“The first man is of the earth, earthy:
the second man is the Lord from heaven” Part 1

(Pro 20:1-10)

[Study Aired October 2, 2025]

Pro 20:1  Wine makes men foolish, and strong drink makes men come to blows; and whoever comes into error through these is not wise.
Pro 20:2  The wrath of a king is like the loud cry of a lion: he who makes him angry does wrong against himself.
Pro 20:3  It is an honour for a man to keep from fighting, but the foolish are ever at war.
Pro 20:4  The hater of work will not do his ploughing because of the winter; so at the time of grain-cutting he will be requesting food and will get nothing.
Pro 20:5  The purpose in the heart of a man is like deep water, but a man of good sense will get it out.
Pro 20:6  Most men make no secret of their kind acts: but where is a man of good faith to be seen?
Pro 20:7  An upright man goes on in his righteousness: happy are his children after him!
Pro 20:8  A king on the seat of judging puts to flight all evil with his eyes.
Pro 20:9  Who is able to say, I have made my heart clean, I am free from my sin?
Pro 20:10  Unequal weights and unequal measures, they are all disgusting to the Lord.

These first ten verses of Proverbs chapter twenty that we will look at today highlight the value of wisdom, integrity, hard work, honesty, and humility, while warning against deception, laziness, and injustice which victory over these powers and principalities is all being accomplished through the faith of Christ (Rom 4:2-6).

Rom 4:2  If he became acceptable to God because of what he did, then he would have something to brag about. But he would never be able to brag about it to God.
Rom 4:3  The Scriptures say, “God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith in him.”
Rom 4:4  Money paid to workers isn’t a gift. It is something they earn by working.
Rom 4:5  But you cannot make God accept you because of something you do. God accepts sinners only because they have faith in him. [Jas 2:18]
Rom 4:6  In the Scriptures David talks about the blessings that come to people who are acceptable to God, even though they don’t do anything to deserve these blessings. David says, [CEV]

We know that our wisdom comes from Christ (1Co 1:30), as does our righteousness which will manifest in a spirit of integrity, producing a desire to labour in the word, as we present all things honestly before all men (Rom 12:17), with a humble and contrite spirit that is also a gift from God (Isa 66:2).

The natural lessons for our flesh are important [listed below] and always precede the deeper spiritual lesson (1Co 15:46) that each of these proverbs point to and instruct those who have God’s spirit abiding within them (Rom 8:9, Luk 8:10).

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Luk 8:10  And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

Natural concepts [generated by AI] that precede the spiritual (1Co 15:46)

Verse 1 – Alcohol can deceive and destroy; those who are misled by it lack wisdom.
Verse 2 – Angering a powerful ruler is dangerous; it puts one’s life at risk.
Verse 3 – Avoiding conflict shows honor; fools are always stirring up trouble.
Verse 4 – Laziness leads to poverty; the lazy miss opportunities and suffer the consequences.
Verse 5 – Wise people are able to uncover deep and thoughtful advice in others.
Verse 6 – Many boast about themselves, but truly faithful people are rare.
Verse 7 – Those who live with integrity bless their children after them.
Verse 8 – A just ruler quickly identifies and removes evil.
Verse 9 – No one can truthfully claim to be completely pure and sinless.
Verse 10 – Dishonest business practices are detestable to God.

And afterward that which is spiritual (1Co 15:46)

Pro 20:1 Wine is a mocker^H3887, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. (KJV)

Pro 20:1  Wine makes men foolish, and strong drink makes men come to blows; and whoever comes into error through these is not wise. (BBE)

The wine of Babylon is the cup that we all become intoxicated on at first (Rev 18:3), and the spiritual outcome of our drunkenness on false doctrines has us being described in this proverb as mockersH3887 who rage and are not wise, as we walk through this earth as negative ambassadors, and false teachers, blaspheming God’s name amongst the gentiles (Rom 2:24).

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

Rom 2:24  For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

H3887 mocker  lûts  loots
A primitive root; properly to make mouths at, that is, to scoff; hence (from the effort to pronounce a foreign language) to interpret, or (generally) intercede: – ambassador, have in derision, interpreter, make a mock, mocker, scorn (-er, -ful), teacher.

Obviously we don’t (normally) see people in the churches coming to fisticuffs with one another, but what we do see is a divided body of Christ (1Co 3:4) which does great violence to the word of God, as we all do at first in our former conversation (Mat 11:12, Eph 2:1-5).

