Continuing in our study of Proverbs, let's turn to chapter 20 and verse 9. Proverbs chapter 20 and verse 9. Actually not verse 9, I have my notes backwards here. Sorry about that. Chapter 20 verse 6 is our text. Let's read it. Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness. But a fateful man who can find. Proverbs 20 verse 6. It appears here that we have a parallelism that is of the antithetical nature. That is, the two lines are put together in contrast, in antithesis to each other. In the first line, most men is held in contrast to a fateful man. terms contrasted. The other two terms deal with the action of the proverb. In the first line, will proclaim everyone his own goodness. In the second line, the question who can find. So most men, in contrast to a faithful man, those proclaiming their own goodness and those who actually have that goodness. So let's look at it now in more detail. When we think of most men, we think of many men, or the majority at least, are saying this. This is what they will say. This is what they do proclaim. In essence, I am a man you can trust. I will keep my word. I will fulfill my obligations. And so they're proclaiming, they're stating in some way that they are trustworthy. Because the word goodness that is used here is the word chesed. And we have talked about this word many times being of such importance that it's equivalent in its importance and in some ways in its terminology to the great word agape in the New Testament. This word is a rich term, Hebrew term, and it indicates that of giving oneself to another in love and serving them faithfully. It is a selfless devotion. to one's word and one's promises to others. It particularly was used in a covenantal context when someone entered into a solemn agreement and covenant with someone else. Someone who is of the Chesed character would be devoted to fulfilling their promises and the terms of that covenant. covenant and covenants being made for mutual benefit. The goodness in view here is the goodness of fulfilling your word and fulfilling your promises and your commitments. Now when we think about it in that term, you and I know that there's many who proclaim that they will fulfill their promises and they don't. They make commitments that they don't carry out. They enter into covenants that they break. We see this all over the place, all over our society. This inability to keep covenant, to be faithful and trustworthy. But the problem is most believe that they are trustworthy and they're willing even to proclaim it to others. You can trust me, I'll fulfill what I say and so on. But the second line we have the contrast, but there's a problem here and it's something that we all know by experience. A faithful man, that is a man who is good to his word, who can find such a person? Though many are proclaiming it, most men are saying it, men and women, man is generic, it refers to a man or a woman, proclaiming their own goodness to their word, their own faithfulness. But the problem is, by experience we say, and we experience the fact that not too many people who are actually like that. And so although we have many that boast about faithfulness, the reality is that these type of people are relatively rare. And so that's the contrast here between the boast of the many and the difficulty in finding those who live up to their boast. It's a contrast between the many and the few. This proverb is not denying that there are faithful men and women. who do and act in this good sense of keeping their word. There are people like that. It's not denying that. But what it's bringing to our attention by this proverb is that they are relatively rare. Now the word fateful is a synonym to the word goodness or kesed in the first line. It comes from the Hebrew root from which we get our word amen. And this root word, amen, means that you can depend upon or rely upon someone. And so that's, in a sense, it's a synonym. Someone who enters into a covenant, there's many that do that and say, I will keep my covenant, I'll keep my promise. But those who actually are faithful to their promises, is the idea, who can find such an individual, implying that There's not many of that category. And so as we look at this proverb, his point is to set forth the reality that though many think they are good to their word, there are not many who actually are. And so the proverb is warning us of two things. Number one, not to put too much trust in man and his promises and his commitments. So it's a warning to us, because we're going to have people who actually enter into a covenant, enter into an agreement with us, and they tell us, you can depend on me, don't put too much trust in what they're going to do, whether they will prove themselves faithful. Now, if we know someone well and they have proved themselves over and over again to be good to their word, then, of course, our trust level is going to be much higher. So the first warning is not to put too much trust in man. Number two, that we ourselves need to be cognizant of the fact that we ought not to be boasting of our faithfulness. Because remember this first line is a proclamation, a boast, a claim. We're not to be doing that. We will see, and I will quote this verse more specifically later, but it says, let another man's lips praise thee and not thine own. Maybe you believe you're a faithful person. Well, if that is the case, let someone else articulate it by words, not you, not me. Instead of boasting of our faithfulness, what the proverb is urging us to do is simply be faithful. Be it, don't proclaim it, but do it. Fulfill that character quality. Another thing about this proverb is that it also ought to humble us. When we realize that it speaks not only to us, but of us. Have you ever broken your word? Have you ever failed to fulfill your promise? Have you kept all your covenants? And so this proverb is a humbling proverb. We should not take the stance that we're looking from the outside, and we're the ones who are fateful, and others are saying that they are, but they're really not, and we can't find it. It's speaking to us directly. We are part of the most men. Even if we don't say it, we think it. We say it to ourselves. And yet, how often have we failed? in this regard. And so the proverb is setting forth the reality that though many think they're good to