Welcome to the Hackberry House of Chosun. My name is Bob, and I want to thank you for listening. Please look around the site when we're finished with this audio. We have over 3,000 audios featuring some of the church's great preachers, persecution stories from North Korea and other lands, Bible studies on a number of subjects, and a blog. and my books are on amazon.com and you can contact me at bob.j.faulkner.72 at gmail.com and I'll share details of our Zoom meetings. Please also check out that new website that highlights some of the most significant of these audio recordings here on Sermon Audio and allows you to tune in to the new Hackberry radio. Just go to hackberryhouseofchosun.com and take a look and a listen. Well, today, reading from the Book of Proverbs, a commentary on the Book of Proverbs written by Charles Bridges, the leader, a leader of the Evangelical Party in the Church of England. He died in 1869. We're on Proverbs 17. We'll do the first half of that chapter today. You'll need to get a Bible because he doesn't always I quote the scripture in his book and I want you to be following along. Proverbs 17 verse 1, better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting or sacrifices with strife. The allusion is to the Jewish ordinance of feasting at home on the remains of the sacrifices. A house full of feasting was therefore a house with ample provisions. And yet, when the spirit of love does not rule, self predominates, and this becomes a source of much strife and confusion. Ponder every thought that may disturb contentment. If you have fewer comforts than you used to have, or fewer comforts than other people have, or fewer comforts than you desire, do you not still have more than you deserve? If you had more of them, would you not be tempted to forget God? and to live in a worldly way? Does not the memory of the earthly lot that your Savior chose turn every thought about being discontented into adoration and gratitude? Do not forget that there is great gain in contentment. Verse two, a wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers. Folly leads to shame. while wisdom leads to honor. The son, the heir of the family, may bring shame on his family by his behavior instead of bringing glory to his family. A wise servant, although he has only temporary interest in the home, may be promoted to rule over a disgraceful son. Great wisdom, much prayer, and constant watchfulness are needed to promote humility and Christian consistency. Honor from man calls for abasement before God. Verse three, the crucible for silver, the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. The refiner's crucible and furnace tests his metals, but Jehovah claims for himself the prerogative of testing the heart. His eyes are a flame of fire. Nothing deceives him. Nothing escapes his probing search. The gold must be put into the furnace. It is so mixed with dross that the workman's eye can scarcely detect the gold. But for the furnace, the dross would cling to the gold. The refiner's process burns it out, and the pure metal is left behind. No burnishing is of any avail. The gold cannot be used until it has been through the fire. It is not necessary for every child of God to be put into the furnace, or is it? We do not know ourselves until our deeds are tested by fire. But it is the Lord who cleanses the metal. We cannot do this ourselves. No ordinary power can separate the base alloy. No milder remedy will accomplish this purpose. Only by this process is the hidden evil brought out into the open so it may be humbled, while any hidden good may be honored. Deep personal affliction, the knowledge of the plague of our own hearts, and the discovery of secret sins are all discovered in the searching heat of the furnace. This purifying process is painful. The flesh trembles at the fire. But will we not commit ourselves with well-grounded confidence to God's wisdom, tenderness, and love? Is not any furnace that purges away our dross and brings us to know ourselves, our God, and His dealings with us a mighty blessing? The best materials for praise are brought out of this consecrated furnace. When the fire has done its work on the metal, we look for the results. Worldly idols will be displaced, stubborn wills melted, and the heart completely given over to God. As gold cast in the furnace receives its new luster and shines brighter when it comes out than it did before, so are God's saints more glorious after their great afflictions and their graces even more resplendent. That last statement from Bishop Sanderson. The refiner's process may be slow, but its results are assured. Nothing but dross will perish. The vilest earth will be turned into the finest gold. No refiner ever watched the furnace with such exactness and care. Many glittering particles may be swept away, but the pure residue, the solid particles, comparatively few in number, will be delivered to the mold. Every hour of trial is greater than gold and produces a richer Christian character. A suffering Savior is realized and endeared. Here then, in the furnace, child of God, see the seal of your election, the ground of your confidence, the joyful anticipation that your faith that has been through the furnace will be made into a crown of pure gold and be found to praise and honor the Lord," says Leighton. Verse 4, a wicked man listens to evil lips, a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue, Here's