1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Mat 11:12  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;[Heb 12:6]).

The ‘whoever’ of “whoever comes into error through these is not wise” is all men because we all must go into Babylon to come out of her, and God’s elect are the first to experience coming out of spiritual captivity to be received of our Father via the chastening and scourging process we are called unto (2Co 6:17, Heb 12:6-7).

2Co 6:17  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Pro 20:2  The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul. (KJV)

Pro 20:2  The wrath of a king is like the loud cry of a lion: he who makes him angry does wrong against himself. (BBE)

The ‘lion’, or ‘king’ spoken of in this verse is Christ, and His wrath against our old man of sin is as the “roaring of a lion” (Hos 11:10, Joe 3:16).

Hos 11:10  They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.

Joe 3:16  The LORD also shall roar out of Zion (Oba 1:21, 1Jn 4:17 we are as Christ roaring like lions against the prey (Isa 58:1)), and utter his voice from Jerusalem (The church, the body of Christ); and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel (The Israel of God, His elect Gal 6:16).

Isa 58:1  Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, [“like the loud cry of a lion”] and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

We all start off making God angry and doing wrong against ourselves as we abide in the west (Hos 11:10) which symbolizes living by our carnal reasoning, until the man of perdition is destroyed by the brightness of Christ coming to us from the east (Psa 95:10, 2Th 2:8, Mat 24:27).

Psa 95:10  Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: [40 years means tribulation is coming against our old man if we are God’s elect (1Co 10:11)]
Psa 95:11  Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. [our first man Adam, flesh and fleshly thinking is not going to inherit the kingdom of God]

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Mat 24:27  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Pro 20:3  It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling. (KJV)

Pro 20:3  It is an honour for a man to keep from fighting, but the foolish are ever at war. (BBE)

We are all Peter at first not able to cease from strife as we meddle in others’ business, even Christ’s with an unsavory spirit of self-righteousness, telling even our Lord what He ought to do for us, and how he ought to conduct his affairs (Mat 16:22-24, Jas 4:2-3).

Mat 16:22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
Mat 16:23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. [the other Jesus is the one who is controlled by the traditions of men that worship him in vain not savouring the things that be of God, and want dominion over the laity as Peter did over Christ (Mar 7:7)]
Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. [and not the traditions of men]

Jas 4:2  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Jas 4:3  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. [Peter and all of us at first]

Thanks be to God, Christ died for the ungodly and in due time makes a way for us to overcome and turn the other cheek which we could not do at first (Rom 5:6, Rom 7:24-25). Peter did in time “cease from strife” which was his honour that was given to him, as it will be for all of us by the only one who can cause us to cease from sinning (Joh 8:36-37).

Rom 5:6  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Pro 20:4  The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. (KJV)

Pro 20:4  The hater of work will not do his ploughing because of the winter; so at the time of grain-cutting he will be requesting food and will get nothing. (BBE)

The lesson for us in this proverb is to be about our Father’s business as Christ was (Luk 2:49, 1Jn 4:17), no matter what the season in our lives. Pray that your flight be not in the winter or on the sabbath when nothing is happening, pray that God will keep us all zealous and holding fast to our crowns until the return of our King (Mat 24:20-22, Rev 3:11).

Luk 2:49  And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Mat 24:20  But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
Mat 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened [God’s elect are the salt of the earth that God will use to save the earth physically, and then save the world spiritually].

Rev 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

These following verses remind us of the stability that can be ours if we continue to seek the kingdom of God first and his righteousness (Mat 6:33), laying up treasure in heaven “against the time to come” (Tit 3:8,  Joh 6:27, 1Co 15:58, 1Ti 6:19, Psa 37:25, Psa 104:15, Luk 21:26-27).

Tit 3:8  This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

1Co 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

1Ti 6:19  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Pro 20:5  Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.

Pro 20:5  The purpose in the heart of a man is like deep water, but a man of good sense will get it out.

We draw the deep counsel out by being dragged to the One who gives us the strength to do so (Joh 6:44, Gen 29:10, Joh 4:10-11).

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Gen 29:10  And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob [symbolizing Christ] went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Joh 4:10  Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
Joh 4:11  The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

With His strength working within us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Php 2:12-13) we will not neglect so great a salvation and will be able to overcome, quenching all the fiery darts of the adversary with that water, and becoming more than conquerors through Christ (Rom 8:37). Great is that faithfulness which we can depend upon (Lam 3:23) to provide for our every spiritual need until the very last breath of our life (Heb 13:5, Php 1:6).

