“Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth:
much more the wicked and the sinner” Part III

(Pro 11:24-31)

Lord willing we will be about our Father’s business in this life, as Christ was (Jas 4:12-15, Luk 2:49, 1Jn 4:17), and it is in this labour of love that God makes possible through Him (Php 2:12-15), that we will be “recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner” of (Pro 11:31).

By God’s grace we overcome “the wicked and the sinner” within ourselves via the process of judgement [3] that is upon our “earth”, the church (Jer 22:29). It is that cleansing process throughout our entire life which makes it possible for the elect to inherit the earth (Mat 5:5), as we become zealous for the things of God, seeking His kingdom first and his righteousness so that all these things can be added unto us of (Mat 6:33). The city we are seeking in this section of James (Jas 4:13), where we will be ‘one year buying and selling and getting gain’, represents the city, the church, Jerusalem above (Gal 4:26), which we will find if we seek for her with all our hearts (Mat 6:33, Jas 4:12-15, Jer 29:11-14)

Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Jer 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jer 29:12  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.(Mat 6:33)
Jer 29:14  And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

The liberality we have in Christ (Gal 5:13), and the abundant life that God gives us through him, are being considered in these last few verses we’re looking at today (Pro 11:24-31), and encourage us to trust that we are His workmanship that was ordained to be so from the foundation of the world (Eph 2:8-10).

Eph 2:8  For by grace 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.
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.

Pro 11:24 There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

This opening two-sided proverb shows two ways of life, one that will bring great increase in our lives and the other that will lead to poverty. The subject at hand is spiritual prosperity verses spiritual poverty, which must both be experienced in the lives of believers whose productivity and spiritual increase are a gift of God (Rom 8:14-16) that will tend to the needs of the body of Christ and all men that the Lord calls us to serve in this life as we have opportunity (1Co 3:6-7, Gal 6:10).

Gal 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

These verses which we read in (2Co 9:1-15) also demonstrate this principle in the church (“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty”).

2Co 9:2 For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many. [“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth”]
2Co 9:3 Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready:
2Co 9:4 Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.
2Co 9:5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.
2Co 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. [“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty”]
2Co 9:7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
2Co 9:9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.
2Co 9:10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)
2Co 9:11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
2Co 9:12 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; [Heb 13:15]
2Co 9:13 Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men;
2Co 9:14 And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.
2Co 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.[Php 1:19]

Php 1:19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

In the story with Ananias and Sapphira, we learn that when we withhold “the price of the land”, we are withholding our life [the land] in Christ from one another, and that will lead to spiritual poverty as was the case with this couple (Act 5:1-6).

Act 5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
Act 5:2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Act 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
Act 5:4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
Act 5:5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
Act 5:6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.

This is the ultimate example of “and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty” leading to physical and spiritual death in this instance. Ananias and Sapphira were sacrificed for the elect’s sake, and remind us to fear God, and not withhold “the price of the land”, which represents our bodies. We are commanded to bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, the tithe representing our whole life (Act 5:5, Luk 12:5, Mal 3:8-12).

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.

Mal 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Mal 3:9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Mal 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Mal 3:11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.

Pro 11:25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

God will provide for those who He has given to seek the kingdom of God first (Mat 6:33) and His righteousness and this is how “The liberal soul shall be made fat”, as He adds all things that we need in this life, supplying our every need through Christ (Php 4:19).

As those needs are met by the Lord as a result of our seeking the kingdom of God first, we will learn the way of life God has called us unto, and we will be richly rewarded for putting others first, both physically and spiritually as we bring our whole life into the temple that belongs to God, and Christ (1Co 6:20, Gal 3:13, Heb 10:29, Rev 12:11), and to each other (Gen 4:9).

1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body [Eph 5:30], and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

The second part of this verse, “he that watereth shall be watered also himself”, reminds us that we’ve been called unto a way of life where we can believe that God will give us increase in our lives when we look not just to our own needs, but to the needs of others as well, “he that watereth shall be watered also himself”(1Co 3:6-8, Php 2:4-8).

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.
1Co 3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

Php 2:4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.(Heb 5:8)

Pro 11:26 He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.

Going back to the example of Ananias and Sapphira, it is clear that Satan was used of God to bring them to withhold or keep back a part of the land, and that is exactly what the devil is always trying to do with God’s little flock as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, by telling us that we don’t need to wholeheartedly obey God and keep His commandments (1Pe 5:7-8, Gen 3:1-5).

1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman [the church], Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Thanks be to God we’ve been given to be more than conquerors through Christ (Rom 8:37) who tells us that yes, the devil will try to sift us like wheat, but Christ has prayed for us so that we will not fail in God’s service (Luk 22:31-32).

