A WISE REQUEST Intro. A. Prov. 30:7-9 (See chart #1 below) B. True character is revealed in what people really want from life. Matt. 6:21 C. Real wants become more intense as one becomes more conscious of the brevity of life. Prov. 30:7b 1. James said that life is as a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4.14 2. The Psalmist in view man's life-span, said, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." (Psalm 90:12) D. The writer of Proverbs revealed a wise request, one that we should give the most serious consideration. I. HE PRAYS FOR DELIVERANCE FROM MORAL CONTAMINATION. 30:8a A. Falsehoods. ("Deceptions" NASV) 1. False doctrines entrap, enslave, and condemn. 1 Tim. 4:1-2 a. Men lie in wait to deceive us. Eph. 4:14 b. They go to great extremes to make converts. Matt. 23:15 c. God's Word is the only true standard. John 17:17 2. Riches can be very deceitful. Mark 4:18-19 a. They promise a false security. Luke 12:15-21 3. False friendships can discourage and weaken us. Prov. 19:4; 14:20 a. Many otherwise good Christians are ruined by false friends. 4. Let us set our hearts only on that which is solid, durable, and eternal. B. Lies. 1. Isa. 59:4 2. Examples of liars in the Bible and the consequences that followed. a. The old prophet lied to the younger one. 1 Kings 13:15-19 The younger prophet was destroyed for believing a lie. b. Gehazi lied because he was greedy. 2 Kings 5:22-25 3. Our prayer, like the writer of Proverbs, is that lies will be removed far from us. a. We pray that lying will not be part of our lives, and that we will not be involved in the lies of others. b. We, as servants of Christ, are to put away lying. Eph. 4:25; Col. 3:9 II. HE PRAYS FOR A MODERATE LIVELIHOOD. Why neither poverty nor riches? A. He said, "Lest I be full and deny You, and say, "Who is the Lord?" 1. There is a tendency to forget God when we have plenty. Deut. 6:10-11 a. Israel did that very thing. Deut. 32:15; Jer. 2:32 2. The Word of God teaches us to have the right view of riches. Prov. 13:7 a. The abundance of the rich will not allow him to sleep. Eccl. 5:10-17; Prov. 23:5 b. Jesus showed that it will be very difficult for rich people to obtain heaven. Matt. 19:23-14 B. He also added, "Lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God." 1. Men often blame God for their misfortune. a. We understand why people steal when they are hungry, but two wrongs never make a right. Prov. 6:30-31 2. No one wants to be poor, or to be forced to live in poverty. Thus, out text becomes a very real prayer for all of us. a. It has been stated that 90% of the American families live only 6 weeks from bankruptcy. In other words, if their income was cut off, they could survive only six weeks before being is serious trouble financially. This is true of most all of us. C. We should be appreciative of our present blessings. Col. 4:2 1. Our appreciation should come from the heart. a. Someone mentioned this as a illustration to show how people often don't really appreciate things. "We attended the wedding of an acquaintance's son. Because we did not know the young man or his bride, we decided to send them a practical household gift, a fire extinguisher. Apparently, the couple mass-produced their thank-you notes because we received a card saying: 'Thank you very much for the nice wedding gift. We look forward to using it soon.'" b. A man had posted himself in front of an office building with a tray of shoelaces. One executive made it a daily habit to give the unfortunate man a dime, but he never took the laces. One day the peddler, upon receiving the dime, tapped his departing benefactor on the back. "I don't like to complain, sir--but the laces are now twenty cents." c. We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, the many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self- sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to God that made us! It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. President Abraham Lincoln, April 30, 1863 D. We must learn to be content with what we presently have. 1 Tim. 6:8; Heb. 13:5; Phil. 4:11 1. If we want to be saved eternally, we must learn to put God above all else. 2. We must set our minds on things above. Col. 3:2; 1 Pet. 1:13 (See chart #2) Concl. A. If we had two requests only--we could make no improvement on the appeal made by the writer of Proverbs. 1. He prayed for deliverance from moral impurity. 2. He asked for worldly goods in moderation. B. This provides a happy life here, and brings eternal life. Chart #1 7 Two things I request of You (Deprive me not before I die): 8 Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches Feed me with the food allotted to me; 9 Lest I be full and deny You, And say, "Who is the Lord?" Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God. (Prov. 30:7-9 NKJV) Chart #2 SET YOUR MIND ON (Col. 3:2; 1 Pet. 1:13) Things Above Not on Things on the Earth Deity Self (Psalm 123:1-2; Heb. 12:1-2) (2 Tim. 3:2; Phil. 2:21) Heaven Material Things (2 Cor. 5:1-2; Rev. 21:1-4) (Mark 10:17-23; 2 Pet. 2:14) Law of the Lord Pleasure (Rom. 7:22; Psalm 1:1-3) (2 Tim. 3:4; Luke 8:14) Spiritual Things Pride of Life (Matt. 6:33; Rom. 12:1-2) (John 5:44; 3 John 9) A Spiritual Life A Fleshly life (Rom. 8:5; Gal. 5:16) (Rom. 8:13; Phil. 3:19)
By David Riggs
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