I will invite your attention this evening to the book of Proverbs chapter number three. We continue our study in the book of Proverbs. Wisdom from above for life below. Wisdom from above for life below. Proverbs chapter three. And I'm going to ask you to do something that I don't often do. I want you to turn also, hold your place in Proverbs, and go all the way over to the Proverbs of the New Testament, which has been called that actually, in the book of James. The book of James, chapter 2. So hold your place there in Proverbs. And I just want to read really just one verse out of James chapter number 2. As it has been dubbed, it really has been dubbed the Proverbs of the New Testament because James is so immensely practical. It deals with so many things that the Proverbs deals with, addresses. In James chapter 2, I'm going to read verse number 8. James 2 verse 8 says, If you fulfill the royal law, and I want you to hold on to that James definition. What he's about to say is this is the royal law. If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. He says, according to scripture, the royal law is to love your neighbor as yourself. I want you to hold on to that thought because that's exactly what we're going to read about in Proverbs chapter number three. I'm going to begin reading this evening in verse 27 and read through verse 31. Proverbs 27, I'm sorry, Proverbs 3 verse 27 says, withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give, when you've got it, when thou hast it by thee. Verse 29, devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely, safely by thee. Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. Envy thou not the oppressor and choose none of his ways I've been trying to bite off Really just Paragraphs or thoughts that I think are gathered together in Solomon's writing bite-sized material if you will not to grab too much and there's always a challenge of moving too slowly, but but I just want to think together this evening about that little section there in chapter 3 of verses 27 through 31. And I want to study the thought of royal counsel. Royal counsel, or kingly counsel, if you will. In fact, James, as we read, calls it the royal law. And I think there's a very direct connection to what you see right here. this evening of doing things a little bit different. I'm going to actually go back and read this text again, and I want you to follow along, but I'm going to read from the English Standard Version of the Bible, the ESV. There are about five or six very good, reliable, major translations of the Bible, and the ESV is one of them. I don't wanna start World War III, I'm not trying to give anybody heartburn, but I really like how the translators give us this little section in the English Standard Version. And it is a repetition of thought, and it just plants it right in our minds and right in front of us. And I'm gonna read it, and you're gonna see, if you'll follow along, you're gonna see it's not all that different, really, at all. In fact, I may start using this much more on Wednesday nights because, friends, Proverbs is just hard. It's just, it's hard. Some of it is just hard to understand, and especially in reading, Old English, which none of us speak this way, we just don't. So I'm going to read to you from this and just follow along. Again, if you would, verse 27, and you'll notice I'm going to emphasize, do not withhold good from those to whom it is due. When it is in your power to do it, do not say to your neighbor, go and come again. Tomorrow I will give it. when you have it with you. Do not plan evil against your neighbor who dwells trustingly beside you. Do not contend with a man for no reason when he has done you no harm. In verse 31, do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways. I tried to emphasize that. And you don't have to be a theologian. Solomon is saying, son, don't do these things. Don't do these things. And he is imparting to him and to us by extension, royal counsel, godly wisdom. You want to know how a wise person lives? This is how. And in fact, What Solomon has done so far is he has extolled the virtues of wisdom. We have literally studied the blessings and benefits of wisdom. Some of my sermons so far have been named the blessings of wisdom, the benefit of wisdom. But now Solomon says this is how wisdom behaves. This is how wise people behave. Son, I've told you how immensely valuable wisdom is. I've tried to set in front of you the numerous benefits of wisdom. And now, son, this is it. This is wisdom in real life. This is wisdom put into action, and in particular, in how we deal in community with our neighbors, with those in our workplace, those in our neighborhoods, those in our church house, how we get along, how we live with others. And there's just a series of do nots. Don't do this. Now, I want to begin, if I can, with this. Robert Frost wrote, good fences make good neighbors. Well, we could get into a lengthy discussion of what all is meant by that. But I think if you'll sort of give some thought into that and what is implied by that and the ideas, we all want to lead a quiet and peaceful life, do we not? Especially at home. As I told our children, out there in the world, we're gonna deal with drama and hatefulness and cruelty and all of it, but when we come home, this is to be a sanctuary. This is to be a place of rest and peace. That's what we want. So let me ask, how many of you have ever had a rotten neighbor? I mean just a rotten neighbor. Somebody you can't get along with. Somebody you don't wave at and they don't wave at you. Somebody that even when you're at home, you're really not at full peace because of the animosity that exists between you and your neighbor. And if you've ever had any of that, and we've only had a small sample, really, of that. We're blessed with some really good neighbors right where we are. Now those ones that live across the street from us, they a little suspect. No, I'm just kidding. But we really are blessed with some good neighbors. But if you've ever lived in a situation where you and your neighbors can't get along, it's a very uncomfortable place to live. And what Solomon is saying, son, don't be that neighbor. Be a wise person. Be a good neighbor. And in so doing, you will exercise wisdom and it will bring peace to you and to those who are around you. And so I want to work through these exhortations. Five of them, I have divided it up tonight. And it's some real deep stuff, so hold on to your pew. I'm going to give you all five of them right at the very beginning here. Verse 27. Don't be dishonest. Verse 28, don't be stingy. Verse 29, don't be underhanded. Verse 30, don't be a bully. And verse 31, don't be a jerk. Don't be a violent, loving jerk. And this is really just The most practical study so far of Proverbs, so far, defining wisdom, defining knowledge, defining understanding, getting into all of that, the value, the pricelessness of wisdom, but now the proverbial rubber meets the road. Here's how you live like a wise neighbor. And in so doing, it will promote peace, prosperity for you and those around you. So notice with me first out of verse 27, don't be dishonest. Do not, verse, do not withhold good from those to whom it is due. So that word do there is important. There was an obligation made to an individual. Whether you entered in a contract, verbal or written, and then again, verse 27 ties to 28, 28 ties to 29, 29 ties to 30, 30 ties to 31. Whether it is your immediate neighbor or whether it is someone in the workplace or someone at church, Don't be dishonest in your dealings with him. Don't be shady. Don't withhold what is right from those to whom it is due. Meet your obligations. Now, we're going to get into a little bit of this tonight, but I cannot emphasize to you strongly enough how much America needs to hear Solomon's royal wisdom right here. If we are to If we were to look at verse 27, do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it. You've made a commitment, but you want to back out of it even though you have the ability to meet that commitment? Let me put some flesh on this for you. Several years ago, a confessing Christian came to me and said, He'd gotten himself into a mess, a financial mess. And he said, I'm going to file bankruptcy. And I said, why? And he said, because I got this big pile of debt. I don't want to pay it. I can file bankruptcy and they'll wipe almost all of it out. And I said, well, could you pay it back? And he said, yes. It would just take a while. I said, then it would be sinful. That's how good a friend I am. It would be sinful for you to file bankruptcy in that condition. If you were destitute, you couldn't work, you've been injured, whatever the case is, that's one thing. But when it's in your hand, when you have the ability to meet your financial needs, but you just don't want to do it, I sort of call that being dishonest. I'm getting some amens out of a banker here. That's dishonest. That's crooked. And Solomon, I want to step back just a minute and I want you to, I want to put this in your mind. I just want you to think about this. The things that I've mentioned that we're going to develop in these five points, don't forget Solomon is talking to the future king of Israel. And so what he is teaching him is not just about his personal relationships. I think it goes beyond that. I think he's actually saying when it comes to how you lead the nation in your dealings with neighboring nations, this is what you should or should not do. You wanna have a prosperous, peaceful reign? Don't be a bad neighbor in your geographical neighborhood. Don't be a rotten ruler. Don't be a tyrant. Don't be a despot. And so, yes, I think it's absolutely applicable in what we would turn to be the micro. I think Solomon's son should also see it in the macro, in his ruling of the nation. So borrowing and not repaying is, And how often do we see this in our nation? Or not paying someone. You've hired someone to do a job. The job is complete. But you say, you know what? I think I'll just hold on to that money. I'll give it to you later. Having that money but hoarding it instead of paying it, Solomon says, son, don't do that. dishonest Then in verse number 28 don't do not say to your neighbor Go and come again tomorrow I'll give it to you Even though you've got it right here Don't be stingy Don't be stingy Christians Should be the best neighbors that there are And you shouldn't be dishonest with your neighbors. And when your neighbor comes and asks you for something within your means, you shouldn't be stingy. You shouldn't be greedy. You should be generous. There are constant warnings here against greed and being untrustworthy. And you've got to understand, friends, this ties