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

Luk 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luk 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

It is His blessing, His unction upon our heads, that gives us the mind of Christ that blesses the body of Christ as we freely receive His corn, and give it (Mat 10:8) to those who God causes to have a hunger and thirst for it, “but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.” (Mat 5:6, Mat 24:45-46).

Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Mat 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

Pro 11:27 He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.

God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11:6, Mal 3:10), “He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour”, and if we do not cleave to God and we do not resist the devil (Jas 4:7-10) our natural fleshly tendency will be to “seeketh mischief”, and the devil will be used of God to see to it that “it shall come unto him”.

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.

Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Jas 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Pro 11:28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.

This proverb, “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall”, reminds us of (Rev 3:17) which reads, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”. The only way to become “the righteous shall flourish as a branch” is then explained in the next verse (Rev 3:18), which describes the pruning process which we must go through in order to “flourish as a branch”(Joh 15:2-4).

Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Pro 11:29 He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.

We’ve all troubled our own house and inherited the wind like the Corinthian fornicator, however if God is working with us, that experience of evil and the buffeting process of Satan will be used to chasten and scourge us and bring us back. We need to realize that we are the fool at first who was made this way so that we could one day be a “servant to the wise of heart”, who represents Christ and his Christ and those prodigal sons that God mercifully drags to His son to be presented as a living sacrifice (Luk 15:17-21, Joh 6:44, Rom 12:1).

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! “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind”
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. [the fool being acknowledge who is now blessed to be “servant to the wise of heart”]
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.

Pro 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

Our fruit in this life is dependent upon our being connected to the “tree of life” (Joh 15:4-14) and abiding in that relationship so that we will be able to save ourselves and those who hear us (1Ti 4:16).

Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in 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.
Joh 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
Joh 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
Joh 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

1Ti 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
1Ti 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
1Ti 4:15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
1Ti 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Pro 11:31 Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.

Our last verse is what the majority of all these proverbs in chapter eleven have been pointing to, and that is the simple fact that by abiding in Christ’s truth and continuing in it “the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner” (Joh 8:31-32, 1Jn 2:24-25)

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.

1Jn 2:24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
1Jn 2:25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

Pro 1:17-23 “The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner” Part II

[Study Aired March 13, 2025]

I’ve kept the same title as last week for this section of chapter 11, seeing the majority of the verses point to the reality that “the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth much more the wicked and the sinner” (Pro 11:31) which is something the Lord wants us to “behold”, to know!

Many of the proverbs are written with a clear message of opposing positive and negative behaviour and the resultant effect of acting one way or the other. For a very blessed few on this earth, we do not separate ourselves from any part of the proverbs but see them as an ongoing, is was and will be admonition in this age [as we do the rest of God’s word], and a continual encouragement of how God can give us victory over the wretchedness that just naturally resides within flesh (Rom 7:24-25).

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. 

This section of chapter eleven has a lot to do with how God has called his people to be productive in this life, that we live by the faith of Christ (Gal 2:20-21), who can give us the power and ability to overcome the negative aspect of each of these proverbs to become fruit bearing trees to the glory and honour of our Great God (2Ti 1:9-10) who gives the increase in our life so that we can bring forth much spiritual fruit (1Co 3:6).

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Gal 2:21  I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.  

2Ti 1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, [Tit 3:8, Jas 2:14-17]
2Ti 1:10  But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: 

The “good ground” of (Mat 13:8) is in the house of God where the “manifold wisdom of God”(Eph 3:10) is “now made manifest” to the saints in every generation that is being judged (Mat 13:8, 1Ti 3:15, Mat 24:34, 1Pe 4:17).

Eph 3:10  To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 

Mat 13:8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 

1Ti 3:15  But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 

Pro 11:17  The merciful man doeth good to his own soul^H5315: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh^H7607.

H5315  nephesh  neh’-fesh
From H5314; properly a breathing creature, that is, animal or (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental): – any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, X dead (-ly), desire, X [dis-] contented, X fish, ghost, + greedy, he, heart (-y), (hath, X jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortality, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, X would have it.
Total KJV occurrences: 753

H7607 flesh she’êr sheh-ayr’
From H7604; flesh (as swelling out), as living or for food; generally food of any kind; figuratively kindred by blood: – body, flesh, food, (near) kin (-sman, -swoman), near (nigh) [of kin]
Total KJV occurrences: 16

This proverb gives more evidence to God’s elect that when we do good unto our own soul^H5315, or flesh and bones (Eph 5:29-30, Isa 58:7), or do evil unto it, we are doing this unto Christ (Mat 25:40-46). If we want to obtain mercy we need to show it to others (Mat 5:7) and if we trouble our own flesh and do belong to God, His grace will abound toward our sinful condition (2Co 9:8, Rom 5:20-21) burning out that evil spirit that troubles our “own flesh^H7607” [one spirit 1Co 6:17, one bread 1Co 10:17, one flesh Joh 6:51]. So in a healthy body of Christ we can say no healthy spiritual man ever hated His own flesh (Eph 5:29)

Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 
Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 

Isa 58:7  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?[Eph 5:30] 

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 
Mat 25:41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 
Mat 25:42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 
Mat 25:43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 
Mat 25:44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 
Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 
Mat 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

2Co 9:8  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: 

Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 
Rom 5:21  That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 

Pro 11:18  The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. 

