Tucker Presbyterian Church Sermons Tucker Presbyterian Church

This morning, we’ll be considering the Proverbs theme of justice and injustice. Please take out your Proverbs insert. By the way, I think we’ll be wrapping up Proverbs by the end of June. We have a few themes left and a couple of concluding chapters.
Our verses today are organized into three groupings. Determining Justice, Defending Justice, and Denying Justice. In other words, what is justice and injustice? And how do we uphold justice and avoid injustice?
Reading of selected Proverbs
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Determining Justice
11:1 A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight.
16:8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.
16:11 A just balance and scales are the LORD's; all the weights in the bag are his work.
17:23 The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.
18:17 The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.
20:10 Unequal weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the LORD.
20:14 “Bad, bad,” says the buyer, but when he goes away, then he boasts.
20:23 Unequal weights are an abomination to the LORD, and false scales are not good.
21:15 When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.
22:8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail.
24:12 If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?
24:23 These also are sayings of the wise. Partiality in judging is not good.
28:5 Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.
28:21 To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong.

Defending Justice
16:10 An oracle is on the lips of a king; his mouth does not sin in judgment.
16:12 It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.
16:14 A king's wrath is a messenger of death, and a wise man will appease it.
16:15 In the light of a king's face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain.
20:8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment winnows all evil with his eyes.
20:26 A wise king winnows the wicked and drives the wheel over them.
24:10 If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.
24:11 Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
25:1 These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.
25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.
25:3 As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable.
25:4 Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel;
25:5 take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.
28:2 When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue.
29:4 By justice a king builds up the land, but he who exacts gifts tears it down.
29:12 If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked.

Denying Justice
13:23 The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice.
14:31 Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
18:5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice.
22:16 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.
22:22 Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate,
22:23 for the LORD will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them.
22:28 Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.
23:10 Do not move an ancient landmark or ent

Please take out the Proverbs insert in your bulletin.
You can see on the front page that we are in the last third of our study. I did want to note two things.
1. First, we skipped over the one titled Financial Wisdom, Giving, and Wealth. A couple of you have asked about that. Tim Townsend will be preaching on that one later next month and it has just been a matter of timing. Stay tuned.
2. Second, our theme today is on words. There are a many many proverbs that relate to our words. We’ve already covered some of them like honesty and deceit. Several of the other themes include proverbs about our words as they relate to the specific theme. The proverbs today are more foundational to our speech. Open up the insert and look at Proverbs 18:21. It’s there on the right-hand side. It begins, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” That pretty much captures our focus this morning.
Let’s now consider these specific Proverbs.
Reading of selected proverbs:
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10:11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
10:19 When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
10:20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
10:31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.
10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.
11:9 With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.
12:18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
12:25 Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.
13:2 From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence.
13:3 Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
15:4 A gentle[z] tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
15:23 To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!
16:13 Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves him who speaks what is right.
16:21 The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.
16:23 The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips.
16:24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.
17:27 Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
18:4 The words of a man's mouth are deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
18:8 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.
18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
20:19 Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.[i]
21:23 Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.
25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.
26:2 Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.
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Prayer
Last summer, while visiting Washington DC, we stopped by the National Archives. There we saw the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. They are all housed in a huge rotunda. The original documents are displayed in special cases around the room. And it’s very dimly lit to preserve the fading script… but even that adds to the gravity of the revered texts. They indeed are national treasures.
But besides that, do you know what they are?
Words. Mere words.
Yet, these words created a nation.
It’s tempting to think that the most powerful tools on the plant are weapons

