Pro 10:15-32 “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city”

[Study Aired February 13, 2025]

This section of proverbs talks a lot about the mouth and the lips, so I thought it would be instructive to start off with these two contrasting verses, (Mal 2:7, Mat 15:8), that show us the negative and positive application of these words.

Mal 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.

Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Little and by little the lips of the elect are being purified (Exo 23:30, Isa 6:7), so that we can lay up treasure in heaven in a “strong city” (Eph 4:26, Heb 11:10) that represents Christ and His christ, where “neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Mat 6:19-20, Rev 21:23-27). This is the foundation of good works that we talked about last week that God’s elect are blessed to lay up, as we present our whole lives as living sacrifices unto God (Mal 3:10, Mat 6:33).

Christ is our strong city who enriches our lives with the tree of life, or the book of life, within us. Here are some verses, (Gen 3:24, Pro 3:18, Pro 11:30, Pro 13:12 , Pro 15:4), that demonstrate how we can become spiritually wealthy in the Lord who is “a tree of life”; and the rest of these proverbs in chapter ten reveal the blessing of being God’s elect, with the life of Christ within them now, and what powerful promises and hope we have as a result of God’s mercy being shown to us in this age (Rom 11:31-32) via the relationship that we have with our Father and Christ, “At that day” (Joh 14:20, Joh 17:3).

Pro 15:4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.

As long as we are in these earthen vessels, these proverbs will serve to show us the light and dark side of the pillar within us, admonishing us and keeping us spiritually alive and quickened (Joh 6:63) as we are given to rightly divide the message that will “give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion” (Pro 1:4).

Pro 10:15 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.

A “city” in God’s word represents ‘a church’, and the “general assembly and church of the firstborn” (Heb 12:23) is where “the rich man’s wealth” is found, the rich man being Christ who is the head of the church that is “his strong city”. We are of course talking about spiritual riches that come in the form of the words of eternal life that Christ gives freely to those who thirst for them (Joh 6:68, Joh 7:37-38).

Joh 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.[Mat 5:6]

One day all the world will hunger and thirst for righteousness, and will be brought to acknowledge their own blindness and spiritual poverty that currently has the churches of this world thinking they are rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing (Rev 3:17-18).

Pro 10:16 The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.

Our labour in this life must tend to the life of Christ within each of us (Col 1:27), and if Christ is in us, our love and concern for one another will grow and be reflected in the communion and discipleship we’ve been called to continue in through this life (1Co 10:16-17, Joh 13:35, Joh 8:31-32).

Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

The “fruit of the wicked” needs to be rooted and burnt out of us. The self-centered man in me does not come to serve his body, but looks only to my needs and not the needs of others (Php 2:3-8). That is “the fruit of the wicked to sin”, which is rich toward itself and not sacrificial toward others (Luk 21:1-4, Luk 12:16-21, Mat 25:40, Mat 25:45).

Php 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Php 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Luk 21:1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
Luk 21:2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.

Luk 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

It is the witness of “two mites” that are put into the treasury (in Luk 21:2 above) that represent the life of Christ within us who is the only one who can give us the power (Php 2:12-13, Rev 11:3) to be presented as living sacrifices [witnesses] who lay down our lives for one and other (Rom 12:1-2, Heb 12:1-2) . The poor widow’s gift is symbolically being laid up in heaven (Mat 6:20-21), whereas the self-righteous many wonderful works that we do in the earth without acknowledging the hand of God in all, is the treasure that is in fact buried in the treasuries of the earth to bear witness against us, where we receive our reward of men in this age (Mat 7:22, Mat 25:25, Mat 25:18, Mat 25:24-30, Mat 6:2).

Mat 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is (2Co 4:7), there will your heart [Eze 36:26] be also.

Mat 25:25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

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? [“Strong delusion”] and in thy name done many wonderful works? [“hid thy talent in the earth”]

Pro 10:17 He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.