their word, there are not many who actually are. And so we're warned not to put too much trust in others, and number two, not to boast of our own faithfulness. Psalm 118 verses eight through nine says, it's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Psalm 146.3 says, put not your trust in princes nor in the son of man, that is a human being, in whom there is no help. Further, Proverbs 25.14, when we look at the boasts of the first line, it says this, whoso boasts of himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain. And so the boast here is the false gift that they will be fateful. Proverbs 27, 1-2 says, Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth. a stranger and not thine own lips. Proverbs 27, one to two. Now this boasting of ourselves of tomorrow is often and probably the context here would point to the fact that like we're gonna go tomorrow and we're gonna do this, we're gonna do that and that, but we can apply it to this way. Don't boast yourself that you're gonna be fateful tomorrow to the promises you make today. Boasting is prideful and it actually undermines the ability we have to actually keep our covenants. Albert Barnes succinctly says concerning this proverb, that here is a contrast between promise and performance. And then he says, people boast of their liberality, yet we look in vain for the fulfillment of actual obligations. And W. Osterly, I'm not sure what his first name is, it just comes across as W. So it could be William or Walter or something like that. He states, here as always the sage, meaning the wise man, bases his words on that knowledge of men which can only be gained by one who is not only much in the world, but is above all an observer of men in the world. The wisdom writers, show that the shortcomings of humanity in their day were extraordinarily similar to those of today. It is this fact that makes the wisdom literature, which is Job, many of the Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, It is this fact that makes the wisdom literature so exceedingly instructive to men in every age. The words before us are, of course, not intended to imply that there is no such thing as a faithful man. The writer obviously means that a really faithful man, one who is to be relied upon in all circumstances, is, comparatively speaking, rare. Now probably the most telling example of this proverb is the proclamation of the disciples of Jesus. Let me read to you what they said in Matthew 26. And Matthew 26 is in the upper room of Jesus' final night. Then said Jesus unto them, all ye shall be offended because of me this night. For it is written, I will smite the shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I'll go before you into Galilee. Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. Isn't he doing what the first line of the proverb says? He's boasting that he will demonstrate chesed, unbroken, uncompromised commitment to Christ. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee that this night before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice. Peter said unto him, he's not done yet Peter, though I should die with thee yet will I not deny thee. But he wasn't the only one that was saying this. Though he is put forward, then it says that likewise also said all the disciples. Let me come down to verse 56. They came to arrest Jesus and he says, but when all this was done, that is his arrest, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled, then all the disciples forsook him and fled. And then the story goes on to record Peter's three denials. Now, if that was the end of the story, it'd be pretty, a tragic tale. that illustrates the proverb here, but there's something else that comes into this story. Because these men who failed so utterly became some of the most fateful men history has ever seen. What changed? What changed in them was the resurrection of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. In other words, by nature, we are not fateful. but by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit and his indwelling in us, we can become men and women who are faithful, first of all to God and to Christ, and secondly to others. Faithfulness can be ours, though we're not to boast of it, but faithfulness can be found in your life and in my life, even though we have been, like Peter, and the rest of the disciples, making such boasts and yet failing utterly, we yet still can be reconstituted as faithful men and women through the power of the living God. Jesus said to us, as it was originally said to the church in Ephesus in Revelation, be faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. You see, we are called to faithfulness as Christians. And the problem is too, this proverb can be applied to the Christian church and to Christians themselves. When it says, most Christians will proclaim every one their own faithfulness to the Lord and to the church and to others. But a faithful Christian, really faithful? who can find. But we're called to faithfulness. Paul said it well. Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ, or the servants of Christ, and stewards of the mystery of God. A steward was someone to whom a master entrusted the care and the oversight of something. The chief steward would be of the whole estate. We have been, Paul says, made stewards of the truth of God, the mysteries of God revealed in the new covenant. That's our situation, but what's required of us? He says what's required in stewards is that we be found faithful. Have you been faithful to Christ? Are you? Am I? I must ask myself, am I faithful to Christ? We tend to boast that we are, and we think we are. We build this false picture of ourselves to escape ourselves. Yeah, I'm a faithful Christian. Well, I pray and hope that we are. But let's remember the teaching of this proverb, that many proclaim their own faithfulness, but true faithful men and women who can find them. And we can be faithful to the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's go to Proverbs 20 in verse 7. The next one. The just man walketh in his integrity, his children are blessed after him. There seems to be that synthetic parallelism where the two lines are developing the theme together. The first line stating a truth, the second line the consequence of the action. portrayed in the first line, or