No one wants to think that their first tree works a “deceitful work”, but that is the point of this proverb. We all must first be the tree that is on the unproductive ground of Babylon where our talent is buried in the earth due to fear (Mat 25:25), to then by God’s mercy become a tree that is worked with on the good ground, which casts out that fear (Mat 13:8, 1Ti 3:15, Rom 5:5) as God’s workmanship that has been predestinated to bring forth works (Luk 13:6-9, Eph 1:4). God’s elect are called unto a lifetime of seeking and knowing and believing that there will be a “sure reward” for their labour of sowing righteousness through Christ (Heb 11:6, Mat 6:33) as we die daily and are washed by the word that gives us the power to progressively, “by little and little”, drive the beast out of our land, which represents our bodies (Exo 23:29-30, Tit 2:11-12).

The patient process of salvation:

Luk 13:6  He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 
Luk 13:7  Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? [1Ti 3:15]
Luk 13:8  And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
Luk 13:9  And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.[Heb 6:3]

Exo 23:29  I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 
Exo 23:30  By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. 

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 
Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 

God has purposed that we must experience both conditions, of being unproductive to then become productive, and the contrast blesses us and puts us in remembrance that He is the one who is working all of this holding and withholding of those spirits that inhibit our growth until they are destroyed by the brightness of His coming (2Th 2:3-8).

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 
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: 

“The day of evil” is something that God has made within us (Isa 45:7, Pro 16:4) that we will be delivered from when we begin to “soweth righteousness” through Christ, resulting in a “sure reward” (Pro 11:18). That ultimate reward at the end of a life of fighting a good fight of faith is to be found in that blessed and holy first resurrection (1Ti 6:12, Rev 20:6, 2Ti 4:8).

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

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

Pro 11:18  The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. 

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. 

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 

2Ti 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 

Pro 11:19  As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death. 

By God’s grace we’ll recognize any evil thing that is within us (Rom 8:1-9) that must be cleansed by Him through Christ (Psa 51:10-11) who alone can bless us to have His righteousness ruling and reigning in our thoughts and actions (2Co 10:5) so that we can go unto perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32).

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 
Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 
Rom 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 
Rom 8:4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [Rom 8:14-16]
Rom 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;[“so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death”] but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.[“As righteousness tendeth to life”] 
Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 
Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 
Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 
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. 

Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. [“righteousness tendeth to life”]
Psa 51:11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; [“righteousness tendeth to life”] 

Pro 11:20  They that are of a froward^H6141 heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight. 

We are all that froward^H6141 man at first who God answers according to the idol of our own hearts (Pro 16:28, Eze 14:4, Mat 25:24).

H6141 ‛iqqêsh ik-kashe’
From H6140; distorted; hence false: – crooked, froward, perverse.
Total KJV occurrences: 11

Pro 16:28  A froward^H8419 man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.

Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel [typifying the church] that setteth up his idols in his heart, [crooked, froward, or perverse words] and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity (Eze 33:13, Php 3:9) before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 

Mat 25:24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: 
Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. 
Mat 25:26  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: [“I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols”] 
Mat 25:27  Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. [Jas 2:20]
Mat 25:28  Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. 
Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. 
Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant  into outer darkness:[Heb 10:29, Heb 6:9] there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The “but such as are upright in their way are his delight” part of this proverb can only happen if God will grant that we be dragged to His son in this age (Joh 6:44) through whom we are accepted of the Father (Eph 1:6). There is no boasting in the life of those that God chooses to bring forth much fruit (Rom 3:27, Gal 2:20, Php 2:12-13); the few who are being blessed to heed the admonitions of the Lord in this age, that reveal the needful severity and goodness of God upon all flesh (Rom 11:22, Rom 2:4).

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. 

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

Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

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? 

Pro 11:21  Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. 

Christ has delivered the elect over and over throughout history, most notably via the typical deliverance in the old covenant of the nation of Israel, which represents the very real spiritual deliverance from our Father who says that nothing shall separate the Israel of God from the love of God (Gal 6:16, Rom 8:35-39). Our old man does not go unpunished in this life, but it is through God’s chastening grace that we are received of Him (Heb 12:6) as we are delivered by the one seed, “the seed” Jesus Christ who abides within the body of Christ (Gal 3:16), “but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered” (Col 1:27). In other words, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mat 16:18).

Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. 

Rom 8:35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 
Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 
Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

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

Gal 3:16  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 

Pro 11:22  As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. 

This proverb is talking about the “fair woman which is without discretion” who represents Babylon where we had our former conversation in the world (Eph 2:1-4) that we now must continue to die daily to. The “gold, and silver, and precious stones” of (Rev 18:12) represent our own confidence in our fleshly carnal reasoning that causes us to believe we are rich and increased with goods, not knowing we are actually wretched, miserable, poor and blind (Joh 9:41, Rev 3:17). All of these conditions are represented by the “jewel of gold in a swine’s snout”. In order for us to become a woman of discretion, we must have that gold on our snouts pulled off and put in the fire (Rev 3:17-18, Exo 32:3, Exo 32:20-24).

Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 
Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 

Exo 32:3  And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 

Exo 32:20  And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. [the idol turned to nothing through a fiery process]

Pro 11:23  The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. 

Our desire will be what God has determined from the foundation of the world (Pro 16:1-2), and if we are His and Christ is working in us both to will and to do of God’s good pleasure (Php 2:12-13), then and only then “The desire of the righteous is only good” (Rom 3:10-12).

Pro 16:1  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD. 
Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

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. 

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 
Rom 3:11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 
Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

The only way that “desire of the righteous” can be realized in our lives is by having “the expectation of the wicked” destroyed by God’s “wrath” which abides on all unrighteousness of men [Rom 1:18]. We suffer so that we can cease from sinning (1Pe 4:1-2) and overcome all that is in the world within us (1Jn 2:16) via the power of God’s holy spirit that makes it possible for us to fulfill His will, 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” (1Jn 2:15-17, Php 3:9).

1Pe 4:1  Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 
1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men [all that is in the world of ], but to the will of God. 

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. 
1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 

In conclusion, we thank God for His wonderful works onto the children of men that are setting us free from sin (Joh 8:36), which resides in a deceived world that is currently being held in bondage by the god of this world (2Co 4:4).

God’s elect are typified by Abraham’s one seed and are now the one holy seed with Jesus Christ within (Gal 3:16-17, Col 1:27), and so we give thanks to our loving Father for the process of salvation we’ve been called unto that will lead to the salvation of all men (1Co 15:22-23).

The elect are called to have these words fulfilled in their lives, “Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner”. The elect are recompensed with the life of Christ within our earth today, and outwardly by receiving a double portion, or inheritance (Col 1:12, Col 3:24, 1Pe 1:4, Heb 11:8, Heb 9:15). These last few verses incentivize us to keep fighting a good fight of faith as we strive for the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ (1Ti 6:12, Php 3:14).

Col 1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 

Col 3:24  Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

Heb 11:8  By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 

Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Pro 11:13-16 “The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner” Part I

[Study Aired March 6, 2025]

In this section of Proverbs chapter 11 we’ll look at the following verses (Pro 11:13-16) with the final verse in mind throughout, that states God shall recompense the righteous in the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner (Pro 11:31).

Inwardly the deceitful and desperately wicked heart of man, of all men (Jer 17:9), will not inherit the kingdom of heaven (1Co 15:50), which is another way of saying nothing that defiles the kingdom of God will enter into its gates of (Rev 21:27).

Rev 21:27  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. 

Right now if God is judging us (1Pe 4:17), then we are a blessed people above all of God’s creation, and that judgement and the suffering that it brings upon the body of Christ is a manifest token of His workmanship that God’s people are in this age (2Th 1:4-6, Php 1:28-29, Eph 2:10).

2Th 1:4  So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: 
2Th 1:5  Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 
2Th 1:6  Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 

Php 1:28  And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. 
Php 1:29  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; 

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. 

All of God’s word is “given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2Ti 3:16), as those words sharpen us (Pro 27:17) with the present truths that we hold fast to, and are established in (1Th 5:21, 2Pe 1:12).

1Th 5:21  Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 

2Pe 1:12  Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. 

Speaking of sharpening, I’ve been learning how to use a straight blade to shave, and the sharpening process takes a lot of time and proper technique against a specific honed glass stone. The blade has to go through many passes against this specially designed stone in order to become sharp enough to cut facial hair. Accomplishing the razor sharp results I’m looking for is an ongoing work in progress that has not yet been realized yet as it turns out to be something that requires a lot more time and skill to attain then I expected.

Whether I end up succeeding at this physical challenge or not the Lord knows, and it reminds me of these verses “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind [my old razor], and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:13-14).