a dark but true picture of human nature. A wicked man is not content with his own evil desires. He has such an appetite for sin that he seeks outside stimulants to increase his activities. Bishop Hall says, there would not be so many open mouths if there were not so many willing ears to entertain them. Remember that the listening ear shares the responsibility of the malicious tongue. Both are involved in the treason and are directly or indirectly acquainted with the plot. Oh, my God, fill my heart and tongue with your own gracious spirit. Verse 5. He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their maker. Whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished. The sin against our Maker by oppressing the poor was previously noted in 1431. The poor are in their condition not by chance, but by providence, and so to mock the poor is to show contempt for their Maker, on Him who made them and made them to be poor. This proverb states that contempt for the poor is a sin of the deepest die. All kinds of mocking of the poor is evidently rebuked here. Why should I, asks Bishop Reynolds, for a little difference in this one particular of worldly wealth, despise my poor brother? When so many and great things unite us, shall wealth only disunite us? One sun shines on both, one blood bought us both, one heaven will receive us both. Only he has not so much of earth as I, and possibly much more of Christ. So why should I disdain him on earth, whom perhaps the Lord will advance above me in heaven? Verse six. Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. This proverb has its limits. What a crown of thorns to each other are ungodly and graceless parents. But in the ordinary course of life, gracious children and parents reflect honor on each other. Such parents rejoice in the number and growth of their children. Such children are proud of their parents. Cleaver says a good root makes the branches flourish by virtue of the living sap that it sends up. And flourishing branches win praise to the root for the pleasant fruit that they bring forth. Verse seven. Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool. How much worse lying lips to a ruler. The lips are the organ of the heart. Christ refused to accept even a sound profession of faith from the lips of demons, in case it should cause someone to stumble. How much worse lying lips to a ruler, to a minister and guardian of truth. Yet in a world where the self reigns supreme, such inconsistencies are all too prevalent. The pure teaching of our divine master alone secures Christian consistency in heart, lip, and life. We must never forget that if arrogant lips do not even suit a fool, how much less should they adorn the gospel of Christ. Verse eight. A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it. Wherever he turns, he succeeds. Bishop Patrick says, a gift is so tempting that it can no more be refused than a lovely jewel. It has such power that it usually affects whatever a man desires. And Mr. Scott says, what a description of the mercenary selfishness of mankind. Yes, even ungodly consciences seem to have a correct understanding about this evil. The saying of Philip of Macedon is well known that there was no fortress so strong that it might be taken if a donkey laden with gold was brought to the gate. The poet Horace finally illustrates this remark saying that not Philip, but Philip's gold conquered Greece. Gold and silver pervert many things, especially right motives. Money has a great power with those who are in power. A golden key will open any prison door and cast the watchman into a deep sleep. Gold will break open gates of iron as well as silence the orator's voice and blind the judge's eyes. It will bind the strong man's hands and blunt the edge of the sword. It makes war and it makes peace. What almost can it not do with corrupt minds?" said Carl. Such is the affinity between an eye full of evil desire and a glittering gift. Is not God's child also often attacked by this temptation? Does the influence of a gift never affect consistent godliness? Do no friendships lure us onto a crooked path? So be resolute in a strength that is better than your own as you resist sin. The battle is not against violent temptation or open sin, but against subtle and apparently harmless deviations from the straight path. Verse nine, he who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. Well here, he who promotes love is a beautiful expression that we should constantly keep in mind. It shows a delight in the atmosphere of love, man's highest elevation in fellowship with God. It implies not the mere exercise of love where it presents itself, but searching and making opportunity for it. But all too often it sits at the door of our lips instead of finding a home in our hearts. One step taken by our feet is better than a hundred words spoken by our tongue. A forebearing spirit is a fine manifestation of this heavenly grace. Our motives are often misconstrued. We meet in a world of selfishness and cold reserve instead of glowing confidence. Prejudice builds a wall against Christian fellowship. Wounded pride seeks to return an unkindness with contempt. Resentment stirs up recrimination. Disappointment kindles morbid suspicion. But a disciplined tongue is a gracious mercy to the church. Verse 10. A rebuke impresses a man of discernment more than a hundred lashes, a fool. If we want to cover our offenses, we should