the truth stated in the first line. So the just man in the first line is put in a synthetic parallelism to his children. Just man, his children. And the other aspect of the synthesis here is the just man is walking, here's the verb, walking in his integrity, and that is in synthesis of the children being blessed after him. The just man is the one who lives according to the good and righteous standard of God's word and his law. That's the just man, righteous man. Righteous by faith, righteous by practice. Not perfect in practice, but righteous in the conduct of their lives. The verb walk, as we see often in the Bible, refers to a, or is a metaphor as like walking through life. In other words, all of life, all that you do. He walks in every aspect of his life in integrity. That's the sphere in which he walks, the just man. Integrity indicates completeness or wholeness. It indicates that all aspect of his, or again, this is generic, her character, all aspects are well formed and upright in nature. Or we could put it this way, the word integrity indicates a completeness in the sense of mental, emotional, and spiritual maturity. Not perfection, but maturity. Some people have mental maturity, but don't have emotional maturity, and that undermines them. Some people have mental and emotional maturity, but spiritual immaturity. But there's a wholeness here in this person's integrity. Not a perfection, but a wholeness. Well developed. Webster's 1828 defines integrity as wholeness or entireness. The entire unimpaired state of anything, particularly of the mind, of moral soundness or purity, incorruptness, uprightness, honesty. Integrity comprehends the whole moral character. That's from Webster's 1828. Now the person, the just man who walks in this moral soundness and purity, this entireness of moral character, The consequence for that man is his children will be blessed after him. This line gives the result in the familial sense, in the family sense, how the just man, the father or mother, will impact their children. Now, interestingly, in the original, and it does come across this way also in our translation There is no connecting word, what we call a conjunction. No and or but. It says, the just man walks in his integrity. Second line, his children are blessed after him. And also in the original, blessed is put first. And so what I really think what we have here is an exclamation or what we might call in Old Testament beatitude. Beatitude comes from the Latin word to bless. We speak of Jesus. Blessed are those. Blessed is the one who hungers. Thirst after righteousness and so on. We call them beatitudes, God's blessing. And what this is a beatitude. The just man walks in his integrity. Blessed are his children. So it's pretty emphatic. declaration. In other words, blessed are the children of such a man or woman or of such parents. Now the Hebrew word for blessed indicates success, a moving forward, progress. Here, as it often means in the Old Testament, it means to empower for success. And so the man of integrity, the parents of integrity empower their children for success by their integrity. Their own success in living is set forth as an example of godliness and wisdom for the children to follow. Being properly taught and trained in self-control, knowledge, and wisdom. by their parents puts them in the position to succeed in life. Furthermore, by the diligence and the hard work of their father or mother or both, there is a measure of material comfort and success. And so I want you to remember that this, though it speaks here of the father, of the man in this proverb, it's really the just person, the just father or mother that is in view. Don't forget that. But the words after him is very important in this proverb. It means to actively follow after someone. In other words, this beatitude, this declaration of blessing is only for the children who follow their parents example. It's only for the children who make good and godly use of the advantages that were given to them. It's not a automatic, is the point. You can have children of a just man who has walked his whole life in integrity who don't follow their father's example and go off in to sin. Jesus says, Come ye after me. and I will make you fishers of men." What does he mean? Obey my teachings, follow my example. This is the same thing here. It's only the children who follow after the just man who has walked through his life, his integrity, who will be blessed. The children who reject the example and the advantage given to them by just parents will not be blessed. So the point of the proverb is to highlight the generational connection between parents and their children, and I believe their grandchildren, and perhaps even further on, though I think near descendants are particularly in view here, children and grandchildren. There's a generational connection. Here the connection is showing the blessed consequence of godly, wise, and just living by the parents upon their descendants. but only if the descendants follow after them in faith and righteousness. Only for those who adhere to the teaching they received, only those who profit from the discipline that they received, only those who follow the example of their parents and make use of the advantages given to them. They are the ones. who will be blessed. The others who squander their spiritual, moral, and material inheritance given to them will not be blessed. What this proverb reminds you and I of is that no man or woman lives to himself or herself. And how we live will affect the generations to come, those who come after us. We are given this wonderful positive example, but we are given other examples in the Bible and in the book of Proverbs of ungodly parents and the effect of ungodliness, lack of integrity on the children in the negative sense. This is summarized in the context of the Great Ten Commandments. When the Lord declares, on the second commandment, the Lord declares, I am the Lord thy God, I'm a jealous God. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children under the third and fourth generations of them that hate me. You live a wicked life, that's going to have an impact. There's a moral cause and effect here, where your iniquity will be visited upon your children. They will see your example, they will follow it, or they will inherit all these terrible disadvantages from that type of life. But it goes on to say, and the emphasis here is on mercy, not on judgment, when he says, and I will show mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Thousands here being that word that refers to innumerable numbers that cannot be fully counted. In other words, I'll show mercy to the children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who love me. In what sense? It will be as this proverb speaks. You be a just man or woman, you walk in your integrity, your children will be blessed after you. Now this proverb is in the family context, but it also applies to every other sphere of life, to a church. Godly men and women in a church bring blessing on those who come after them in that church. Teachers, educators, businessmen, political leaders, whoever they are, whoever you may be, You live a godly life in your integrity. Others will be blessed because of it. They will be blessed when they hear your wisdom, follow your example. So you can be a blessing to many. Doesn't matter what your age is, doesn't matter if you have children or not. This is in the context of children. But the principle here applies in every sphere of life. You live in a godly way. You be a just man or woman and you walk in integrity and you will be a blessing to others. Matthew Henry comments, it is here observed to the honor of a good man, number one, that he does well for himself. He has a certain rule which with an even steady hand he governs himself by. He walks in his integrity. He keeps good conscience and he has the comfort of it. For it is his rejoicing. He is not liable to those uneasinesses, either in contriving what he shall do, or reflecting on what he has done, which those are liable to that walk in deceit. And then number two, he says, this proverb teaches, that he does well for his family. His children are blessed after him. They fare the better for his sake. God has mercy in store for the seed of the fateful. And then Charles Spurgeon, in a sermon he preached on this text, He labels this proverb as the just man's legacy and he goes on to say this. Number one, anxiety about our family is natural, but we shall be wise if we turn it into care about our own character. If we walk before the Lord in integrity, we shall do more to bless our descendants than if we bequeath them large estates. A father's holy life is a rich legacy for his sons. And he develops that. By saying one, the upright man leaves his heirs his example. And this is in itself will be a mind of true wealth. How many men may trace their success in life to the example of their parents? Secondly, he leaves them also his repute. That's reputation. Men think all the better of us as the sons of a man who could be trusted, the successors of a tradesman of excellent repute. Oh, that all young men were anxious to keep up the family name. Number three. Above all, he leaves his children his prayers. and the blessings of a prayer-hearing God. And these make an offspring to be favored among the sons of men. God will save them even after we are dead. Oh, that they might be saved at once, Lord, that is now. And he also adds this, our integrity may be God's means of saving our sons and daughters. If they see the truth of our religion proved by our lives, it may be that they will believe in Jesus for themselves. Lord, Spurgeon says, fulfill this word to my household, end of quote. You know, and the wonderful thing about this is it doesn't matter where you are in life, where your children are, you can begin now in this. Let's say someone wasn't even a Christian, and they weren't even converted till later in life. Does this proverb have no application if the children are grown and have left home? Oh yes, it does. Oh yes, it does. Your life today still can have this kind of impact if now, in Christ, you walk as a just man or woman in integrity. Your children, though they be grown, will be blessed by that. For now, as Spurgeon pointed out, not only your example, they have your prayers. Their blessing is the fact now of a praying father, a praying mother. Also, someone who sets the example, and thereby, as Spurgeon points out, we become, through our example, our integrity, may be God's means of saving our grown sons and daughters. If they see the truth, as he puts it, of our faith, proved by our lives. Now the greatest example of this proverb is who? The Lord Jesus Christ. Has there ever been a more just man? Has there ever been one of absolutely perfect integrity like him? You see, it's by his perfectly just life and his complete integrity that he has blessed all his children. You know, we call it his disciples, my little children. We're his children, though we often think of that more specifically to the Heavenly Father. There is a sense in which we're his children. My little children, he said numerous times, we could put it this way. The just man, the name of Jesus Christ. has walked a life of perfect integrity. His children are now blessed after him. They're blessed in every way. They're blessed because in his integrity and perfection, he could offer himself as the sacrifice for their sins. He blesses them in giving them the gift of the Holy Spirit. He blesses them in giving them, of course, the example of how to live, the teaching and doctrine of how to live. But just like the proverb says here, we have to follow after him. It's only those who follow Christ who are blessed by His integrity and by His justice. Amen. Now let's look at Proverbs 20 in verse 8. Here we have another proverb concerning a king. It says this, a king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes. The king is the subject of 16 Proverbs. And in all of those, or nearly all, they are descriptive of the good king. Or we could say they're prescriptive of what a king should be like if he would be a good king. In other words, these proverbs on the king are always looking at the ideal as God envisions it. These are not just observations. These are prescriptions of how a king should be. And so when we look at this one and it says, a king that sits in the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes, we are having a picture of what a king should be. Let's keep that in mind. This is not saying what all kings are. In fact, very few are this, but this is what they should be as they fulfill their office