We’re resuming our Proverbs study this morning.
This is our 26th sermon in the book of Proverbs. We’ve learned a lot of things about wisdom and foolishness and righteousness and wickedness.
Before we begin, I wanted to take a few minutes and summarize our Proverbs series to date. It will be helpful for our study today.
1.   First, while Proverbs does give us day to day wisdom for life’s decisions, it goes way beyond that. Proverbs teaches us how to understand life and death and good and evil and the world and God. In fact, the foundation to making day to day life decisions is understanding God, his world, and his word. Let me put it this way: Proverbs reveals a worldview for living.
2.   Second, we learned that wisdom is a lifetime pursuit. It is a path. The path of wisdom calls us to pursue God’s wisdom and his righteousness. And when we do, we will grow in discernment of what is good and right and true.
3.   Third, Proverbs reveals that there is not just one path. There are two divergent paths of life. The first path, as I mentioned, is the path of wisdom and righteousness. The second path is the path of foolishness and wickedness. Our thematic sermons starting in chapter 10 have been expanding our understanding of each path. Remember, foolishness and wickedness relate, but they are different. Foolishness is actively or passively ignoring God’s commands and his law. Wickedness and evil are hostile to them and often to the detriment of others. So, two paths. And we are called to walk the path of wisdom and righteousness.
4.   Fourth, and this is very important. The path of wisdom begins with fearing the Lord. That is where Proverbs began – fear the Lord. And we’ve seen that phrase over and over. In fact, listen for it in our verses today. Fearing the Lord means recognizing who he is as the sovereign, holy, and just God; it means trusting in him, honoring him, and reverently worshiping him. And we fear the Lord through faith in Christ. The promises of God which are fulfilled in Christ are all throughout the Proverbs. We’ve seen that in each chapter and each theme. He is wisdom personified. Jesus models perfect righteousness. He leads us down the path of righteousness. Jesus is the one who at the end of our life on earth, will preserve us for eternity… as Proverbs promises. The fear of the Lord, which comes through Christ, is the first step on the path of wisdom. But it’s the first of many steps on the path.
5.   Fifth, and last - you can fear the Lord, yet stumble down the path of wisdom. You can get stuck in a rut; you can be on the path of wisdom but do foolish things. And that will lead to struggles and difficulty in life. In other words, believing in Christ does not mean you coast to the end. No, God calls us in Proverbs to continue pursuing what is good and true and right. Remember, Solomon is writing primarily to his sons. Besides teaching them about God and wisdom generally, Solomon want’s his sons to prosper in the wisdom and righteousness of God. He wants them to make wise decisions in life, and Solomon warns them about foolish and wicked decisions.
Let me recap: (1) Proverbs gives us God’s worldview for living. (2) It teaches us that that the path of wisdom is a lifetime pursuit. (3) we’ve learned about the divergent path of foolishness and wickedness. (4) We’re given the starting place, which is to fear the Lord, and (5) We’re exhorted to persevere on the path of wisdom and righteousness and warned about the consequences of not following it. That last point, #5, is where our verses today fit within Proverbs as a whole - warnings about wickedness and exhortations about righteousness.
I know that was a very long preamble, but I wanted to make sure that we understand these verses in the context of Proverbs.
Please take out the Proverbs insert in your bulletin and turn to the inside.
As I read, listen for those encouragements about pursuing righteousness and th

Thank you to our instrumentalists and choir. Especially Oscar and David.
For the last few months, we’ve been studying the book of Proverbs. It’s one of the wisdom books in the Bible and it is full of wisdom for life. I think that’s a good summary of Proverbs – wisdom for life.
Some of you are joining us for the first time this morning, and so let me give a quick synopsis. Last fall, we considered the opening 9 chapters of Proverbs. Those contain 12 foundational lessons about wisdom. Those lessons answered the questions, What is wisdom? Why do we need wisdom? And Where do we find wisdom? We were also warned about folly and evil.
When we got to chapter 10, instead of taking the proverbs in order, we began considering the themes found in chapters 10-31. 
If you’ll take out the Proverbs insert in your bulletin, you’ll see those themes listed and the number of verses in each.
We’ve completed the ones with the check boxes. As you can see, we are about half-way through. Proverbs includes two major thematic contrasts. The first is wisdom versus foolishness. And the second is righteousness versus wickedness. We’ve made it through most of the categories related to wisdom and foolishness and today we are beginning the second major contrast.
Let me note that the differences between foolishness and wickedness are not always a hard line. However, there are a few important differences I want to highlight. 
• The two Hebrew words for folly indicate either an active or passive disregard for truth and morality. A fool, as Proverbs describes, is someone who doesn’t care about living with integrity or pursuing what is good and right and true according to God. The actions or inaction of a fool do affect others but more as a consequence of their foolishness.
• Wickedness, on the other hand, is hostile. The underlying Hebrew word for wickedness includes violence and evil perpetrated against someone. A wicked person as Proverbs describes is someone guilty of intentional injustice according to God’s standard.
Hopefully that helps as we now consider the contrast of wickedness and righteousness.
By the way, there are an overwhelming number of verses about righteousness and wickedness. Because of that we’ll consider them in 3 sermons.
Now, you may be thinking – an Easter Sermon about righteousness and wickedness? It’s true! As I’m reading the verses, I want you to be thinking about the resurrection and I think you’ll see how they relate.
That’s a long preamble but hopefully it orients you to these verses and theme.
If you’ll open up your Proverbs insert, let’s now consider God’s Word.
Stand
Reading od Selected Proverbs
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(1) The heart of evil and righteousness
11:20 Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the LORD, but those of blameless ways are his delight.
12:26 One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
13:5 The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace.
12:3 No one is established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous will never be moved.
21:10 The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.
24:8 Whoever plans to do evil will be called a schemer.
29:7 A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.
29:10 Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless and seek the life of the upright.
29:24 The partner of a thief hates his own life; he hears the curse, but discloses nothing.