Last week we talked about the importance of laying up store, and this proverb is another admonition for us to not grow weary in well doing for in due season we will reap if we faint not. Our labours in the Lord are not in vain and the way of life is to keep instruction, and we find our safety in the body of Christ through the counsel that God provides as spiritual meat in due season through the church (Eph 3:10) [“He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction”].

God willing, He will give us that hunger and thirst for righteousness that can come from him alone (Mat 5:6), so that we remain intreatable like a humble child (Jas 3:17, Mat 18:3) not refusing the reproof that God gives every son whom He loves and receives in this life (Pro 10:17). These verses below show the result of being one who receives reproof, or one who becomes hardened through not receiving God’s reproof.

positive reactions to reproof:

Job 26:11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.

Pro 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Pro 15:31 The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.

negative reactions to reproof:

Pro 1:25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

Pro 1:30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

Pro 5:12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

Pro 15:10 Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.

both negative and positive reactions to reproof:

Pro 12:1 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

Pro 13:18 Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.

Pro 15:5 A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.

Pro 15:32 He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

Pro 17:10 A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.

Pro 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

This last verse regarding ‘reproof’ reminds us that “all the promises of God in him are yea” (2Co 1:20), and are all profitable unto the one that God is working with in this age:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Pro 10:18 He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.

God sees our hearts, and we are deluding ourselves if we think otherwise [like Adam and Eve trying to hide from God in the garden of Eden]. Hiding hatred is akin to having a root of bitterness that goes unexamined. God must grant us to be introspective and examine ourselves that no root of bitterness, toward God or man exists in our heavens (Eph 4:31, Heb 12:15)

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

We lie to ourselves when we don’t see the need to go to our brother ‘between you and him alone’, or if we refuse to confess our faults when we’ve done wrong to someone. Lying lips have to be purged by God in this life if we are going to be profitable servants who don’t slander. ‘Slander’ is the exact opposite of covering each other’s sins, and such foolish behavior is destructive and hated of our Father (Pro 6:16, Pro 6:19)

Pro 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

Pro 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Pro 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.
Pro 10:19  When words abound, transgression is inevitable, but the one who restrains his words is wise. (NET)

Another couple of verses that correlate with this proverb are these: (Ecc 5:2, 1Co 14:19, Mat 23:12).

Ecc 5:2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God (When words abound, transgression is inevitable): for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few (he that refraineth his lips is wise).

1Co 14:19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

Mat 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased (When words abound, transgression is inevitable); and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted (he that refraineth his lips is wise).

Pro 10:20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.

A repentant heart, a contrite and broken heart (Isa 66:2), is someone who has a tongue of “choice silver” because of the fiery process of repentance that they have endured making it possible for living waters to spring forth from their bellies, symbolized by the “five words” spoken with the understanding mind of Christ (1Co 14:19). God is producing rivers of living waters through each joint that supplies, as He works in our lives and destroys the heart of the wicked that is of “little worth” within us (1Co 3:17) as it defiles the temple of God.

1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Pro 10:21 The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom.

Many are called, but few are chosen to have our initially defiled lips purified in this age so that in time the purified bride of Christ will “feed many”. In order for this to happen, the fool within me who thinks he can obtain the kingdom by my own might and power, by my own wisdom, must be destroyed daily so that the living waters can spring forth via the power of God (1Co 2:3-6).

Pro 10:22 The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

The spiritual blessing of the Lord enriches our life and leads to a liberty that cannot be produced in Babylon where we are promised liberty but it is never found because of our inability at that time to be led of the spirit of God, where there will be true liberty (2Pe 2:19-20, Rom 8:14-15, 2Co 3:17).

2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

“The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it”, because He has promised that He will meet our every need (Rom 5:10) via the riches that God supplies through Christ (Php 4:19).

Rom 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Php 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Pro 10:23 It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.

