our instruction but all let us not be wiser than God let us keep to the balance of the word of God so I conclude by exhorting those amongst us tonight who are not attached to the Lord Jesus in a loving trustful relationship that's what faith is attachment to the Lord Jesus in trust in love obedience why should you go on destroying yourself the reason you don't believe

48:36 is because you say if I believed I know that it bound up in that belief is repentance and bound up in that repentance is saying no not only to the general spirit of my life till now but specific manifestations and I'm not prepared to walk why aren't you prepared if you're honest with me you'll have to answer you'll have to answer it the reason I'm not prepared is that I feel that to relinquish them will be the path of death oh my friend the relinquishment of those will be the opening of the door into life life is found in the path of obedience and so I call upon you in Christ's name obey the gospel repent believe deny yourself take up the cross cast yourself at the feet of Christ and plead that he will have mercy upon the likes of you and I say to you my fellow believers who by God's grace are attached to the Lord Jesus in a relationship of true discipleship do you love yourself biblically do you do you want your own best interest not at the expense of God's glory but consistent with God's glory here's how to secure it forget not his love forget not his words lay up his commandments with you

50:04 for length of days long life and true life and peace will they add to you how could you say I don't deserve I wish God didn't write I don't deserve that I'm a sinner I don't deserve I should just be willing to be a worm yes that's right you ought to be but God didn't make you a worm he made you a creature in his image the image was defaced and in grace he's begun to reveal you and restore it and he wants you to honor what he's made and his making and when he's done with it he'll even make angels if they have hands to put them on their mouths and say do you love yourself biblically I hadn't thought about that before well I hope I send you home thinking tonight sermon doesn't make you think it's worth anything while you're listening and when you're done but you start searching the scriptures in this area will you and if you find it doesn't pan out throw it out but if it measures up you better pray it in and begin to walk in the light of it may God help us then once again to have the Berean spirit to search the scriptures the three great principles before us I trust that God will burn them into our hearts

51:30 and enable us to walk in their light let us pray Lord we marvel tonight that you would have the interest of your creatures at heart Father when