The good news is that although salvation is something that is scarcely obtained by God’s design as we grow spiritually sharper in the Lord (1Pe 4:18, 2Pe 3:18), we are also blessed to know that it will all be accomplished by the faith of Christ alone (1Jn 5:4, Rom 3:27), who is the stone that God has placed in our lives as our hope of glory (Col 1:27). If we truly love the brotherhood and have become fellow servants who sharpen each other in this life, then that which He has begun will be finished in each of our lives in this manner, “from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love”(ESV) (Php 2:12-13, Php 1:6, Eph 4:15-16).

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:

This simple analogy of sharpening a blade against glass reminds us that God’s elect are represented by what we read in these verses (Rev 21:21-27) that include reference to “transparent glass”. All of these qualities of the temple described in (Rev 21:21-27) describe what it takes for God’s people to be “meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work“(2Ti 2:20-21). The work of witnessing during the thousand year reign (Rev 20:6) and the work of judging all of humanity who will come up in the great white throne judgement are all made possible by Christ the chief corner stone who prepared the bride for the service she was called unto (1Pe 2:6). That service cannot be accomplished unless we become like the stone, Jesus Christ (1Jn 4:17), that God will use with Christ as our head to be saviours to this world (Oba 1:21).

2Ti 2:20  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 
2Ti 2:21  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work (Rev 19:7).

Pro 24:27  Prepare thy work without [Heb 13:13], and make it fit for thyself in the field;[Mat 13:38, Joh 17:16] and afterwards build thine house.[Isa 9:7] 

Luk 9:62  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. [It takes the strength of the fit man to accomplish God’s work within the scapegoat in this age (Lev 16:10-11, Lev 16:21)]

Luk 14:34  Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned? 
Luk 14:35  It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.[It takes the strength of the fit man to accomplish God’s work within the scapegoat in this age which entails the living sacrifices that we are to God, being salted with fiery trials (Lev 16:10-11, Lev 16:21, Mat 5:13, 1Pe 4:12, Mar 9:49)] 

Lev 16:10  But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. 
Lev 16:11  And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself: 

Lev 16:21  And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:

Mat 5:13  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 

Mar 9:49  For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice [Rom 12:1] shall be salted with salt. 

These verses in the book of Revelation (Rev 21:21-27) represent a time when the elect are ruling and reigning over the kingdoms of this world (Rev 11:15) as they are “recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner“, having been judged in this age, and by God’s grace, overcome our corrupt flesh that cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

The world will be learning of His righteousness with His judgements in the earth (Isa 26:9), executed by the elect (1Pe 4:17), who were made ready at this time, to be the saviours who come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau (Oba 1:21, Jer 23:5, Rev 11:15). “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth“, has an inward application for God’s people today who have this earnest relationship (Rom 8:19) unfolding by the grace through faith process we’ve been called unto (Eph 2:8), and a dispensational fulfillment that is expressed perfectly in these verses (Rev 21:21-27)

Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.

Rev 21:21  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl:

[Unity is being expressed in this section of the first verse, that has been completely formed in Christ’s body through judgment, resulting in the fulfillment of this verse (2Co 11:3) that speaks to the goal of unity that we are striving toward in the body of Christ today (Php 2:2)]

Rev 21:21  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city [the church]was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 
Rev 21:22  And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

[no more earnest relationship, but the fulness of this verse (Joh 14:20) now being experienced as spirit beings in God’s glorious service]

Rev 21:23  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it:[no need for the church to know Christ the sun of righteousness after the flesh for God’s elect at this point, no need for the process that the moon typifies for God’s elect (2Co 5:16)] for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 
Rev 21:24  And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth [Rev 11:15, Rev 17:14, Rev 19:16] do bring their glory and honour into it. 
Rev 21:25  And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 
Rev 21:26  And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it [God’s elect have been made ready and are represented by “the glory and honour of the nations” God having given them the power to rule over, and overcome the nations within us in this life]. 
Rev 21:27  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth [Gen 3:24], neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. 

Pro 11:13  A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. 

Pro 11:13 He who goes about as a defamer reveals secret deliberation, Yet one faithful of spirit covers a confidential matter.”[CLV]

Today’s world is full of talebearers which were prophesied to be (2Ti 3:2-7), and the Lord is showing us what is within ourselves except for the grace of God that changes our talebearing hearts into one “that is of a faithful spirit [that] concealeth the matter”. We are extending that mercy toward each other today as the body of Christ showing pity and kindness to one another even as Christ had toward us (Jas 5:11, 1Pe 3:8, Mat 18:32-33)

Jas 5:11  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. 

1Pe 3:8  Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 

Mat 18:32  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 
Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 

Pro 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. 

Here we have a multitude of verses with the word ‘counsel’ in them that will help us understand why “safety” is associated with counsel.

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 8:14  Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. [Christ who is our mighty counsel, and our wisdom (Isa 9:6)]

Pro 11:14  Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. 

Pro 12:15  The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise. 

Pro 15:22  Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established. [1Pe 5:10]

Pro 19:20  Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end. 

Pro 19:21  There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand. [Eph 6:13]

Pro 20:5  Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out. (Gen 24:63-64, Luk 21:36)

Pro 20:18  Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war. 

Pro 21:30  There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.(Rom 8:31) 

Pro 24:6  For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety. 

Pro 27:9  Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel. 

Pro 11:15  He that is surety^H6148 for a stranger^H2114 shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship^H8628 is sure. 

The opposite of seeking wise counsel, and finding saftety in the multitude of counselors that we’ve just looked at, is what happens to us when we are “surety for a stranger“, key word “a stranger^H8628“.

H2114 zûr zoor
A primitive root; to turn aside (especially for lodging); hence to be a foreigner, strange, profane; specifically (active participle) to commit adultery: – (come from) another (man, place), fanner, go away, (e-) strange (-r, thing, woman).

God is not saying that we can’t learn from those in the world whose actions are commendable like the unjust steward who teaches us a great physical lesson that has a spiritual application to God’s elect, a lesson that tells us to forgive everyone including yourself, the debt that you owe, and be willing to take a loss, losing an eye, or a hand so you don’t lose out on being in the first resurrection (Luk 16:8, Mat 5:29). Christ is telling us to get rid of our own righteousness, our own perceptions and natural self-willed tendency, of which we can do with the life of Christ in us, as our hope of glory, of obedience (Mat 26:39, Php 3:9, Php 2:12-13).

Luk 16:8  And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. 

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. 

Safety is in the multitude of counselors and so that same mindset should be applied to how we approach the financial matters of our life, being careful not to put ourselves in a position where we become a slave to creditors. These verses are very instructive for us as to how we ought to be using the riches of this world that God gives us (Pro 22:6-9 , 1Jn 3:17-18), and how we must be careful to not become the borrower who is servant to the lender (Pro 22:6-9).

Pro 22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. 
Pro 22:7  The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. 
Pro 22:8  He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail. 
Pro 22:9  He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

1Jn 3:17  But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 
1Jn 3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 

No one does this perfectly at first, but by God’s mercy and grace we will get better at it and the Lord will provide for those who are blessed to learn to trust him in this life whether we have a little or a lot (Php 4:11-13). We can always ask God for wisdom and He will provide abundantly for us in whatever challenges we are facing, financially and most importantly spiritually so that we are not being held in bondage to past mistakes (Jas 1:5-8).

Php 4:11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Php 4:12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 
Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. 

Pro 11:16  A gracious woman retaineth honour: and strong men retain riches. 

The gracious woman represents the bride of Christ who is blessed in this age to positively lay-up spiritual store against the day of wrath by not despising God’s goodness that leads to repentance, making us zealous toward the Lord (Rom 2:4-5, 2Co 7:11). Christ is the fit man, or the strong man in our lives who makes it possible for us to “retain riches”.

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? 
Rom 2:5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

2Co 7:11  For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. 

In conclusion:

This “gracious woman” who retains honour is the church, and the strong who retain riches are the elect who are doing this through Christ who is able “also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Php 4:13, Heb 10:25).

It is the church of the firstborn who are the first to trust God until our last breath (Heb 12:23, Eph 1:12) as we come to know by God’s grace that we are the unprofitable servants who have done that which was expected of them through Christ (Luk 17:10, Php 2:12-13), and as such will experience the fulfillment of these words, “Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner” in that blessed and holy first resurrection (1Co 15:52, Rev 20:6).

Pro 11:4-12 “Righteousness delivereth from death”

[Study Aired February 27, 2025]

Pro 11:4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.
Pro 11:5 The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
Pro 11:6 The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.
Pro 11:7 When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth.
Pro 11:8 The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.
Pro 11:9 An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered.
Pro 11:10 When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.
Pro 11:11 By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.
Pro 11:12 He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace.

In this section of chapter eleven we will explore the meaning of what true riches are in God’s mind and how He is bringing His children to have a great appreciation for the joy that has been set before us (Heb 12:2-3) so that we don’t set our affections on the temporal things of the earth that are passing (Heb 11:26, Gal 5:24, Col 3:2-3).

Heb 11:26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Col 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

The only way that an appreciation for things of the spirit can grow in us, is by the Lord delivering us from the deceitfulness of our flesh [Jer 17:9], that naturally wants the riches of this world, the immediate and deceitful bowl of pottage that represents “the flesh with the affections and lusts”(Gen 25:34) that will rob us of an eternal reward described in the following verses, (Mat 11:11, Php 3:8, Mat 10:28-31).

Lay hold of eternal life:

Mat 11:11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. [luk 17:20]

Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:[Eph 3:10] for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, [to continue to have the mind of Christ, is to win Christ (1Ti 6:12, 1Ti 6:19, Joh 17:2-3, Joh 3:15, Joh 6:45, Joh 6:68)

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.