The wisdom of Christ within the body of Christ keeps us from the mischievous spirits of this world where we once ran to the same excess (Eph 2:1-5) following the pulls of our foolish flesh which we must still continue to keep under all our days in order to be a man of understanding who has wisdom and knows how to make war against the powers and principalities we wrestle against by God’s power within us (Eph 6:12, Zec 4:6).

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 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Pro 10:24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

Perfect love casts out fear (Rom 5:1-4, 1Jn 4:18), and it is a curse to have debilitating fear in this life. Scripture shows us that victory over fear is a gift from God who sheds his love abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5-6).

He does not always take away the circumstances that may cause us to start to fear, but when we pray and come boldly before the throne of God, “the desire of the righteous shall be granted”. That desire to overcome fear is something God will grant His children and freely give to us, as we boldly face our fears and conquer them through Christ (Rom 8:28, Rom 8:32). That carnal Adamic fear is replaced with a Godly fear of our Creator, and with such a spirit within us, we are as Christ was (1Jn 4:17) and we are heard of God (Heb 5:7).

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Pro 10:25 As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.

It takes the Lord raising the storm in our life (Psa 107:24-25, Eph 2:10), “the whirlwind^H5492 that does pass”, to create the foundation of Christ in our hearts and minds, “but the righteous is an everlasting foundation” (Mat 16:18).

Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Whirlwind H5492 sûphâh soo-faw’
From H5486; a hurricane: – Red Sea, storm, tempest, whirlwind, Red sea.
Total KJV occurrences: 16

Pro 10:26 As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.

Both experiences of vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes are indicators of what the sluggard produces spiritually. Both ingredients are irritants, one to the teeth and the other to the eyes. Vinegar  symbolizes the word of God that has been improperly stored, not preserved correctly by the slothful man in me who forgets God’s words of reproof and cannot produce spiritual meat in due season (wine gone bad). Smoke is produced more abundantly when a fire is not kindled properly, which produces an unclean environment, just like a wick that has not been trimmed (Mat 25:7). Christ sends our first man Adam into the wilderness and this is all we can produce at first, vinegar and smoke, until the Lord gives us power to do otherwise.

Here’s an interesting translation from the [CAB] version: Pro 10:26 As a sour grape is hurtful to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so iniquity hurts those that practice it.

It is the iniquity in our lives which is self-righteousness that causes us to produce these types of fruit, vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, that reveal that it is our works being manifested and not the power of God that preserves us (Php 3:9, 1Co 2:5).

Pro 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.
Pro 10:28 The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

God is going to preserve His saints by doing a quick work in the body of Christ. The quick work is the destruction of our old man in this life, “the years of the wicked shall be shortened”. The result of this adamic destruction in this age is that our days will be prolonged because of our fear of God working in our lives so that we can be heard of our Father, we can be judged in this age, we can be dragged to Christ, and we can inherit the Kingdom and be in that blessed and holy first resurrection (Heb 5:7, 1Jn 4:17).

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

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.

Our hope of glory is in Christ (Col 1:27), and we understand that our deceitful and desperately wicked hearts (Jer 17:9) shall perish and not inherit the kingdom of God (1Co 15:50). This is “The hope of the righteous” that makes us ‘glad’.

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Pro 10:29 The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.

If we truly believe that Christ is our righteousness, our strength, our wealth, then the workers of iniquity, which is self-righteousness will be destroyed by the brightness of his coming into our lives (2Th 2:8). God must grant us that we decrease and that our Lord increase, and if He is building that spiritual house within us in this age, that is what is going to happen (Joh 3:30, Psa 127:1).

Pro 10:30 The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

This proverb confirms that there is no rapture, as we’re reminded the “righteous shall never be removed” however the wicked shall not inherit the earth. Inwardly this is the main point for God’s elect today, as we are called to notice the foundation of Christ’s life being formed within the body of Christ that shall never be removed (Mat 16:18, Mat 24:40-42).

Mat 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Pro 10:31 The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.

