Proverbs 6, verses 1-19 will be our text today. And as we continue through the book of Proverbs, we're really getting down into the nitty-gritty of life as we seek the wisdom to work out our worship into all of life. Remember that worship drives culture. Who God is and how we respond to Him, how we dwell before the face of a holy God, ultimately determines everything else about us. In the book of Proverbs, the father is teaching his son how to walk before the face of a holy God. How to walk the path that leads to life versus the path that leads to death. By the way, one point I hope has become very clear, even if I hadn't said it directly as he walked through the book of Proverbs, applying what we're learning both from the book of Hebrews and the book of Leviticus to ourselves and our worship and then working that out in our lives and wisdom. One point I hope that has become clear is that wisdom is never merely a matter of thinking the right thoughts, is it? It's also the skill of doing the right actions at the right time, of having the right judgments, to love what is good and true and beautiful, and to hate what is bad and false and ugly. The path of life is something that has to be lived. It has to be walked. There are real decisions that have to be made about we will do this and won't do that. There are real actions that have to be taken. There are real loves that have to be expressed. Faith in Christ and following Christ has to be lived. And that's what Proverbs, I believe, helps us to do. Now, in today's text, the father imparts to his son now three life lessons. Three life lessons, which really are very practical. but very important. Basically, if you want to walk the path of life, son, here are three things you need to know. The first one. If you want to walk the path of life, lesson one is don't get caught as security for a stranger's debts. Don't get caught as security for a stranger's debts. Verses 1-5. My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger, if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, Then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, hasten or humble yourself and plead urgently with your neighbor. Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber. Save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler. Don't get caught as security for a stranger's debts. And of course, the basic advice here is simple. If you have in some way pledged yourself to be responsible for someone else's debts, then you are in a dangerous position. This is not a good way to live life. If you have given your word even, it's talked about being snared in the words of your mouth. Or if you have shaken hands on a deal, we might say, the last part of verse 1 is literally, it's translated here, given your pledge is literally to strike hands. A way you might seal a deal, strike a bargain. Okay, I've agreed to this. If you have in some way done that, then get out of it before it eats you up. He says here, you are in the power of that person. You have come into the hand of your neighbor. You are within his power to do with as he pleases. In fact, he pictures the son here as in the position of a hunted animal. You're like a gazelle or a bird. He says, deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of a hunter. What does a gazelle do when it knows there's danger approaching? When it senses that that cheetah is trying to sneak up on it. It runs. It does everything in its power to get out of that situation. That's exactly what the father is teaching his son to do. In fact, the remedy that he gives shows how desperate the situation is. Because in verse three, he says, go humble yourself or hasten, literally means to step, but to hasten or to humble yourself. And it's translated here, plead urgently with your neighbor. We could even render it this way. And I did this for my own benefit as I was thinking about this passage this week. Go humble yourself and storm your neighbor. Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber. The idea is press the attack almost. That's literally the kind of idea that he's giving. Like you would storm a citadel. That's what you're supposed to do to the person in whose power you are at this point. You press your attack. You do whatever you can to get out of the situation you find yourself in because you're in a very dangerous situation. Don't even sleep, he says, until you have gained your freedom. Proverbs 22, 26 reinforces this teaching. Be not one of those who gives pledges, who puts up security for debts. Don't be like that. Don't live your life that way. That is a foolish way to live if you want to walk the path of life. And so that moves us to ask, how might this happen? Well, the most immediate and obvious answer for us today is something like co-signing for a loan. You know, if you cosign for a loan for somebody else, legally obligating yourself to pay the debt if the person contracting the loan fails to do so, then you're putting yourself in this kind of a situation. For example, a parent. You have an 18-year-old child who wants to buy a car, has a job now, but doesn't have any established credit, doesn't have the money on hand, and so the automobile dealership says, well, Well, you know, we'll sell you this car on credit if your parents will sign for it with you. There'll be cosigners on the loan basically obligating them. If you don't pay, then they're legally liable to pay the debt. That's the kind of a situation that this would involve. And of course, this teaching here in this text shows how unwise that is. But I want to meditate on this text a little bit more here to Just to think about it, because I think it pushes us toward transforming our view of money and our lives so that Jesus is Lord and not mammon. So that love rules our lives and relationships and the way we use our money and our relationships and not selfishness. Something like putting up security, becoming surety, putting up a pledge for someone else, it could involve something like foolish business partnerships. who hasn't heard stories of somebody entering into a business relationship whereby they contract the obligations of the partner and then they get left holding the bag and have to pay it all back. These kinds of things happen actually fairly regularly. And therefore, I think the father just giving his son even good business advice, if you want to live a good life and have financial success, this isn't the way to do it. Don't go this route. I think this teaching should also make a hard look at many of our current financial arrangements just to ask some questions to make us think about things. Should, for instance, a government entity become security for someone else's loans for, say, housing or education? Should is that wise or is that prudent? What about the common practice today of civil governments routinely going into debt And I would suggest thereby, in effect, putting up the productive labor of their citizenry as security. That's really what they have to bank on, isn't it? How does a typical national government in our day get its money? Well, it can be in a number of ways that governments have done that through the years. One of the worst ways, of course, is going to war. Somebody else has something I need and I want. I find a reason to get it. So I go take it. Okay, that's one way that sometimes this happens. Another way can be through inflating the money supply, right? If they have the power of the press, so to speak, the power of printing money, well, then you just make more of it. And unfortunately, in our current system, it is totally based on debt, whereby the Federal Reserve buys the debt and produces the money, the currency that we use But what is the government doing by doing that? They're really debasing the currency that the people in that nation use. They're in effect taking that value. Here, let me use that. I know you have that money in the bank, but here, let me use some of that. I'll just make it look like you still have the same amount of money, see? I'm just using the value from it. That's really the way it works. Another way they can do it is through taxation. Of course, that can be a a legitimate means of a government raising revenue. God has given them that authority. But that tells us then, if a government entity goes into debt, that is, they're banking on some future something that they're telling their creditors, we're going to repay you with, where are they going to get that? It's going to come from the people in one way or another. We should ask ourselves, are we willing to be put up as security for a government's debt? Maybe we shouldn't think that's such a good thing, huh? You see, this can happen in any number of ways. And in fact, I would suggest that a government going into debt in that fashion is normally a failure of love, a failure of love. It is selfish, even if it appears to be done for the good of others. There are many ways to violate the wisdom in our text. So let's meditate further then and ask, what's the difference here? If this is something so crucial and so important that the Father wants to teach this wisdom to His Son for life, and we have to watch out for many ways we can go wrong in it, let's ask ourselves this, what's the difference here between being generous and giving to people on the one hand and being security for someone on the other? In other words, we're starting to ask ourselves really, how could we do things well? What does God call us to, really, as Christians, even in the use of our money? I would submit that the bottom line difference between these two things we're talking about really is love for your neighbor, trusting in God and loving your neighbor. One example of this, I think we can find from the life of the Apostle Paul in Philemon, verses 18 and 19. You know the story of Philemon, how the Apostle Paul wrote to him, who was apparently a fairly wealthy Christian, One of his slaves had run away, was named Onesimus, had come to where the Apostle Paul was in Rome. And by the grace of God, Onesimus had been converted, come to know Christ. And now the Apostle Paul is sending Onesimus back to Philemon. But when he sends him back, part of the message he sends back to him is this. If he, that's Onesimus, has wronged you at all or owes you anything, Charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it. Paul has just obligated himself for Onesimus' debts. He said, Hey, don't charge him. Charge me. I'll pay what he owes you. Now, is that the same thing as what we're talking about here in our text? I think we should notice the differences because one is the example of how a Christian ought to live. versus how is a foolish way to live. Paul did not say that he would be a guarantor if Onesimus could not pay, did he? He just said, I'll pay it. Give that debt to me. It's mine. He said he would pay. Also, Paul made no guarantee for Onesimus' future debts should any arise, did he? He didn't say, I'm going to put myself on the hook here, so to speak. You know, bills he racks up, I'll be liable for them. If Onesimus were to do something foolish in the future, the Apostle Paul's not talking about that. What he is actually, what we are seeing here is a great example of forgiveness and generosity, restoration, not an example of putting up security. So what Paul is doing really is instead of perpetuating the bondage of debt, Paul is eliminating it out of love. He's doing the good thing in the situation. to give Onesimus the right start that he needs. Onesimus did need help. He did need somebody to forgive him of his past wrongs and to get him started, so to speak, in what was right. And apparently for the Apostle Paul, that even went so far as that he was willing to take money out of his own pocketbook, so to speak, and help Onesimus out to get him started on the right path. He was willing to do that. That's a great example of Christian love, Christian charity. So, in other words, be generous with what you have. but don't gamble with what you don't have. That's what putting yourself up for security is all about. So, to come back to the example of co-signing for an automobile loan, let's ask, why would you do something like that? Well, presumably, you would do it to help that person out. He needs a car, right? And so, I'm doing this to be helpful. But we ask ourselves, is that a wise and loving way to do it? Again, let's just put ourselves in the position of a parent. If that's your child and he needs a car, would that be the wise way to help him get one? Or could we not think of other options? Could you let him borrow your vehicle to get to work for a while until he can save up enough money of his own to actually buy a car and not have to go into debt for it? Now, that might mean some inconvenience on your part. That might be tough juggling family schedules and, you know, the whole bit. But why not try that route? In fact, ask yourselves this. Why would you put him, your child, in the power of the lender if you have the resources to help him out? And, on the other hand, if you don't have the resources to help him out, then why in the world would you cosign for a loan? If you don't have the resources, you shouldn't be putting yourself in that position. You see, either way you look at it, it's just not wise. The father is teaching his son that. Don't go that route. Yeah, it looks easy, looks simple. They'll paint it for you. All the lenders will show. This is so easy, so simple. See, no pain now. You can just pay this off over the next three years in so many simple installments of this much money. Right? And the father is saying, see through that. Don't get sucked up into that. That's not the wise way to live. In fact, it's not just that it will be detrimental to you, I believe. It's that we're really starting to shape our lives and our loves in the wrong direction. You see, the loving thing to do with all charity is to provide in such a way that it enables the one who needs help to become what God has made them to be, to become self-sufficient. Putting a person in bondage to a lender and yourself in danger, too, is not a wise and a loving thing to do. I think ultimately, if we want to be free from the snare of being security for someone else's debts, it's not sufficient to simply say, I won't cosign for a loan. The fundamental issue is to trust in Jesus and to love your neighbor. And what you're doing then is you're transforming human relationships from using other people for what you can get out of them, which is really the paradigm of the lender-borrower relationship, to enriching them by the way you help them. You're transforming human relationships from being ordered toward selfishness to being ordered toward love. It would be much better to simply give somebody the money than to put yourself in debt with them as cosigner for a loan. If you want to understand the eternal direction of life and what human relationships are really for, don't enter into that kind of relationship with somebody. If you've got to do it, enter into this kind of relationship. Just give them the money. I'm not saying you have to give them the money in every situation, but just recognize that it would be much better in terms of eternal value to go that route. The world won't teach you that. Wisdom will. You see, you're transforming human relationships from selfishness toward love. That's the difference between worldly relationships and Christian relationships. And so the father teaches his son here a basic lesson. If you want to walk the path of life, don't get caught in this whole whirlpool of being security for somebody else's debts. You're just setting your life on a wrong track. You're setting your relationships on the wrong way. Now let's show the world a different way in dealing with debt. That's lesson number one. If you want to walk the path of life. Lesson number two. If you want to walk the path of life, don't be a sluggard. Verses 6-11. Go to the aunt, O sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber and want like an armed man. Don't be a sluggard. In fact, the Father says here, be like an ant. Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways. Think about how she operates. That's what you need. And that can be a little bit humiliating, actually. You know, this son is probably a young man. Who knows, maybe he's 15, maybe he's 20. And he knows a lot, right? He's ready to tackle life. At least a lot of 15 to 20 year olds, we feel like that. And what does his father tell him to go learn from? An aunt. You say, go to college. and get really smart professors that have three or four PhDs and learn from them. And then you'll learn a very important life lesson. No, not that it's wrong to learn, but what did he say? Go to an ant. This is where you need to pay attention to, and you'll learn a crucial life lesson. What is the ant like? Well, an ant is diligent, hardworking, takes initiative, and prepares for the future. Ants get on things. If there's something that has to be done and do it just like that. I learned this lesson myself one time in a sort of a painful way when I was hired as I was, I don't know, probably about 12 years old to paint a corral for a man. He, he trained horses. He wanted his corral painted. And so he hired me to do the job. was trying to help me out actually, trying to teach me a lot. He actually had me bid on the job. Say, how long do you think it'll take you to do this job? I hadn't the foggiest clue, but he, so I, thankfully he did not pay me the way I bid the job. It would have been a really bad deal for me. But he had me paint his corral, and one section of it, there was an irrigation ditch running by that was full of water. And the corral was right up next to it. There, right on the edge of the irrigation ditch and really going all around a post and on into the corral was a huge ant pile. And so I was supposed to paint this and I couldn't figure out how to paint this post without getting into the ant pile. I thought about selling a bunch of water from the irrigation ditch onto the ant pile and drown them all before I got there, but I couldn't do that. I didn't have anything to do it with. So I finally just decided, you know, I'll just get in there and paint it real fast. and then get out. And I might get a few ants, but that won't be a big deal. Well, as I found out, ants get on things fast. I wasn't supposed to be in their ant pile and they didn't like it. And so I ended up with the proverbial ants in your pants. I mean, for