as God's minister of justice. Proverbs is a premier or the premier manual for civil magistrates. If they would be faithful to their office and a blessing to those under them, not only in this specific Proverbs that speak directly to their office, but the whole, teaching of character and wisdom. In fact, we could take that proverb we just read, the king in a sense being a father to his people, the just king who walks in his integrity, his people are blessed after him. But of course, a corrupt king, an evil king, who walks in his wickedness, the people of the land are cursed by his wickedness. That is, they are brought under curses of judgment because of his evil. in his ways. So let's remember this proverb as others is revealing what a good and godly king should be. And in this chapter, by the way, this is a particularly important theme in chapter 20. We already saw in verse 2, the fear of a king is the roaring of a lion. That is the fear of a good king. The fear of a godly king is as the roaring of a lion. Whoso provokes him to anger sins against his own soul. We have then our one here in verse 8, but look at verse 26, another one. A wise king scatters the wicked and brings the wheel over them. Verse 28, mercy and truth preserve the king and his throne is upholding in mercy. But furthermore, look at verse 10. Diverse weights and diverse measures, both of them are like an abomination to the Lord. And the upholding of the law of equal weights and measures is a duty of the magistrate and the king. So that reflects on that. Verse 18, every purpose is established by counsel and with good advice make war. Warfare is not to be entered into by private citizens, but it's something of the function of the nation of the state. And so therefore it's a function of kings when it comes to war, only to have proper counsel and good advice before ever embarking on such a process, such a significant event as war. Again, verse 23, we're again reminded of the diverse weights and measures. And then verse 30, the blueness of a wound cleanses away evil, so do stripes the inward parts of the belly. Here we see the civil magistrates empowerment to use chastisement on criminals. And so this proverb, chapter 20, these proverbs have a lot to do about the king. So let's look at this one in particular. Here we have synthetic parallelism. It says, a king that sits in the throne of judgment, scatters away all evil with his eyes. In other words, the king who in his office and fulfilling it faithfully as he sits on his throne of judgment, the result will be a faithful king carrying out his duty as he will scatter away all evil with his eyes. Now the king in the context of the Bible was the chief magistrate of the nation or the state. Today the term king is very rare, there are very few kings, but the principle of the king is the chief ruler, the chief magistrate, the governor, the prime minister, and the like are terms we use today. But it also applies to anyone who fulfills the role of a civil magistrate under under God in the particular state or country, whether they be a lesser magistrate or a higher magistrate. And so the idea here of a king sitting in the throne of judgment is the idea of the magistrate engaged in his work. That's what it means by sitting on the throne. The throne was the symbol of the office. And so it says, as a magistrate engages himself in his work of judgment, judgment referring to the process of justice wherein a judge fulfills his role of condemning and punishing evil. That's what they're there to do. The state was not established for welfare purposes. The state was not established to bring relief to the citizens of North Carolina and Tennessee. It's not their duty. They are ministers of wrath to evildoers. Mercy, in terms of charity, is the work of the people, of neighbors to one another. And those neighbors, by the way, will be far more faithful in helping you than FEMA. We have a lot of things mixed up. But this is the role of the civil ruler, to sit on a throne of judgment. Judgment referring to the process of establishing justice wherein the evil is punished and the righteous and the innocent are acquitted and defended. That's the role. The Bible would never imagine a phrase, a king that sits on the throne of charity, because that's not his office. This is a throne of judgment or justice. He says, the one who is involved in his office and legitimately carrying out his function of judgment will scatter away all evil with his eyes. The verb scatter here means to disperse, scatter, disperse something. And it was used of the process of winnowing. winnowing. What is the process of winnowing? Well, the winnowing process today takes place in our combines. They have all kinds of mechanisms there, so when the grain comes in into the combine through various motions and shakings and all that, the chaff is separated from the kernel and it kicked out the back of the combine and the good kernel goes into the hopper for use. But they didn't have combines back then. So they would harvest the grain by hand and then it would be put in a raised location where the wind could blow and they would beat it with flails Sometimes they would take an animal and draw a sled over it, a weight over it, and this would separate the wheat from the chaff. And then they would take a fork or a shovel and they would throw this mixture up into the air and the lighter chaff would blow away, right? It would be winnowed. So what was left was the good grain. And this is the picture here. It says they winnow all evil. with their eyes. This verb scattereth is used, for example, in the literal sense in Ruth 3.2. And now, is not Boaz our kindred with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth, or scattereth, exact same Hebrew word, he winnoweth barley tonight in the threshing floor. Isaiah 30 verse 24, the oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground shall eat clean provender which have been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan. There's our word, winnowed. Now it's used literally there but it's used metaphorically of judgment on evildoers in other passages in the Old Testament. This winnowing is the process of judgment upon evildoers where they are separated from the righteous and get their due. For example, the ungodly are not so, Psalm 1-4, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. That's a picture of winnowing. And here's a picture of judgment. The ungodly are like chaff and the wind drives them away. They're removed from the society, from the church, from the wherever, they're in a sense excommunicated, they are judged so that what is left are those who are righteous and faithful. In Isaiah 41, 15 to 16, behold, I will make a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth. Thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small and thou shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan, that is, winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them. And thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. So here's the picture of the wicked being judged, becoming like chaff, and the people of God who are being spoken of here, the ministers of God, will winnow them, and they will carry away the wicked. Therefore, to scatter away all evil in this verse means that the magistrate will winnow that is, he will look out in the courtroom or in the area of his jurisdiction, in his nation, in his city and town, he will be anxious to see all the chaff that's out there, that is, the evildoers, and when he finds that chaff, be it in a criminal trial or some other context, he will winnow them, he will separate them, he will judge them, he will remove them, because they are a contamination to the whole society. The word evil comes from a root that means to break in pieces. It indicates the nature of sin. It's breaking God's law. It's destructive. It breaks up order, security, happiness, and prosperity. As he sees these evildoers breaking up society, destroying order, and families, and happiness, and security, and prosperity, he sees them, and he takes note of them, and he winnows them out of the society by judgment. And the phrase with his eyes indicates the personal attention that he gives to it. But not just personal attention, but as he looks, it's with a penetrating wise insight and discernment. You see, kings and judges and rulers have to be men of eyes, that is, men of discernment. Not anybody will do. You have to have certain men as your civil magistrates. This is God's ideal being set here. They will be men of skill, wisdom, and experience, and integrity, like we saw in the previous verse. This is exactly the standards that God puts forward for civil rulers. The two classic texts on this is when Moses is being directed to set up the civil rulers within the society of the covenant people of the Old Testament. Here's what he says, moreover thou shall provide out of all the people able men such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds and rulers of fifties and rulers of ten. There we see the various chief and lower magistrates. This was restated in more direct or simpler terms or may say more compressed terms in Deuteronomy 1.13. Take you wise men and understanding and known among your tribes and I will make them rulers over you. Wise men, understanding men, and known. By the way, known there means proved. They're proven men of integrity. These are the people that are to be put over us and when we're ever in a situation of choosing our magistrates we have to be guided by this passage. The approach to voting for the Christian cannot be I have to vote for somebody which is the best or which is the least worst. We have to have a standard to guide us as Christians. Voting is an ethical act. And therefore, we are only to place our support or vote for able men, those who fear God. And by the way, it's in the Hebrew. It's not generic person, but males. Only males are called to be civil rulers in the Bible. This is not the generic term men or women, but specific Hebrew word for males. Able men. They fear God. They're men of truth. They hate covetousness. The worst thing to have in a ruler is covetousness because they use their office to enrich themselves. Place such over them. Only vote for wise men, understanding men who approve themselves already. They're to be our rulers. The point of the proverb then is to describe the civil magistrate here in terms of his work and his personal qualifications. He is the agent of God to punish evil and he's only qualified for the work if he has the right eyes, using the image of this verse. And what are those eyes? eyes that are guided by righteousness, wisdom, and eyes that have experience. Joseph Menger says this on the proverb, a king refers to a pious and an upright king. As I was saying, it's not just any king, but this is what a pious and upright king does. All evil, he says, is the Hebrew word ra, that it may be taken either in abstract or abstract or concrete sense. If the former is intended, then the meaning is that a king who acts as a king should do, and as a wise and righteous king will do, will exalt his power to banish, as much as possible, all evil, everything which is base, wicked, and corrupting from his dominions. If the latter is intended, then the sense is this, that such a king will expel from his kingdom or severely punish all wicked persons, so as effectively to put a stop to their iniquity. The difference is not material. As the former, that is the abstract sense of evil, and the latter, the concrete individual, are included together. The image of scattering is here taken, I'm still at Muncher. The image of scattering is here taken from the winnowing of grain. The phrase with his eyes would seem to indicate the diligence with which he scrutinizes and inquires into the wickedness which may exist in his dominions. And Alan Ross adds, the unrighteous, not the unrighteous, the righteous king discerns right from wrong. The first clause lays the foundation, and the second explains its outworking. The king in the ancient world was a judge, one whose counsel stood. This proverb names justice as the basis of his administration, and then uses the image of winnowing to show that he removes all evil from his realm. The verse could apply to any person in authority, but certainly the principle stands that just government roots out the evils of society. And then he adds this, unfortunately no government has ever lived up to this ideal, at least not fully. Now the proverb, there is a government that has lived up to it and is living up to it fully, and that is the government of our Lord Jesus Christ. The highest fulfillment of this proverb is found in the administration of our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, who now sits on the throne of God at his right hand. And as he rules the nations today, he's looking in his domains. He's looking at the evil that's there and he is going to winnow it. Now as we learned in the book of Revelation, that winnowing is often in cataclysmic events. There may be a measure of it going on all the time, but Israel was very wicked. They had rejected Christ, they had rejected the gospel of salvation, and then the winnowing reached its moment in the judgment of AD 70. But there were years where they seemed to be hampered by the judgment of God, but his time came. But in the book of Revelation, which is a book of that judgment of this king, remember these statements, his eyes, excuse me, his head and his hair were like white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes, was a flame of fire. And remember we looked at that, the penetrating, burning way of the dross, of the eyes. He could see to the very core of the heart of man and the whole situation was before him. His eyes saw and knew it all. And then in Revelation 19, 11 to 13, and I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he that sat upon him was called fateful and true and in righteousness does he judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire. On his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no man knew but himself. He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. There's our Christ fulfilling this proverb in perfection. One more. Who can say I've made my heart clean? I am pure from my sin. Here again we have a synthetic parallelism, where the question asked in the first line is then answered in what follows. Now the way the Hebrew text is constructed, the first line includes the question and the first part of the answer, while the second line continues that answer. But there's a synthesis here in that the second line is seen as the result of the first. What do we mean by that? Well, where does sin come from? The heart. And if you make your heart clean, then you'll be pure from sin. So that's sort of the consequence. Cleanse your heart, your life will be cleansed, as your actions will be cleansed. Because what you think, what you do, what you say comes out of your heart. But here we begin with another question. We saw a question in our first proverb, who can find? Here it says, who can say? This question is asked like the first one so that every reader will ask it not just of others but of themselves. Who can say, well, I know various people who can't say this, but don't think of various people, think of yourself. Can I say this? Well, what does it say? I've made my heart clean. This means a completed action. I have made, not I am making or I will make, but I have made it clean. So here's a claim that their heart has been purified, because that's what the word clean means. And it means moral purity, that there is no sin present in my heart. Now this word for clean, cleansing, purifying is used in three other proverbs where it speaks of cleansing one's ways or one's works, okay? But this one's not about ways or works but about the heart. The other is the outward, the things you do, places you go, things you say. This is the heart because you can cleanse your ways and works. But this is a claim to cleanse the heart, and that's very significant. The heart, as we have repeatedly said, is the inner man, the person of the thoughts, motives, and feelings that really make who we are. As I said, we may be able to cleanse, at least in certain degrees, our own ways and works, but who has ever been able to make their heart pure? We can suppress our sinful thoughts because accountability or the context demands that we do. But our hearts are still evil. There might be somebody that we, God forbid, hate. But we come to them when we smile and say, how are you doing, and act civil. But the sin is still there. So we can, in a sense, clean up our outward life. But this is about cleaning up the heart. Who has ever been able to do this is the question. And the answer is no one. Really this is rhetorical question whereby just by asking the question you have the answer. Because who has ever been able to make their heart pure? Where they have no sin in their thoughts, their motives are always pure, they always have a good attitude, their emotions are always pure, they never have lustful thoughts, No sinful anger, no worry, no coveting, never ever. The heart is completely pure. No doubts. No hatred. No coveting. Who has ever been in that position? The heart is very important because it's the center of our very being from which comes all the issues of life. By the way, the word Hebrew, word for heart, appears 91 times in Proverbs. And the first time, Proverbs 4, I don't know if it's the first, one of the first, Proverbs 4.23, keep thy heart with all diligence, guard it. with all the diligence you have, for out of it, from your heart, will be the issues of life. Issues here refers to the things that determine your life. Just as from the heart is pumped the blood that takes the nutrients and oxygen to the body that makes it live, so from your heart, in the sense of the place of your intellect, your emotions, and your will, what comes out of that will determine where you go, what you say, and what you do. Now this is an impossible claim, but those who make that claim must necessarily make the second claim. If your heart is pure, you can't sin, because all sin comes from the heart. It originates there. And so logically they say, I have made my heart clean. I am pure from sin. I don't have a problem with sin. That's the consequence. No contaminating elements of sin in my heart or my life. I am pure. Sin means to miss the mark of God's will. But there's a fundamental problem here that the scripture teaches and it's called original sin. Original sin is that man, because of the sin of Adam and Eve, are born in a state of separation from God morally and spiritually. Man is born with a heart that is bent to evil. It is not a pure heart that a child is born with. And those who are parents know that, and they see the sin in the child coming out before it's even possible to ascribe it to examples that they've seen or anything else that comes from within. No. That spirit, that disobedience, because the heart is corrupt. Jeremiah says it this way, can the Ethiopian change his skin? It would have been the dark black skin. Can he change it? Or the leopard his spots? Leopard was the way that the, not pelt, the hair, I don't know what the word, fur, Is Mark in a certain way that indicates a leopard? Well, of course, these are rhetorical questions. No, the Ethiopian cannot change his skin. No, the leopard cannot change his spots. And then it says this, then may you also do good that are accustomed to evil. In other words, can you cleanse your heart? Jeremiah says later in 1612, and you have done worse than your fathers. Behold, you walk everyone after the imagination of his evil heart. Jeremiah 17, nine, the heart is deceitful by nature. It's deceitful above all and desperately wicked. That's the heart by nature. Who can know it? Who really even understands how deceitful and wicked the heart is. Ecclesiastes says 9.3, this is an evil among all things that are done under the sun. If there was one event unto all, yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil and madness is in their heart while they live. And after that they go to the dead. Genesis 6.5, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination or the thoughts of his heart We're only evil continually. Psalm 51.5, David said, I was shaped in an iniquity and sinned and my mother conceived me. Job says, what is man that he should be clean and he which is born of woman that he should be righteous. And so the point of the proverb is to force all of us to consider and answer these questions in terms of ourselves. Every honest person knows the answer to these questions and that is no one. You know that. Is your heart pure? Never a doubt, never a bad thought, never a bad attitude, never a wrong motive. Obviously not. And therefore, since your heart isn't pure, certainly your life isn't and your sin far more sin than you would like to admit. Now, none of us can make these claims. But there is hope. It was found in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our time is up. You can read Romans 9, 3, excuse me, Romans chapter 3, 9 to 24, the tremendous state where Paul shows how all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There's none righteous, no, not one. But God in Christ has provided for the cleansing of our heart. First of all, the cleansing of guilt. in redemption. Secondly, the progressive cleansing of our hearts and our lives through sanctification. And then finally, the complete cleansing of our hearts from sin and any commission of sins in the eternal state of the resurrection. Matthew Henry says, this question is not only a challenge to any man in the world to prove himself sinless, whatever he pretends, but a lamentation of the corruption of mankind, even that which remains in the best, that is the best man. Alas, who can say, I am sinless? So observe, number one, who the persons are that are excluded from these pretensions, all. one as well as another. Here in this imperfect state no person whatsoever can pretend to be without sin. Adam could say so in his innocency and saints can say so in heaven but none in this life. Those that think themselves as good as they should be cannot nay and those that are really good will not dare say this. And then number two, what the pretension is that is excluded. We cannot say we have made our hearts clean, though we can say through grace we are cleaner than we have been. Yet we cannot say we are clean and pure from all remainders of sin. Or though we are clean from the gross acts of sin, yet we cannot say our hearts are clean. Or though we are washed and cleansed, yet we cannot say We ourselves made our hearts clean. It was the work of the Spirit. Or though we are pure from sins of many others, yet we cannot say we are pure from our sin, the sin that so easily besets us, the body of death, which Paul complained of in Romans 7, 24. Jesus said in Matthew 15, 28 to 29, but those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and they defile the man. For out of our heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, and blasphemies. And remember the Apostle John condemned In 1 John 1 through 10, it said, he who says he has no sin is a liar and the truth is not in him. The church has actually been plagued at times with people who teach a doctrine of sinless perfection. That is, after you are converted and then later at some moment of special grace or outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a second blessing, Christians can actually reach a state of sinless perfection in this life. No, my friends, this proverb and the rest of the Bible and the New Testament makes it very clear that in this life no one can ever say that. But what this also shows is that religion won't help you. Your good works, your outward works, which are only imperfect at the best, cannot commend you to God. You have an evil heart and you have a sinful life and you are going to enter into the presence of a holy God on your own? No, it is that just man, that man who walked in perfect integrity that must be your hope and your salvation. And this work of being divested of an evil heart begins in regeneration. Let's remember this, sin is the problem and justification is being cleansed from the guilt of sin. All of us are perfectly cleansed from that, the guilt, but not the old man and not sin itself yet. Because sanctification is the progressive victory over sin, never perfect in this life, This waits for glorification when we will finally be those who can say, by the way, maybe this will be one of the great statements, but it won't be able to be exactly like Proverbs 29. What we will be able to say is Christ has made my heart clean and now in the new heavens and the new earth, praise be to God, I am pure. from my sin. Amen. Christ alone. Lord, thank you for the Proverbs today that we have studied where we saw the pride that we have to proclaim our own goodness, but a faithful man who can find. The blessings to children and to others when we walk in integrity and justice. The role of the civil ruler to sit on a throne of justice and scatter away all evil. And this sobering proverb that shows us that we all have sin in our hearts and in our lives and that we cannot boast of that. All we can do is put our hope and trust in Christ Jesus. Amen.