Christ has to cut out the froward tongue in our lives if we are going to become just stewards of His word who bring forth wisdom. It’s not just our tongue that must be cut out (Mat 5:29-30), but anything that is going to hinder our reaching the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ (Php 3:14) that awaits those who have respect unto the recompense of the reward and demonstrate that respect by holding “fast the profession of our faith without wavering” (Heb 10:23).

Mat 5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Mat 5:30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised:)

Pro 10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.

We are naturally froward unless God is humbling us by the life of Christ within us who makes it possible for us to be accepted of our Father (Eph 1:6), through the judgement and trials that humble us. Christ is the one who delivers us daily from our otherwise froward spirit, humbling our hearts through affliction, persecution, tribulation and suffering so that His power can rest upon us and we can be found with His righteousness in our lives and not our own (Php 3:9). That is the narrow way God’s elect have been called unto that is found through a lifetime of judgement (1Pe 4:16-19) which will produce great spiritual riches within the body of Christ, [“The rich man’s wealth is his strong city” (Psa 19:13-14)].

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

Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Psa 19:13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Amen!

Pro 10:6-14 “Wise men lay up knowledge:
but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction”

[Study Aired February 6, 2025]

Pro 10:6 Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
Pro 10:7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
Pro 10:8 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.
Pro 10:9 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.
Pro 10:10 He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall.
Pro 10:11 The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
Pro 10:12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.
Pro 10:13 In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.
Pro 10:14 Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.

Last week we discussed how the summer ‘being nigh’ is another way of saying that the kingdom of God is within us, and therefore ‘nigh at hand’ (Luk 21:29-31, Luk 17:21). We are exhorted and encouraged to fight a good fight of faith while it is called “day” (Joh 9:4), and “summer” (Luk 21:29-31), knowing that our labours in His vineyard are not in vain (1Co 15:58), and that in due season we will reap if we faint not (1Co 15:58, 2Co 4:1, 2Co 4:16, Gal 6:9, Eph 3:13).

Luk 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
Luk 21:30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
Luk 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.(1Co 3:16)
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Joh 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day:[“Wise men “lay up” knowledge”] the night cometh, when no man can work.

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.(Php 2:12-13) [“lay up”]

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.

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.

2Co 4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;

2Co 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day (hope by which were saved – Col 1:27, 1Jn 3:2-3).

Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.(Luk 18:1, 1Th 5:17)

Eph 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Luk 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

This week we will continue to look at the mature fruits that become part of those whose lives are blessed to have the life of Christ within them through the summer when things grow, via the true vine (Joh 15:1) who makes it possible for that nourishment to reach the branches via the increase that our Father gives the bride of Christ in this age (Col 1:27, Rom 8:9, Eph 2:10, Rev 19:7-8, 1Co 3:6-7).

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

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 (1Co 3:7) that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
1Co 3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

That increase that comes from God alone is accomplished through a process of judgement upon our old man of sin (1Pe 4:17-18) and the contrast of how light comes out of darkness which is in each of these proverbs is written in this manner to remind us that the seed, the word, the proverbs of God’s word must fall into the ground of our hearts and minds and die in order to bring forth fruit (Joh 12:24). This process of dying daily is the hallmark of someone that God is working with in this age as His workmanship, and the scarce victory that is given along the strait gate and narrow way (1Pe 4:18-19, Mat 7:14) bear witness that our overcoming will happen through the faith of Christ alone (Rom 3:27, 1Jn 5:4).

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Rom 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Christ is the word, or the one seed that God uses (Gal 3:16, Rom 8:9) in our hearts and minds to illuminate our heavens so we can see that need for his life which is juxtaposed against the carnal fleshly man within us who must die daily, and does die daily when we are baptized into Christ’s death (Rom 6:3); another way of saying we become part of that one seed, Jesus Christ, when we are a “corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (Joh 12:24).

Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

It is a dying daily process that is being discussed in each of these proverbs that has been ordained by the Husbandman, God the Father, who tells us that we must patiently endure this process of seeing the light and dark side of the pillar within ourselves, in order to see the growth of this new life of Christ that will spring forth from our heavens (Rom 2:4, Jas 5:7-8, Luk 21:19, Mat 5:37, Joh 3:30).

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?

Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

Luk 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

Mat 5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

Pro 10:6 Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.(Pro 10:11)
Pro 10:7 The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.(Pro 10:16)
Pro 10:8 The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.(Pro 10:10)

God will bless those who bless Him and His Christ (Gen 12:3), and Christ is the head of every man (1Co 11:3), but not every man has this knowledge (1Co 8:2, 1Co 8:7).

Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

1Co 8:2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
1Co 8:7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.

Aside from the fact that the world does not know that all things are of God “of whom are all things”, and that there is one Lord Jesus Christ “by whom are all things”, the world is also blinded to the reality God’s elect are in Him, “we in him” in the Father, and are sustained by Christ, “we by him” (Joh 14:20), and that we who are being judged in this life (1Pe 4:17) are blessed with the mind of Christ that is burning up the mouth of the wicked within us, taking away that covering that did violence to the word of God and are now blessed to have a new name (Rev 2:17, Rev 3:11-12) that is no longer the name of the “wicked that shall rot”. We are sustained in other words, or preserved through that judgment in this life.

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

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.

God has blessed the body of Christ to be brought into remembrance of the truth in such a way that our thoughts and actions which is Christ working in us, blesses us (Psa 1:1-3, Psa 23:3, Rom 8:14-15, Php 2:12-13, Joh 14:26). Our old man’s thoughts and actions are being destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into our lives, and this is what blesses us (2Th 2:8). The name of the wicked that rots, represents the doctrine and the false beliefs that we initially hold onto until the Lord begins this work in our lives that destroys those spirits, those idols which were taught to us in Babylon by the false prophets who prophesied lies, as we all did in our appointed time (Jer 14:14).

Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
Psa 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Psa 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.(Psa 62:5-8)
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Christ in us prepares our hearts to receive his commandments, which are life unto those who are blessed to keep them in this age (Rev 1:3). We are told that we will fall seven times in the wilderness (Pro 24:16) in order to burn out the vain words of the “prating^H8193 fool” within our heavens.

H8193 śâphâh    śepheth saw-faw’, sef-eth’ prating
(The second form is in dual and plural); Probably from H5595 or H8192 through the idea of termination (compare H5490); the lip (as a natural boundary); by implication language; by analogy a margin (of a vessel, water, cloth, etc.): – band, bank, binding, border, brim, brink, edge, language, lip, prating, ([sea-]) shore, side, speech, talk, [vain] words. Total KJV occurrences: 176

Pro 10:9 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.
Pro 10:10 He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall.

It is only by the hand of the fit man (Jesus Christ) who takes the scapegoat (God’s elect in type) into the wilderness (Lev 16:21) that anyone of us can “walketh uprightly walketh surely^H983”, as it is Christ who is working in us both to will and to do of our Father’s good pleasure which is to give us the kingdom of God that we now possess in earnest (Eph 1:14). The man of sin will be revealed because God will give Satan the power to cause us to pervert our ways, “he that perverteth his ways shall be known”, in the day of evil (Pro 16:4), of which we will repent of in this age if God will grant us that repentance as we are dragged to him to be set free from sin (Rom 2:4, Joh 6:44, Joh 8:36).

H983 beṭach beh’-takh surely
From H982; properly a place of refuge; abstractly safety, both the fact (security) and the feeling (trust); often (adverbially with or without preposition) safely: – assurance, boldly, (without) care (-less), confidence, hope, safe (-ly, -ty), secure, surely. Total KJV occurrences: 42

A man who causeth sorrow is spoken of as one who winketh^H7169 with the eye causing sorrow for others, and his living a life of lies as a “a prating fool” will cause him to fall. This thought of the prating fool is mentioned twice in this proverb to witness against our old man who is the prating fool except the Lord deliver us from ourselves (prating fool twice mentioned Pro 10:10, Pro 10:8). This is the man of sin in our life who cannot receive the light of God’s word and rejects it and comes not near it, narrowing his view of the light that he is not able to receive. Walking in darkness, the end of that man is that he will fall in the wilderness without the vision that comes from God’s commandments. The light and path for our new man is in Christ who prevents us from falling (Pro 29:18, Luk 17:33, 2Ti 4:18, 1Th 5:23).

