A Fool Follows Their Heart

Good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day we get together, we get into God's Word. We have some coffee, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. Why don't we have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word today. Let's pray. Oh Father, we thank you so much for your Word. Lord, we thank you that your Word is given from your very own mouth, that you correct us, that you rebuke us, that you teach us and that you train us. Lord, we pray that your spirit would do this this morning in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right, Proverbs chapter 28, verses 18 through the end of the chapter. Let's go there together. Whoever walks blamelessly will be saved, but he who is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall. You know, we can read this verse in a way that's very legalistic. thinking, oh, we can be blameless. Oh, we can walk perfectly. Oh, I can walk before the Lord. And maybe you've thought that about yourself. Maybe you've thought, yeah, I'm not too bad.
Problem is the Lord doesn't grade on a curve. My way is not blameless. There's all sorts of sins of ignorance that I've committed. I know that I've hurt people, said things that have not been kind to people and didn't even know it. Things that I've done, that I've had to apologize for.
So where do we go? If our way is blameless, if we won't walk before the Lord, and He won't receive us in His sight because we're sinful, how can we stand before Him? Well, He clothes us in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. There's a great swap that happens. On that cross, Jesus was the perfect man, and we were the sinful ones. And Jesus took our sinfulness, and Jesus gave us His righteousness. Our only hope is to cling to the righteousness of Christ. Verse 19.
He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough. It's just one of those proverbs of common sense. Work hard. If you're a farmer, work hard in your field. Yeah, the Lord produces the income. Someone could try to steal your land. There's all sorts of plight and famines and droughts and things like that. But if you work hard, generally, you'll get your reward. If you work hard, you'll make an income.
Verse 20, a faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. was just talking about this is saying don't be quick to get above people don't be quick to make dishonest gain but be faithful in your work be diligent show up every day ready to work put in a good hard days honest work and it will go well with you you'll be a valuable employee a valuable boss a value a valuable contributor to our your nation's economy but if you're just trying to get rich quick You're not going to go unpunished. If you cut corners, if you are tricking people, it's not going to go well for you. Eventually the house of cards is going to fall.
Verse 21, to show partiality is not good because for a piece of bread, a man will transgress. What is it saying here? This is saying that you're not supposed to show partiality, you know, for one guy in front of the other guy, because when people are hungry, when people have needs, they'll sin to even fulfill those needs. This is why elsewhere in the Proverbs it talks about the poor man when he steals isn't despised. Why? Because he's just trying to get what he needs. And if partiality is taking from the poor and giving it to the rich, the poor man needs to survive and he's going to do what he needs to do. This is the reality of what oppression drives people towards. Verse 22, a man with an evil eye hastens after riches and does not consider that poverty will come upon him.
Don't set your eyes upon riches. Don't set your eyes upon your heart's desire upon the things of this world. Jesus specifically said there is a soil in which the seed of the gospel might be planted, but the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth will choke it out. you'll only find contentment in Jesus Christ. You'll find contentment for your soul, not in having an eye towards your other people's things, towards your neighbor's stuff, but when you're content with Jesus Christ and what God has given you in him. Verse 23, he who rebukes a man will find more favor afterward than he who flatters with the tongue.
Are you faithful? This is not just saying, you know, are you a jerk? It'd be hard to just reprove people all the time, right? But are you actually taking stock of what Ephesians chapter 4 says? Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth but only what is helpful for building others up that you might impart grace to those who hear. Are you just flattering people with your mouth? Are you just tearing people down with your mouth?
Do you see the opposite sides of that sin? You can use your tongue to tear people down, to speak harshly, to gossip and stuff like that. You could also use it to slander them. You could also use it to flatter them, to just build people up. But the middle road is being faithful with your words, being honestly about their good. I know I have those people in my life who will just call me out for it. Who won't flatter me, who love me, and who will just shoot it to me straight. Tell me the truth. But I know they love me. Are you one of those people who will love?
Verse 24, whoever robs his father or his mother and says, it is not a transgression, the same is companion to a destroyer. If you're gonna rob from your mom and dad, you're not keeping the fifth commandment, right? What is the fifth commandment? You shall honor your father and your mother. And if you're robbing from your parents, if you're not caring for your parents, this is what the Lord is saying. He says, it's not gonna go well for you. You're the same as the destroyer. You're not a child of God, but you're acting like you're a child of the evil one. Verse 25, he who is of a proud heart stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will be prospered.
Where is your pride? Where is your boast? If it's in yourself, you're going to cause lots of fights. But if it's in the Lord, there is prosperity to be had. And this is not necessarily saying, once again, it's not health, wealth and prosperity type stuff, but it is saying it's going to generally go well for you. If you're a prideful, boastful person, people don't like you. But if you're humble and your confidence is in the Lord, there's blessings to be had there.
Verse 26, he who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered. I was watching a show with the kids the other day, and it was two detectives sitting side by side in the car, and the guy said, here is wrong. Here can never be wrong. Don't trust, but the scriptures go very opposite of that. What does this say?
He who trusts his own heart is a fool. Man, if I follow my heart, I'd be in all sorts of trouble. When I do, I'm in all sorts of trouble. When I say whatever I want, I act like a fool. When I go and do whatever my heart desires, I go the way of a fool.
The question is, are you following your heart, or are you following after the Lord? The problem is, our old man is in our heart, and then the Lord has to renew our heart, change our heart, and as we meditate on his word, and as we think about his commandments, as we think about the personal work of Jesus, then we walk in wisdom instead of in the old man that leads to death. Don't follow your heart. The culture's always trying to tell you this. Please, don't follow your heart, follow the Lord.
Verse 27, he who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have many curses. This is a difficult one in our society with a lot of scams, with a lot of, if you're in America, a lot of people who will panhandle for better money. You know, I just had a friend who found himself in a position where someone thought they were homeless and handed him money. They thought, man, I'm in the wrong job. But the reality is that if we turn our eyes away from the poor, it's a shame to us.
The Lord cares for the poor. But often the poor still live in houses in our society. Often the poor still have resources available to them. But do we turn our heart against them? Do we, because of the people who abuse people's generosity, does that make our hearts unhard? Or will we find ways to actually help those who need it?
Verse 28. When the wicked arise, men hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous increase. Well, just from me to you, I'm looking forward to the day that our great King arises, that Jesus Christ returns, that the wicked rulers are gone, and that the righteous rejoice. Not the righteous in and of themselves, but the righteous who receive their righteousness because of that King, Jesus. I hope you're ready for that great day.
Let's pray. Father, we pray, knowing our lack, knowing our sinfulness, knowing how easily we could falter and fail. Lord, we pray that you would teach us to walk in wisdom, not following our hearts, but following you. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, may you enjoy the blessing of walking in the forgiveness and love of Jesus Christ today. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.