real, right? All right. Well, we got the job done, but I learned something from the ant there. An ant gets the job done. A sluggered, on the other hand, can find every excuse in the book to get out of what seems like hard work to him. He hates work. He makes excuses. He procrastinates. As it so poetically pictures it here, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest. Isn't that the way the sluggard always puts it? He doesn't say, I'm going to lay around here all day long. Oh, just a little longer. You know, just a little bit more. I'll get to that in a little bit. And what happens? In fact, sometimes you look at life, you watch folks, and you think it's amazing how hard some people work not to work. They just actually work. They find out this actually works. But here today, especially young people, let's just take one room in your house as a test case for slothfulness or ant-like qualities. Let's pick your bedroom. All right? What does your bedroom say about your character. Children, does your mother have to say to you in the morning the words of v. 9, How long will you lie there, O sluggard? Is that what your mother has to say in the morning? Or, are you ready to go? Are you up and at the work of the day? Or does she have to say things like, How long will your clothes lie in a heap on the floor instead of being in your drawer? What does an ant do? They get on the job. They get it done. A sluggard, on the other hand, says, Oh, I'll get to that sometime sooner or later when it's more convenient. OK, when you have chores to do, get them done. Do it right now. Finish the job. Don't put it off. Simple, simple character qualities, but that are absolutely crucial for life. And so young people, I challenge you today to train yourself in the habit of being an ant-like person, not a sluggard. This will go far if you want to walk the path of life. Train yourself, for instance, in the habit of rising early in the morning and getting to work. Accomplishing the job that's set before you instead of finding ways to get out of it or finding something else that seems a little bit easier to do than what you actually have to do right now. Homework, you name it. Just do it. Tackle the job. That is a great, great character quality, and it will go far. You know, many young people have never learned actually how fulfilling hard work is. We work so hard to get out of it, and we really, I think, cut ourselves out of a blessing. There's nothing as fulfilling as a tough job well done, is there? There's nothing like that. You can lay around and play games all day long and you'll never feel as good as you do when you tackle a job and do it well. And that's what the father is teaching his son here. Another aspect of this is preparing for the future. What does he say about the aunt? Without having any chief officer or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. When it's the time to work, she works because she knows there's a time coming when I won't have this and I'll need what I've prepared. Prepare for the future. Even an aunt who doesn't even have somebody standing over them saying, do this. God has put it in them to know this. You should be able to know this, son. He says, prepare for the future. And I would challenge actually all of us here today to have this character quality for the sake of Christ, for the sake of his mission, for the sake of his church, for the sake of Christ's testimony, not to mention yourself. Be a people who prepare, who work hard and prepare for the future. I'm not saying, of course, trust in earthly riches. You know, amass yourself a bunch of stuff because that's my security blanket. Obviously, earthly riches can fly away at a moment's notice, and they actually all will go away someday, won't they? At the same time, if we're seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you can fully trust in Christ and still prepare to fulfill all your responsibilities in this world. That's what a godly person does. In fact, I'd like us to think long term as a congregation so that we can break many of the faulty cycles that are so prevalent. I'd like to see the day when our children can grow up and pay cash for their homes and their cars and not have to get in debt for things, whatever else they need in life. You see, I'd say this. Those who prepare well are actually better at investing their resources in the Kingdom of Heaven. You look at it, and I think you could probably trace this out. Those who know how to prepare well are actually those who are equipped then to give well to the cause of Christ. They don't fear like the wise woman in Proverbs 31 who doesn't fear for the cold for her household because she's prepared well. And therefore, she's equipped well to give. to invest your resources in what matters eternally. Those who prepare for the future can consistently and generously give. It's people who have taken stock of their lives well. They know what their responsibilities are before God. They plan for them, they prepare for them, they work hard to achieve them, and they use all their resources then for the glory of God and the good of others throughout all of life. This is a wise, wise thing. And the Father knows this. He's teaching His Son this. The Spirit is teaching us this today. When we don't prepare for the future, we face the real consequences of being lazy, as verse 11 says. Poverty will come upon you like a robber and want like an armed man. It won't matter if you don't want poverty to come at that point, because it's going to come. It's going to come whether you want it to come or not. But remember this too. Unlike ants, We have a much greater purpose in life than they do, don't we? And if God has made ants to be able to do this kind of thing, how much more ought we, as creatures made in his image, redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, who are ultimately aimed toward, our lives are aimed toward, his eternal kingdom, how much more should we learn to be diligent? I think, again, young people, when you learn to be diligent, you are training your soul for eternal happiness. You're training yourself in the way of faith and endurance. You're learning to turn away from the immediate gratification of your desires. And to plan for what has to happen. That's a great, a great way to allow the spirit of God to form Christ in you. Apostle Paul said to me, to live is Christ. And I think those who have that same mindset, who follow Paul's example, will work out their salvation with fear and trembling. The opposite of that slothfulness, sluggardliness, is that a word? Is the slippery slope to hell. Hebrews chapter six put it this way. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have full assurance of hope unto the end so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. If you want to walk the path of life, you can't be a sluggard. That's what the father is teaching his son here. Now, lesson number three. Lesson number three. It comes out in verses 12 through 15, but it's also reinforced in verses 16 through 19. And here the lesson is, watch out for the worthless man who sows discord. A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger. With perverted heart, devises evil, continually sowing discord. Therefore, calamity will come upon him suddenly. In a moment, he will be broken beyond healing. A worthless man is here, a wicked man, a troublemaker, a schemer, a plotter. And he uses everything about himself to try to use other people to get what he wants out of them. It talks about his whole self in terms of his speech, his eyes, his feet, his fingers, his heart. What his heart really is, which is perverted and twisted, devising evil, comes out in the way he interacts with other people. And ultimately then, he is a man who is continually sowing discord. Proverbs 16.27 gives further insight on this kind of a man when it says, A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. It burns people up. This man devises evil and he communicates it. He's cunning, he's subtle, but his speech is one major way he works, and he uses it to sow discord or dissension and strife. And this is truly a grave evil. If you felt the brunt of it, you have a good idea of why the father is warning his son against this. In fact, the next section here, verses 16 through 19, emphasize how great this evil is of sowing discord. And it does it in this way. It says there are six things the Lord hates. They're an abomination to Him. There are things He simply despises that cannot be in His presence. Remember, go back to the book of Leviticus. When we preached through that, we talked about the abominations in Leviticus. Well, here are things the Lord hates. They are not fit to be in His presence in any way. But by the way, the list is set up. It says there are six, yay, seven. And that way of doing it highlights the seventh aspect, doesn't it? And what's the seventh thing in this list of things the Lord hates? Verse 19, one who sows discord among brothers. God absolutely despises that. He will not allow that in his presence. It's a grave evil to sow discord among brothers. You see, God made us for one another. God made us for love and ultimately for love with himself. And a worthless man is going to be accomplishing the antithesis of that, the antithesis of love. He's tearing people apart. He's setting people against each other. God hates that. It's the opposite of his character and what he wants to be ours. And that's why this kind of a man is a grave danger to any group of people. Take a nation. A civic body. It can be torn apart from the inside out by leaders who practice the politics of envy, who set people apart from one another. They work by class warfare and envy. See those people, see they have money and you should have that too. Elect me and I'll get it for you. In effect. Right. Watch out for that kind of a man. The father is teaching his son. He's a worthless man. He's going to sow discord. It can work in churches. A church can be shredded by this kind of a person. Gossip, innuendo, slander, lies, even evil speech of all kinds. Oftentimes, these kind of people in churches look good, look very knowing. Very spiritual. And they can show why everybody else is wrong about things. And they start to spread their rumors and their innuendos about others. And pretty soon, the church is polarizing. And pretty soon, it's not accomplishing, it's not manifesting the glory of God, it's not accomplishing the mission of Christ, if it even survives. It can work in a family. As a father might tell his son, you certainly don't want to marry this kind of a person. Watch out. If this kind of a person is working in a family, bitterness, strife, anger, backbiting, always assuming wrong motives about somebody else. Why did they do that? Why didn't they do this? And you can never win, right? Because there's always something wrong. A worthless person is this way. And the father is teaching his son, watch out, watch out for this worthless person. Now, he also teaches his son that the worthless person will face God's judgment. Therefore, calamity will come upon him suddenly. In a moment, he will be broken beyond healing. In effect, what he sows, he will reap. Calamity will come upon him. He will be broken. There will be no hope of repair. So the clear implication of this teaching is make sure you're not a worthless man, of course, on the one hand yourself. but also watch out for worthless people. These are not the kind of people you want to be tied in with if you want to walk the path of life. They will drag you down. Don't go that way. And so three life lessons. Very simple, very practical. The three life lessons that we all need if we're going to walk the path of life. Don't get caught as security for another's debts. Don't be a sluggard. and watch out for a worthless man who sows discord. Instead, if we were to end on a positive note, I think what all of these Proverbs call us to is, seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Trust God in your finances, in your relationships, and love your neighbor. Walk in the Spirit. This is true life. And that flows out into how we use our money. That flows out into our hard work in life. That flows out into being able to avoid the wrong kind of people in life. That's the wisdom the scripture has for us today.