not ignore a rebuke. A word is enough for the wise, but the discipline of lashes is necessary for a fool. Parents and teachers should especially study the character of children that they may temper rebukes wisely. Many a fine spirit has been spoiled by unsuitable treatment. Who will benefit from a rebuke? It is the person who has had his stony heart replaced by a heart of flesh. A needle pierces deeper into flesh than a sword into stone. An attentive ear, a tender conscience, a soft heart, a teachable spirit are the means through which a wise and loving father disciplines his children for his service, for his cross, for his crown. Verses 11, 12, and 13. An evil man is bent only on rebellion. A merciless official will be sent against him. Better to meet a robbed bear, a bear robbed of her cubs, than a fool in his folly. And if a man pays back evil for good, evil will never leave his house. Well, some dreadful pictures of man are set out here. The person who is bent on rebellion resists all of God's and man's authority. This is no light sin. The merciless official who is sent against him is one who will not be deflected from his task. This rebellion is not the only sin, but it reveals a stubborn will. It may be hidden under a peaceful and amiable cover, but it is not dead, it sleeps. As Burke has remarked, those who do not love religion hate it. Look at the folly of this evil man. The strength and accuracy of the illustration can hardly be bettered. He is like a bear robbed of her cubs. He is like a savage beast that has been provoked to extreme anger. Do we not know of homes where uncontrolled anger breaks out every day? Does the self-willed man remember that nothing is said or done in a passion but may be better said or done afterwards, as Matthew Henry said? Do we never see the Christian whom his master's discipline and example should have transformed to a lamb still behave like a bear that has been robbed of her cubs? It is no excuse to say, well, it's my way. Is not this the very cause of grief to a contrite soul, calling for deep humility and increasing watchfulness? Look again at man in his ingratitude. God forbids us to pay back evil for evil and much more evil for good. This ingratitude is by no means uncommon, although the conscience is rarely troubled by it. What else is it when the ungodly resent and attempt to promote their best interests? Verse 14, starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam. So drop the matter before a dispute breaks out. Both destructive elements, fire and water, illustrate the danger of starting a quarrel. To neither element can we say, this far and no further. And we might as well try to tell a raging storm to stop. The dam may hold back a large body of water, but if you open its leases, the waters may form a flood. In this way, the starting of a quarrel has ended in thousands of murders, and even in the destruction of kingdoms. It is no less destructive in ordinary life. One provocative word leads to another. Every retort widens the breach. Seldom, when we have heard the first word, have we heard the last word. An inundation of evil overwhelms peace, comfort, and conscience. Does not Christian grace teach us to keep resentment at bay and to bear provocation rather than break the bond of unity? Truly it is a wise rule to stop evil at its inception. The riverbank is much more easily preserved than repaired. Once the breach is made, even if it is only to let out a drop of water, that is the beginning of evil, the results of which are incalculable. In being alert to quarrels and disputes, it must be remembered that the time to stop is not when things are at their worst, But at the beginning, we must mortify our own proud tempers and cultivate our master's meek and self-denying spirit. The following remarks by Mr. Burke are well worth consideration. He said, the arms with which the ill dispositions of the world are to be combated are moderation, gentleness, a little indulgence of others, and a great distrust of ourselves. which are not qualities of a mean spirit, as some may possibly think. They are virtues of a great and noble kind, such as dignify our nature, as much as they contribute to our rest and fortune. For nothing can be so unworthy of a well-composed soul as to pass away life in bickerings and litigations, in snarling and scuffling with everyone about us. Verse 15. acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent. The Lord detests them both. Judicial iniquity is a dreadful abuse of God's authority. The judge or magistrate is God's minister. We appeal to him for justice, for he represents God. But let us place ourselves before the judge of everyone. We are accused by Satan, by our own conscience, and by the righteous law of God. We are convicted of every charge, yet we are justified. Does God then justify the ungodly? Far from it. If He justifies the guilty, it is because of righteousness. Nowhere in the whole world does the moral perfection of the ruler of the world shine so gloriously as at the cross of Calvary. The satisfaction of the holy law and the manifestation of righteous mercy harmonize with the justification of the condemned sinner. And this combined glory is the tune of the song of everlasting praise. Amen. We'll pick it up there next time when we Speak with Charles Bridges, a commentary on Proverbs. This is the Hackberry House of Choson, and Lord willing, we'll talk again real soon. Bye-bye.