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.

Joh 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Joh 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Joh 6:68 When Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Be content – Be stedfast:

If the Lord is working with us in this life, as our hope of glory within (Col 1:27), we will be learning to be content whether we have a little or a lot (Php 4:11-13) seeing our hearts will not, by God’s grace, be set on the temporal, but rather on the things above which will give us the hope and vision we need to stedfastly endure until the end of this life (Act 7:55-56, Joh 17:3).

Php 4:11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

Act 7:55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven (Heb 3:14-15, Heb 6:19, 1Co 15:58, 1Pe 5:9, Heb 2:2), and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, [Joh 17:3, Heb 12:2]

Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;[Rev 3:3, Rev 3:11]
Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

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;

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.

1Pe 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith [1Jn 5:4, 1Jn 5:14, Eph 6:16, Col 3:14, 1Co 13:2-3], knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Heb 2:2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
Heb 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

Pro 11:4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.

This opening proverb reminds us that our riches, which are analogous of our righteousnesses (Php 3:9), amount to nothing when God’s judgements come into our lives “in the day of wrath“. It will only be by the righteousness of Christ that we will sell all that we have and come and follow Christ who alone can “delivereth from death” (Mat 19:20-26).

Mat 19:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
Mat 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.(Php 3:9)
Mat 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.(Php 3:9)
Mat 19:23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 19:24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Mat 19:25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
Mat 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. [Joh 8:32, Joh 8:36, Joh 14:6]

Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. [“righteousness delivereth from death“]

Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. [“righteousness delivereth from death“]

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. [“righteousness delivereth from death“]

Pro 11:5 The righteousness of the perfect^H8549 shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.

We follow each other as we follow Christ (1Co 11:1) who makes it possible for us to live lives that are led by God’s spirit (Rom 8:14) that “shall direct his way”. The perfect^H8549 way or better way or more excellent way (1Co 12:31) is shown in (1Co 13:1-13), and that way is only made possible with the life of Christ within us (Rom 5:5, Col 1:27). That spirit within us bears witness that we can take on these qualities described in the word “perfect^H8549” hat describe our Lord and Saviour, and the new man within us (Rom 8:9).

“Perfect” H8549 tâmı̂ym taw-meem’
From H8552; entire (literally, figuratively or morally); also (as noun) integrity, truth: – without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincerely (-ity), sound, without spot, undefiled, upright (-ly), whole. [Rom 8:1, Rom 8:9, Rom 8:14]. Total KJV occurrences: 91

Pro 11:6 The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.

God delivers us from our own selves everyday as we die daily (1Co 15:31), and he uses “the righteousness of the upright” to accomplish this (1Ti 4:14-16, Mat 4:19), which is His righteousness that we can only be drawn to as our Father drags us unto Christ in each other (Joh 6:44).

1Ti 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
1Ti 4:15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
1Ti 4:16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them:(Joh 8:31-32) for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

We are drawn to Christ in ourselves (Joh 6:44, Col 1:27) as well as in each other as we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, not neglecting so great a salvation (Heb 2:3). Our being drawn to Christ within and without ourselves is what God is accomplishing within His workmanship, “both to will and to do of his good pleasure” which is to give us the kingdom (Php 2:12-13, Joh 4:14, Luk 12:32).

Heb 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

It is the ‘kind of first fruits’ of God’s creation who are the first to come to acknowledge that there is no good thing is this flesh and so this section of the proverb, “but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness”, is written to remind us of the fact that we must be “taken in their own naughtiness” and will suffer in this life through judgement so that we will continue to cease from sinning (Tit 2:12-13, 1Pe 4:1).

Pro 11:7 When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth.

The wicked man in each of us must die, and Lord willing we will see our false aspirations torn down and destroyed by the brightness of Christ coming into our heavens as we die daily (2Th 2:2-5).

The opposite of the hope of glory within us (Col 1:27) is the hope that our carnal minds hold out that we can somehow glorify God by our own might and power, like the disciples who fished all day to learn this powerful lesson of where our power comes from (Joh 21:5-11).

Joh 21:5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. [our efforts produce no spiritual meat, only God can give this increase (1Co 3:6)]
Joh 21:6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

We live by every word of God and “the hope of unjust men perisheth” is something that must be lived in the elect’s lives in order to learn that only Christ’s righteousness within us will preserve us. “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find“, and all else will be destroyed by the brightness of His coming into our heavens to cleanse us from our own iniquitous, self-righteous ways that cast the net all the day long on the left side of the ship, until the Lord comes along and tells us to do otherwise (Eze 33:13).

Eze 33:13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

Pro 11:8 The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.

God is dealing with the sins of the Amorites in the elect’s life today, which is what “the righteous is delivered out of trouble” tells us. He is setting us free from sin, an aorist event that is unfolding in our lives, and so “the wicked cometh in his stead” is a reminder that we are not ‘once saved always saved’, but rather little and by little the Lord is giving us victory over the beasts of the land (Exo 23:30) or “the wicked that cometh in his stead” in this instance. God’s people will continue to overcome through His power within us that gives us nourishing victories (Num 14:9) as we battle the many giants that have been written in our books to overcome until we go unto perfection on the third day (Luk 13:32).

Pro 11:9 An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered.

It’s easy for the flesh to think of some other hypocrite other than our own flesh, as was demonstrated in king David’s life, when he could easily see who the unjust person was in the story that the prophet Nathan brought to him, but was speaking about David who was ‘the man’ (2Sa 12:7).

In this story, David represents all the characters in this proverb (Pro 11:9) just as we do. Our hypocritical flesh has to be brought to a point, Lord willing, where we confess our iniquities (1Jn 1:9), and that event of forgiveness will happen if we are given to not despise God’s goodness (Rom 2:4) that came by way of Nathan the prophet, showing us that it is “through knowledge shall the just be delivered” as the Lord leads us unto repentance and blesses us so that the sword of his word does not depart from our house, as it makes war against our old man with a spiritually sharper than any two edged sword (Heb 4:12), typified by the sword of war that will not depart from David’s house going forward (2Sa 12:10, Psa 32:2).

Pro 11:10 When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting^H7440.

The city in this proverb represents the church where we rejoice in the Lord and again I say rejoice for the wonderful works that God is doing unto the sons of men (Psa 107:15), causing the man of sin to perish within me and bringing about great rejoicing for the new man that is being formed (Luk 15:7). When the wicked man within me perishes, it happens as a result of my being brought to acknowledge that he resides in me and must be destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming into the temple, bringing great rejoicing for the new man for whom “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom 2:4, Rom 8:28-31).

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?

“Shouting” H7440 רִנָּה rinnâh rin-naw’
From H7442; properly a creaking (or shrill sound), that is, shout (of joy or grief): – cry, gladness, joy (Psa 30:5,), proclamation, rejoicing (Psa 126:6), shouting, sing (-ing), triumph. Total KJV occurrences: 33

Pro 11:11 By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown^H2040 by the mouth of the wicked.

“No man ever hated his own flesh” (Eph 5:29-30) is a proverb in itself that reminds us that with God’s spirit within us we can acknowledge that we are a many membered body, who are one bread and one spirit, and so when we bless one person in the body, the whole church that is represented by a city is exalted, “By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted“.

Conversely when we don’t guard out thoughts and actions we can negatively affect the church, as it is “overthrown by the mouth of the wicked” within us (Mar 9:42, Heb 12:15).

Mar 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

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;

“Overthrown” H2040 הָרַס hâras haw-ras’
A primitive root; to pull down or in pieces, break, destroy: – beat down, break (down, through), destroy (Psa 28:5), overthrow, pluck down, pull down, ruin, throw down, X utterly. Total KJV occurrences: 43

The goal we are working toward is to not offend or cause our brother to stumble (1Co 8:13), and we can rest assured that although God’s elect will be guilty of being “the mouth of the wicked” that overthrows the church, in the end if we are God’s children that spirit of disobedience will be burnt out of us and we will learn to walk in harmony with the rest of the body parts that make up the bride of Christ. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church in other words, and those gates are as much within each of us as they are in Babylon, that we will overcome by the gift God’s grace and the faith of Christ in our lives (Mat 16:18, Gen 4:7, Eph 2:8).

Pro 11:12 He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace.

Another way of saying “He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour” is that without Christ [our wisdom] in our lives who softens our hearts and deepens His love within us (Rom 5:5-6), we would be easily sifted by the devil (Luk 22:31) and iniquity would abound in our heavens causing us to despise our neighbour as God’s love waxes cold within us (Mat 24:12-13).

Rom 5:5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Rom 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Luk 22:31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

It is solely because of Christ within as our hope of glory that we can be men and woman of “understanding” who know how to hold our peace, and acknowledge that it is Christ who is growing us in that ability to be more than conquerors through him, our great King of “Peace” typified by the name Melchisedec.

Heb 7:1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; 
Heb 7:2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

The title of our study, “Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death”, reminds us that today is a day of living and abiding in bodies of death, or the shadow of the valley of death as it’s called (Psa 23:4-5), and it is only by the righteousness of Christ that we will be delivered from our own self-important flesh that thinks it’s rich and increased with goods (Rev 3:17) when in fact it cannot inherit the kingdom of God unless, Lord willing, it is being destroyed today of these negative attributes “in the day of wrath”.

Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

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.