Pro 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Luk 17:33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

2Ti 4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

1Th 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

H7169 qârats kaw-rats’ winketh
A primitive root; to pinch, that is, (partially) to bite the lips, blink the eyes (as a gesture of malice), or (fully) to squeeze off (a piece of clay in order to mould a vessel from it): – form, move, wink. Total KJV occurrences: 5

Pro 10:11 The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
Pro 10:12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

Christ is symbolized as “a well of life” in God’s word, where those living waters are given to those who ask of Him (Joh 4:14-15). The “violence” on the other hand, that covers the mouth of the wicked is his own lies, his own misguided and deceived view of God’s word that we do violence to, as it is concealed by being wrapped around the idol of our own hearts at that time, “but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked” (Eze 14:4, Pro 16:4).

Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Joh 4:15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

Eze 14:4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

When God’s word is understood and rightly administered in our lives, it is because God has dealt with the natural enmity or hatred that would naturally stir up strife. God’s love must be shed abroad in our hearts (Rom 5:5) making it possible for us to fervently cover a multitude of sins within the body of Christ to be healed of the hatred and strife of the natural man (Jas 5:16, 1Pe 4:8).

Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love^G26 of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Jas 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

1Pe 4:8 And above all things have fervent charity^G26 among yourselves: for charity^G26 shall cover the multitude of sins.

Our understanding comes from Christ, and Christ (our wisdom) is found within His body and manifest through the judgement of God upon our carnal fleshly minds that need to have his word burn out our iniquities via a rod (Pro 3:12), which represents His word that will chasten and scourge every son He receives (Heb 12:6, Rev 3:19).

Pro 3:12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Pro 10:13 In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding.
Pro 10:14 Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.

Verses 13 an 14 tells us that the foolish man within me must be destroyed for defiling the temple of God that I am (1Co 3:17-19), and the way that God does this is through His chastening grace that He brings to us, that teaches us to forsake ungodliness and worldly lust in this age (Tit 2:12-13, Heb 12:6).

1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1Co 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

Tit 2:12 Teaching^G3811 us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth^G3811, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

It is that chastening spoken of in (Tit 2:12, Heb 12:6), that makes it possible for us to first trust in God before the rest of the world (Eph 1:12, 2Co 1:9), and to come into this “knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord” that calls us to glory and virtue (2Pe 1:2-8)

Eph 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

2Co 1:9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves (2Sa 12:9), that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead (Eph 2:6, Col 2:12):

2Pe 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2Pe 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
2Pe 1:6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
2Pe 1:7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
2Pe 1:8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the ongoing trial of our faith, the sword of his word that does not depart from our house that brings us onto perfection on the third day (1Pe 1:7, Luk 13:32). It is by the grace through faith process that God’s elect are called unto (Eph 2:8) that we can continue to look “for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 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 2:14).

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) (Heb 10:23).

Pro 10:1-5 “He that Gathereth in Summer is a Wise Son”

[Study Aired Jan 30, 2025]

In our last study of chapter nine of Proverbs, we looked at the contrasts being drawn between Babylon and the bride of Christ. There are two woman represented in the church in the wilderness, Babylon the mother of harlots and all her daughters (churches in the wilderness), and the elect bride of Christ (2Jn 1:1) who is called out of Babylon or the wilderness to become the manchild of God (Rev 12:5-17).