Lam 3:23  They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Heb 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Pro 20:6  Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find? (KJV)

Pro 20:6  Most men make no secret of their kind acts: but where is a man of good faith to be seen? (BBE)

These verses bring the question to mind, will there be any faith on earth when Christ returns? ‘Men proclaiming their own goodness’ is the same spirit found in this verse (Mat 7:22).

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? [strong delusion, and no faith to be found]

As in the days of Noah, and Lot, there will be very few on the earth who will be of an understanding heart, as we read in the book of Malachi (Mal 3:16-18), “a faithful man who can find?”. Noah and Lot typify the few elect who will be alive and remain at that time with the mind of Christ (1Th 4:17).

Mal 3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
Mal 3:17  And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Mal 3:18  Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Pro 20:7  The just man walketh in his integrity^H8537: his children are blessed after him. (KJV)

Pro 20:7  An upright man goes on in his righteousness: happy are his children after him! (BBE)

Our children symbolize our doctrines and they will be blessed in the earth because the spiritual seed will go forth from the elect and will not return void (Isa 55:11). Those doctrine will bring great joy to all the earth in time “happy are his children after him!”

Isa 55:11  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

H8537 integrity  tô  tome
From H8552; completeness; figuratively prosperity; usually (morally) innocence: – full, integrity, perfect (-ion), simplicity, upright (-ly, -ness), at a venture. See H8550.

Pro 20:8  A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.(KJV)

Pro 20:8  A king on the seat of judging puts to flight all evil with his eyes. (BBE)

Inwardly when the eye is single, it represents having the mind of Christ whose judgment is in our lives, as he sits on the throne of our hearts and “scattereth away all evil with his eyes”(Rev 19:12).

Rev 19:12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

Pro 20:9  Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? (KJV)

Pro 20:9  Who is able to say, I have made my heart clean, I am free from my sin? (BBE)

The first thing to consider is this verse (1Jn 1:8).

1Jn 1:8  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

This verse reveals that we will never, in this physical flesh as the body of Christ, ever be able to say we have perfectly “made my heart clean”. We will sin less and less, Lord willing, and gain dominion over sin in this life (Rom 6:14) if this is written in our books to happen (Joh 3:30). This increasing comes from God as does the ability to decrease, both are predestined by Him. It all comes down to whether we will heed or not heed the admonitions of His word, keeping His works to the very end, which words and works are being accomplished by believing in God’s power, as we’re granted the faith of Christ to do so. Christ is the author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:1-2, 1Pe 5:7-8, 1Pe 1:7).

Pro 20:10  Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD. (KJV)

Pro 20:10  Unequal weights and unequal measures, they are all disgusting to the Lord. (BBE)

The statement ‘the punishment should fit the crime’ is a biblical principal, as well as ‘the reward should fit the sacrifice’ (Php 2:9, 2Ti 2:12-13). Peter asked Christ about how things were going to play out for himself and all the others who forsook all to follow him, and Peter was speaking for all of us who are losing our lives to gain them (Mat 10:39). Christ’s perfectly balanced answer to Peter was not what Babylon teaches (Mat 19:27-30). Babylon teaches eternal torment, an evil divers weight and measure that comes from the mind of Satan.

Php 2:5  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Mat 19:27  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
Mat 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Mat 19:29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
Mat 19:30  But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

Pro 11:1-3 “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight”

[Study Aired February 20, 2025]

Pro 11:1 A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.
Pro 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
Pro 11:3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.

This opening verse sets the stage for this eleventh chapter, as we’re shown throughout these proverbs in many various ways why “A false balance is abomination to the LORD” and what makes up “a just weight” which is “his delight“.

One of the most basic needs of all humans is to be accepted of others, and in our own carnal way we seek out a way that seems right unto us to be accepted of others, and to fit into society (Gen 3:7-9). That way that seems right to mankind, and may even result in our saving our Adamic souls in this age, in the end leads to spiritual death (Pro 14:12).

Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden (Pro 14:12).
Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou (amongst the trees of the garden Mar 8:24)?

Pro 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (amongst the trees of the garden Mar 8:24, Rev 18:4).

God has hidden from the world what “a just weight” means because we naturally weigh things with our Adamic carnal mind, “Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man“(Joh 8:15), that leans unto its own understanding (Pro 3:5-11) as opposed to looking to God as Christ did so that our judgement with God’s spirit within us (Rom 8:9), our weighing of matters, is always “a just weight“, and not a “false balance” (Joh 8:12-19, Joh 5:30). Our lifetime goal that we are pressing toward is to bring every thought into subjection to Christ (2Co 10:5), as we experience God’s goodness and mercy toward us, that makes it possible for us to strive toward those just weights and balances (Php 3:13).

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Joh 8:31-32).
Pro 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

Joh 8:15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
Joh 8:16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.

Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

God’s elect are called unto this high calling in this life to find our acceptance in Christ and none other (Eph 1:6), even at the expense of losing our life (Mat 10:39, Luk 12:5). God has made provision for us through our high priest to obtain this greatest of goals of losing our life in this age as a kind of first fruits of God’s creation who are pressing toward a mark of excellence that can only be found in Christ (Php 3:13). When we die daily, and lose our life, by not leaning unto our own understanding, we are being grafted into the Vine where true life resides, where we can now bring forth fruit unto everlasting life (Rom 6:22-23).

Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved (Eph 2:8).

Mat 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The proverbs we’re looking at are written for our benefit as ensigns (banners Son 2:4) along the way as we seek a new country (Heb 11:14) and look unto the glorious hope of His return (Tit 2:13).

Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (Eph 1:14)
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

The proverbs are written in a double edged sword manner showing us both the delight that God has in the new creation being formed in Christ as well as showing us how this is accomplished by our being able to recognize that we have all the negative qualities of these proverbs lingering within us (1Co 9:26-27, Luk 18:19) that are only able to be overcome daily by the grace of God and through the faith of Christ (Eph 2:8).

1Co 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
1Co 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Luk 18:19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.

Flesh, including Christ’s flesh, can only learn obedience by the things that we suffer (Heb 5:8, 1Jn 4:17). That is how God made us, and when we put off our flesh and remain yielded to God’s purpose it will be through the much tribulation of this life (Act 14:22) that God has ordained for His children, that we will learn how His power can rest upon us (2Co 12:9), as we go through our tailor made trials (1Co 10:13) that bring us to be convinced that we are more than conquerors through Christ, who will faithfully see His children through this process (Heb 2:6, Tit 2:11-12) of losing none, that the Father has given him to accomplish (Rom 8:37, Joh 17:12). The man of perdition is represented by that negative part of the proverb that needs to be burnt out of us by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our heavens (2Th 2:8).

Eph 2:8 For by grace (2Co 12:9) are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast (Joh 5:30, Joh 15:5).

Pro 11:1 A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.
Pro 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.

What creates a “false balance” in the heart of any man is acting upon (Jas 1:14-15) the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life of (1Jn 2:16). Those are all the sins of the world categorized for us, and found within all of humanity. It is only when we act upon this sin in our members that we lose our spiritual “balance“. Christ had all the sins of the world within His flesh, and yet never sinned (Heb 4:15). He was in temptable flesh that He ruled over by the grace of God (Joh 5:30), so “pride” never manifested in His heavens. He was our example of humility and being abased and ruling over the flesh, and always saying not my fleshly will, but your will be done (Luk 22:42, Luk 13:33). It is God’s will that we will be as Christ (1Jn 4:17) and die daily and see our old man perish in Jerusalem above the mother of us all (Gal 4:26).

Luk 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

Luk 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all (where we are raised in heavenly places and die daily Eph 2:6, 1Co 15:31).

The “just weight” in Christ’s life was only consistently made possible because of the work that the Father did in Him (Php 2:12-13, 1Jn 4:17) as the first of the first fruits who would be delivered from sinful flesh for the sake of those who would not just need to be delivered from sinful flesh, but also from the sins committed in this flesh that only Christ’s life in us can set us free from (Joh 8:36). God the Father was the anchor for Christ’s soul, and it is the same exceedingly great and precious promises that we hold onto by the life of Christ within us that are the anchors of our souls today (Heb 6:18-20).

Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Christ’s life in us is what produces that lowliness. He was like a lamb to the slaughter (Isa 53:7, 1Jn 4:17), and with God’s spirit within us we are growing to become like Him in this life, a living sacrifice that is presented and accepted through Christ (Rom 12:1, Eph 1:6). He gives us victory over our pride-filled ways that He causes to manifest in our lives that cause shame, “When pride cometh, then cometh shame“, so that we intimately learn that we are His workmanship who are fulfilling His will on earth, as it is done in heaven, both the light and the darkness, the peace and the evil (Isa 45:7). We are also being shown that any future shame that may come upon us due to a proud heart will also be conquered by the love of God if we are those who God has blessed to be humbled in this life through judgement (1Pe 4:17) and built up through Christ who is our wisdom, becoming a holy habitation in the Lord “but with the lowly is wisdom“(Isa 66:2, Eph 2:21-22).

Isa 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Eph 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Pro 11:3 The integrity^H8538 of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness^H5558 of transgressors shall destroy them.

Boasting is excluded by the law of faith (Rom 3:27), and we are of the generation who have no confidence in the flesh (Php 3:3), and it is Christ doing the work within us as stated in (Php 2:12-13). Knowing those truths and that Christ himself took no credit for the works that He did on earth (Joh 5:30), we can give all glory to God for any qualities of being honest and having strong moral principles that refuse to change, which is the definition of integrity.

It is Christ who holds us and gives us the power to maintain integrity, making it a gift from God (Joh 10:29). What would naturally happen if not for God’s intervention in our hearts and minds is stated in the following part of the proverb, “but the perverseness^H5558 of transgressors shall destroy them“. In both instances it is the Lord who is causing these conditions (Isa 45:7, Gen 45:5) and that is the ongoing lesson that we are learning as the bride of Christ who is being washed by the blood of the lamb and being granted the righteousness of Christ in this age (Rev 19:7-8).

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Gen 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Our integrity comes from God through Christ our hope of glory within (Col 1:27) even as the broken and contrite heart of (Isa 66:2) is from God and not something that we have innately within us, but still something our carnal minds want to try to acknowledge in others and ourselves as being something that I have of my own supposed free will that makes it possible for me to be a better man (Php 3:9). Christ himself tells us plainly to acknowledge flesh for what it is, and give glory to where that glory belongs, to God (Mar 10:18).

Mar 10:18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Mar 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: (Php 3:9) and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

It is that self-righteous spirit of Job that had him believing he was a man of integrity that had to be burnt out of him as a type of the elect who are learning that there is none righteous, no one with integrity, except it come from God, and therefore all credit is His for the workmanship that we can become through Christ (Eph 2:8-10, Rev 4:10-11).

Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power [Zec 4:6, Mic 6:8]: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

It is the harlot and the publican that Christ says are further along and go away justified because they can more readily see there pitiful condition and confess it and be forgiven (Rom 7:24-25), as opposed to the self-righteous man in me that wants to maintain my integrity and think that I’m somehow more deserving, or a better human being than someone else, demonstrated by my own ability to live a life that appears to others from the outside to be one that is full of integrity, doing many wonderful works, but still not knowing and acknowledging that we must, in time, fulfill the will of God through a lifetime of confessing our faults and not despising His goodness that is leading us unto repentance through His judgements in our life today, which is given to very few to do in this life (Mat 21:28-31, Luk 18:10-14, Rom 2:4).

Mat 21:28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons [two sons old man and new man within me]; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
Mat 21:29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented [acknowledgement of sin], and went.
Mat 21:30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not [no acknowledgement of sin].
Mat 21:31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you [Mat 12:48-50].

Luk 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

From God’s perspective, which is the only perspective that we need to have, we are to let God be true and every man a liar as far as our understanding of the deceitful nature of flesh. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags unto him (Isa 64:6).

The conclusion of the matter is that only Christ can be Christ as our hope of glory within and we can, God willing in this age, become more that conquerors through him as we acknowledge our wretched condition that He is able to deliver us from (Rom 7:24-25).

Let us therefore continually offer up the sacrifice of thanksgiving to Him (Heb 13:15) for showing us who and what we really are, praising God for a process that is completely dependent on the author and finisher of our faith, and has nothing to do with our supposed integrity, or righteousness, or fabled free will (Php 3:9). Instead we pray that God will grant us to fulfill these verses throughout our very temporary life: (Act 10:35, Ecc 12:13), and grant that we always acknowledge that the integrity of our life comes from God alone who leads us into right paths for His name sake (Psa 23:3).

Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Job 2:3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

Job 2:9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.

Job 31:5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;
Job 31:6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.

Pro 11:3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.

H8538 tûmmâh toom-maw’
Feminine of H8537; innocence: – integrity.
Total KJV occurrences: 5 (integrity, 5)
Job 2:3, Job 2:9, Job 31:5-6 (2), Pro 11:3

Job’s prayer was answered (Job 31:6), as he typifies God’s elect who must experience the seven last plagues of God’s judgement upon our old man in order to enter into the temple of God (Rev 15:8).

Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.