together with our testimony in our communities as Christians. Are you known as someone of integrity? Who has a generous or an open hand? Or you known somebody who's just greedy and stingy? And you hired the man down the road to do the work, but you refused to pay him for it. Don't be stingy. I couldn't help as I was prepping on this to think about the rich man and Lazarus. That rich man who dressed in purple and fared sumptuously every day, who had everything he could possibly want, and lying there at his gate, was Lazarus a beggar? And there had been communication between them, obviously, because after the man dies, he wants to send Lazarus to his family, but did that But did that rich man open up his vaults of wealth to his neighbor who was in need? No. Even though he could eat filet mignon, drink the finest wine, wear the most comfortable name brand clothing, even his neighbor right out the door lied there hungry and destitute and he refused to help him at all. I want to read something else to you here. If you want to follow along, you can, but I'm going to read back in James chapter number 2. James chapter 2, where we were a minute ago. I want us to see James 2 verses 14 through 16. James 2 verse 14, What doth it profit, my brethren? Though a man say he have faith, and have not works, can faith save him? Keep going. If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be you warmed and filled, notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit? James is saying here, you claim that you are a believer, a follower of Christ, Then behind that claim of faith, there should be some works that back it up. Up to and including giving to, especially, your brothers and sisters who are in need. So don't be stingy. Don't be greedy. Don't be covetous. In fact, 1 John, I've got the text, 1 John 3 verses 16 through 18 here says, You really needed to examine whether or not you are a Christian if you do not show love by giving to those who are in need. Thirdly, don't be underhanded. Verse 29, do not plan evil against your neighbor who dwells trustingly beside you. I don't guess they'll ever hear it. I hope not. If you're walking out my front door to the right and to the right, there's a lot that's sitting empty and there's a house that's there. But the people that own the lot and the people that own the house don't get on. The kids, drove on this man's property, left some ruts on his property. He got mad about it. They were driving a four-wheeler, ATV, whatever. So this guy gets a board, drives a bunch of nails through it, puts it in the muddy tracks, covers it with leaves and limbs. So the next time the kids come through there, you know what happened. And then they're at each other. It'd do them pretty good. Do not plan evil against your neighbor. It would do them well, right? To say, you know what? Let's communicate. Let's talk this through. Let's not let it come to this. And I'm saying to you, friends, I want to go home and be at peace, don't you? I want to dwell in my house without a bunch of drama and angst and anger around. And this world, and I'm trying really hard not to just beat down on America, but this world right now, all around us are people who plan violence against their neighbors. You gotta forgive me, your preacher's got a flesh too, but these knuckleheads from Antifa and places like that who plan evil. It is wickedness, it is ungodly. So don't, don't be underhanded. Again, if we were to think about a biblical illustration, Ahab and Jezebel who plotted to kill Naboth just because they wanted his little vineyard. Did not listen to the royal wisdom, royal counsel of Solomon. And do not plan evil against you who dwells trustingly beside you. They should be your neighbor, your friend. You should dwell together in community, peaceful community with them. Fourthly, verse 30. Don't be a bully. Do not contend with a man for no reason when he's done you no harm. Of all the things that I cannot stand, and I probably, some of you, I cannot stand a bully. A bully who picks on those who are weaker for no reason. Probably because I got bullied a lot as a kid, and that's why I can't stand a bully. And that's not to mean I never was a bully, because I was. Probably some of us must confess we were too, especially if you had a little brother or a little sister, you probably were a bully to them. But don't. How we live in community matters. How we live with others matter. How we represent Christ to this watching world matters. Don't be a bully. You could go through the Bible and things never work out well for bullies. They never do. Fifthly, Don't be a jerk. Don't be violent. Verse 31, do not envy a man of violence. Do not choose any of his ways. We live in a society that is saturated with violence. From games that children play to the nightly news, a society that is saturated with violence. It sells On the big screen, I wanted to say you could rent movies, but whatever it is, violence is so popular. And yet, it is so opposed to the glorious, wonderful, peaceful society that God created. Don't embrace violence. Don't follow the examples of violence. We haven't gotten there yet. I don't think it's a spoiler alert, letting the proverbial cat out of the bag. But Joab, who was a man given to violence, will meet with a violent end. We've got to remember, when we see all the things that we see in this world, we may think, how and why are they getting away with it? Brothers, sisters, there is a judgment day coming. And though men may seem to get away with their violence and violent behavior here, being a jerk, being cruel, a tyrant, there is a judgment day to come in which God will call all into account. Here, very simply, are five do nots when it comes to how we live in community with others, our neighbors, in the workplace, in our actual neighborhoods, whether in the church house, whatever that it is, our community. We should heed this royal counsel. Everything that Solomon warns against in these few verses, Paul would write in Galatians and he would identify that is all the works of the flesh. And it is not the fruit of the spirit. It is all the ugly, angry works of the flesh. Dishonesty, greed, back or underhanded deals, cruelty, violence, all of that is the works of the flesh. It is not the fruit of the spirit. Now, would you please, for just one moment, could you imagine how much better this world would be if everyone around us truly endeavored to heed this royal counsel? It would change what the nightly news looked like. tyrants, dictators, who just, even right now in parts of this world, who commits acts of atrocity and violence against their neighbors, that would end. If we would hear this Royal Council. Neighbors who are bickering and fighting, that would stop. Our homes would be so much better. Our country, our community, our nation, so much better. And it is the royal law because you know what this really is? It is exactly what Jesus and James said. It is loving your neighbor as yourself. It is how you want to be treated. You don't want people being dishonest with you. You don't want someone making a commitment to you and not following through on it. You don't want somebody backing out of a deal on you, even though you've already paid into it. You don't want somebody to be violent or aggressive towards you. You don't want underhanded deals towards you. This is loving your neighbor as yourself. Yet we can't only look at this world around us because we must also confess that there have been many times in my life, I've been a rotten neighbor. In my home, with my spouse, with my children, with the people in the workplace, in my business dealings, I have failed. I have not listened or obeyed to this royal counsel. In fact, I yielded to the flesh. And the only remedy for a broken world and for our brokenness in yielding to this ungodly behavior, the only remedy is not more laws, not more rules, not more regulations, but the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that changes hearts. That's the only thing. My bickering neighbors, they need to get right together and get right with the Lord. You can't be right with God and wrong with your neighbor. But that don't preach too good, but I can say it maybe once to get by with. You can't be right with God and wrong with your neighbor. You can do your part, you can't do their part, but you can do your part. But we must confess that even we born again believers still struggle with doing what we should do, loving our neighbor as ourself. Too often we love ourselves more than others. We too can be dishonest. We can be stingy. We can do some little underhanded things. We can act bullish. We can be prone to violence. Maybe we're not physically, but we can be very verbally violent to others. And the only real hope is the gospel of Jesus Christ that changes lives. As I'm closing, if you compare wisdom and folly, what you'll see is Solomon says, this is what the wise person does not do. But this is exactly what the fool does. The fool is dishonest. The fool is stingy. The fool is underhanded. The fool is a bully. The fool is violent or treats people wrong. May God help us to be the best neighbors that planet Earth has around. Never to give ourselves to shady, cruel, dishonest behavior. That's conduct unbecoming of a Christian. Greed, stinginess, cold, calloused attitudes towards those who are in need, don't be that way. And it's hard, I wanna be done, but it's hard in our society not to get jaded when it seems like every time you turn around, somebody's got an empty hand out, wanting something. How much do we give in need? How much do we do? And I guess I would probably say something like my father had said, I'd rather be guilty of doing too much than not enough. Yet at the same time, we do have to evaluate, am I actually helping or hurting this person by giving? But ultimately, this comes down to, brothers and sisters, that little old simple golden rule. The golden rope, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That is royal counsel given by the lips of King Jesus. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Here, here in this passage, we see yet again that the gospel is the only hope. It's the only hope for us where we have failed, and it's the only hope for a world that is so filled with unneighborly people. I'm gonna be quiet, but it doesn't it sadden you so much that we live in a society now when there's violence, I see it. I'm scrolling on social media. Someone is violently attacked. And rather than someone coming to that person's defense, very often everybody standing around with their phones video in it and laughing. What a broken world this is, and the only hope is the good news of what Jesus has done for sinners. May God help us to live that out in front of them.