2Jn 1:1 The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

[this bringing forth of a manchild, happens in the wilderness, where God’s elect are declared from the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4), and not yet aware of this holy calling that has us caught up to his throne, raised in heavenly places (Eph 2:6)]

Chapter ten of Proverbs shows the contrast between the two woman in the wilderness (churches) in regard to the spiritual fruit that is borne through God’s first fruits, (or Sara the wife of Abraham who typifies the free woman who has been given dominion over sin and is going onto maturity by God’s grace) (Gal 4:26-31), as opposed to the bondage of Hagar who is the bondservant, still in bondage to sin.

Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. [Many more doctrine, the whole stay of bread and water are hers as opposed to Babylon’s starvation of truth (Isa 3:1)]
Gal 4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.(the bondwoman has no stay of bread or water, or garment of righteousness, Jud 1:12, Mat 22:12)

These proverbs of chapter ten show us the liberty that God grants His people, revealed by the fruit that they bring forth in their lives, and contrasts that fruit with the bondage of our past, or current struggles that God will take us through as we recognize those things that we need to repent of (Rom 2:4).

The life of Sara who represents the elect church, reminds us in type and shadow of the good fruit that God had determined to bring forth through the “elect lady” from the foundation of the world, good fruit that is contrasted with bad fruit as seen in Proverbs chapter ten, “And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, (Rev 1:3) and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred” (Mar 4:20).

Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead (Rom 6:11), when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:

[typifying the life of Christ in each of us (Abraham) and the church (Sara) as a whole.]

Heb 11:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

(The church typified by Sara, is given power to bring forth the manchild and are witnesses of these things to all the world (Rev 11:3)). Then the next few verses describe the blessing that is given to those who are represented by Sara (Heb 11:12-20).

1Pe 3:6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

(The church, the body of Christ, the bride of Christ is to obey her head symbolized by Abraham who is a type of Christ)

Pro 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

Solomon was a wise son of his father David who typifies Christ, so in this instance Solomon typifies the elect of God who are wise and obedient sons of Christ (Jas 1:5-6, Pro 25:12, 1Pe 3:6).

Jas 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Jas 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Pro 25:12 As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.

1Pe 3:6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

We are foolish sons when we don’t bear the burden of others in the body of Christ (Gal 6:2) and that selfishness is “the heaviness^H8424 of his mother” (Psa 119:28) who represents the church. We are nothing without Christ, but with Christ we can bear each other’s burdens, strengthening one another through our obedience to Christ and his words (1Co 14:3). If we think ourselves to be something, then we will be of no value to the body of Christ, deceiving ourselves for not knowing and believing these verses: (Gal 6:2-3, Php 2:12-13).

Psa 119:28 My soul melteth for heaviness^H8424: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.

Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Gal 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Pro 10:2 Treasures^H214 of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness^H6666 delivereth from death.

This proverb reminds us that what our carnal man considers profitable is really just smoke and mirrors, or dung as Paul said in comparison to the truth (Php 3:8), which is the righteousness of God that can deliver us from death (Pro 14:12, Pro 16:25), if we continue in it, “but righteousness delivereth from death” (Joh 8:31-32), Psa 88:12, Col 3:1-2, Luk 12:15-21).

“Treasures” H214 ‘ôtsâr o-tsaw’
Strongs: From H686; a depository: – armory, cellar, garner, store(-house), treasure (-house) (-y).
BDB: treasure, storehouse (Luk 12:15-21)
Total KJV Occurrences: 79

“Righteousness” H6666 tsedâqâh tsed-aw-kaw’
From H6663; rightness (abstractly), subjectively (rectitude), objectively (justice), morally (virtue) or figuratively (prosperity): – justice, moderately, right (-eous) (act, -ly, -ness). (Luk 12:15-21)

Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

Joh 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Psa 88:12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?[Pro 10:2]

Col 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Luk 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Luk 12:16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
Luk 12:17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
Luk 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
Luk 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Luk 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luk 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Pro 10:3 The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance^H1942 of the wicked.