(2) The way of evil and righteousness
10:6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
11:5 The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.
11:13 Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.
12:6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the mouth of the u

Acts 18:1-11
Many in this City Are My People
We’re taking a one week break today from our Proverbs study. Next week, we’ll resume. It will be an Easter sermon from Proverbs. That’ll be interesting.
But today, as part of our focus on outreach, I wanted to consider the call and importance of Gospel ministry to the community in which God has placed us.
To do that, we are going back to the book of Acts. Our very first sermon series was in Acts. Acts gives us the beginnings of the church after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. In it, we learn a lot about missions and ministry. Acts testifies to the apostles and early Christians fulfilling the great commission.
From a macro view, we see the Gospel spreading from region to region. And from a micro view, we see how God directs ministry in a city.
That’s what we’ll be doing today. Zooming in on the city of Corinth to see how God uses his people to reach his people.
Our text this morning is from Acts 18. We’ll be reading verses 1-11 but mainly focusing on verses 5-11. You can find that on page 1102 in the pew Bible.
The first time I preached this chapter, we considered verses 1-17, and I remember wishing I had more time to focus on the middle section, so that’s what we’ll be doing today.
Reading of Acts 18:1-11
Prayer
Every city in the ancient world had a unique characteristic. Rome, for example, was the seat of authority in the whole region – the center of the Roman empire. Ephesus boasted of its entertainment and sport. The heart of Athens was its philosophical and religious beliefs. The city of Antioch brought trade and traders from east and west. And Corinth was the city of sensuality. I think nearly every commentator I’ve read and every sermon I’ve heard about Corinth calls it the Las Vegas of the ancient world. A city caught up in the worship of sexual gods with an anything-goes promiscuous culture.
We don’t know for sure what the apostle Paul was thinking when he arrived in Corinth. But we do know that he had just come from Athens. And Athens had been a let-down for Paul. Athens was the only major city where Paul did not plant a church. Furthermore, he left Athens after only a small handful of people believed. And he headed to Corinth, only 50 miles away,.. another major city with its own idolatry.
So, I think likely, Paul felt apprehensive about how he would be received. But nonetheless, he persevered in his calling. And just like in other cities, he began by going to the Jewish synagogue. Look what it says in verse 4. Every sabbath, he went to the synagogue to try and persuade the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks to believe.
And what happened? Well, Paul’s fears were realized. They would not believe! In fact, verse 6 says they “opposed and reviled” Paul. They didn’t just ignore Paul. They actively opposed him. That’s a strong word there. Reviled. It means to actively defame someone by insulting or slandering or cursing them. Of course, this response wasn’t new for Paul, but given the let-down in Athens, Paul was aggravated.
Look at his response at the end of verse 6. “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” As he was saying that, he shook off the dust of his garments. If you won’t believe, then that’s on you! You see, he desperately wanted them to believe, but they didn’t and he was disappointed because they rejected the truth.
Can you relate? Maybe you don’t have the passion of the apostle Paul. But have you ever felt like your words were falling on deaf ears - those in your family; your neighbors; your co-workers. You’ve shared your faith. You’ve sought to be faithful. You wanted to see others come to faith, but it seemed like your efforts were wasted. Have you ever wanted to say or think what the apostle Paul said? “I’m giving up on you!” For Paul, it was, “forget you Jews! I’m now going to the Gentiles.”
Now, if you take that verse out of co

Selected Proverbs