“substance” H1942 havvâh hav-vaw’ 
Strongs: From H1933 (in the sense of eagerly coveting and rushing upon; by implication of falling); desire; also ruin: – calamity, iniquity, mischief, mischievous (thing), naughtiness, naughty, noisome, perverse thing, substance, very wickedness; 
BDB: desire (in bad sense); chasm (figuratively of destruction); engulfing ruin, destruction, calamity (Luk 16:26)

Yes, even that which I thought I had in my self-righteous wicked state in Babylon was taken away from me, “but he casteth away the substance of the wicked” (Mat 13:12 ) for a season, but ultimately, “The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish”, and if God is working with us in this age as the manchild, He will restore us through a process that takes a lifetime of overcoming (Luk 15:17-21, Luk 13:32, 1Jn 2:15-16).

Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Luk 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! (“but whosoever hath not”)
Luk 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luk 15:19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
Luk 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luk 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. [Pro 10:2]
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

Pro 10:4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

This is not talking about building bigger barns (Luk 12:18-24), but about labouring in the word, and fighting a good fight of faith and knowing that our labours are not in vain in the Lord, as God will provide what we need in this life if we seek the kingdom of God first and his righteousness (Mat 6:33-34). God will give us the idol of our hearts if we lustfully pursue the smooth things (Isa 30:10), and that which is temporal and passing (1Ti 6:1-12, Heb 13:5-6), and we will rob ourselves of the outstanding recompence of the reward that God’s elect are called to have respect for, unless the Lord gives us victory over the desire for the immediate pottage (Gen 25:32-34) that Esau who represents our flesh lusted after (Heb 11:26). If we are God’s people this slothfulness that leads to spiritual perdition will be burnt out of us (1Ti 6:9, 1Ti 6:12, Heb 6:12).

Luk 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
Luk 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Luk 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luk 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Luk 12:22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
Luk 12:23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
Luk 12:24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

1Ti 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

1Ti 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Heb 6:12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Pro 10:5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.

We are still talking about spiritual diligence which will result in a great reward, and this proverb reminds us that the one who sleepeth in harvest (Jer 8:20) are the foolish virgins, because the wise were given that extra oil before the end of the day (Mat 25:3-4) [the wise by God’s decree; the ‘wise son that gathers in the summer’ (Luk 21:29-36)].

Jer 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. (the foolish son who sleeps in harvest)

Mat 25:3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

Luk 21:29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
Luk 21:30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
Luk 21:31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
Luk 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
Luk 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
Luk 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luk 21:35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Luk 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

While we all “slumber and sleep”, it is the extra oil that sees the wise virgins ready to enter in (Mat 25:5-10). What we are seeking and gathering with the diligent hand spoken of in (Pro 10:4) is the kingdom of God (Heb 11:14, Luk 17:21), with an expectation that we will be rewarded for doing that, as we’re dragged to Christ (Mat 6:33, Pro 12:24, Heb 11:6, Joh 6:44).

Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
Mat 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
Mat 25:7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
Mat 25:8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
Mat 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
Mat 25:10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Pro 12:24 The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

God is showing us through this verse (Pro 10:5) that we all slumbered and slept, and are spiritually blind and only able to be awoken by the faith of Christ, a faith that must be tried in the fire (Eph 2:8). God alone has determined of those two groups that slumbered and slept, which will fall away and which will be granted that extra oil that is produced through fiery trials in the day of the Lord (Heb 6:4, Rev 3:18-19, Heb 12:6, 2Pe 3:10). These two characters being discussed in this (Pro 10:5), reveals that God’s diligence that is formed in the elect has great dividends, “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame“, but we must never forget that we were the son that caused shame, and only because of God’s mercy and forgiveness could we become “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son“

Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. [This is happening within and without]

We pray that we can be those who “must work the works of him that sent me” and accomplish this through Christ in the summer, “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son” and not on the Sabbath when no work is being accomplished (Joh 9:4, Mat 24:20).

Joh 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: