Title: Lessons to avoid
[Min Byeong-seok Proverb Commentary 46]
Lessons to avoid
Text: (Proverbs 19:27)
This evening's exposition of Proverbs is about to receive grace under the title of 'Lessons to abide by'. Let's read verse 27 together. These verses are very short, but there is a deep meaning in this one verse.
1. The benefits of instruction
There are indeed many lessons in this world that are beneficial to people or to a moral life, or a lesson to be useful in our way of life. All knowledge, precepts, and teachings we have used in the world have been useful to us and have been useful in our lives until we come into the church, but once we come into Christ, new teachings, new teachings come to us. I am waiting.
That is the word of God. For the most part, lessons from people resonate with many because they come from conscience or high moral standards. However, since we must put the roots of all lessons in the Word of God, no matter how good a lesson is, if it is against the Word of God, we cannot follow such a lesson. Therefore, Christians have a different attitude to receiving lessons from those of the world. There are many lessons that people of the world love to follow as proverbs, which are in direct conflict with the Word of God, and if we follow such lessons, we often deviate from the Word of truth.
In the case of serving God, in the days of Isaiah, in the days of Jesus, and in the case of the Pharisees, there was a case where they were allowed to serve God not with the words of God but with the commandments of men. God groaned through the prophet Isaiah, rebuking Israel, saying, “Israel feared me, because it was taught by the commandments of men” (Isaiah 29:1-3).
On the way to Jerusalem, when the Pharisees and the scribes asked the Lord, 'Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?', Jesus answered, 'Why do you keep the commandments of God in your traditions? Do you commit a crime?” he asked again.
Our church members never go out of their way to receive such a prayer, but if you receive a prayer from someone who is praying for you, the person said, 'If you use the 11th article you will give to the church as a relief fund to help someone, God will bless the deacon. What would you do if you said, 'I will give you more?' Also, what would you do when you said, 'In order to be forgiven of your sins, you have to pay 1 million won as an offering'? If you pray in this way or lead in faith, these are not the teachings of God's Word, but the teachings of men.
Apart from the Word of God, God's servants, prophets, and prophets are of no use. Even if Jesus appears to you now and says something to you with clear words, if those words do not match what is written in the Bible, even if the person who appeared to you is really Jesus, you must not obey them. Because Jesus is going to test you by appearing to you to see how well you follow the word of God.
Are we really living according to the word of God? Above all else, do you respect God's Word? No matter how many wonders and miracles occur, there are times when we do not turn our attention to such things, put the word of truth first, and test whether we live a life of obedience to it.
A person must have deep roots in faith. We must be able to discern the Word with the belief that the Word is the most precious. Every job in the world is the same, but even when you believe in Jesus, you have to learn it well at the beginning. If you go to the Unification Church and learn from Sun Myung Moon, you can't do much. All of them will be immersed in Sun Myung Moon's ideology and serve Sun Myung Moon as God.
When you first enter a church, you follow miracles like crazy, and you believe loudly, you become hardened as it is. The religious attitude we should have is to cherish the Word and listen to it quietly in any case. No matter how famous a revivalist comes from the nearby church and holds a meeting, we are not attracted to it, and we have to live a life of faith with an attitude of judging everything based on the Word.
Do not sell your eyes to wonders or miracles, do not be swayed by false pride and vanity, do not be swayed by your beliefs, and live a beautiful life where you are standing where you are, learn the truth well and obey it. I hope that I can live with that kind of faith that comes true.
Please find the words of Deuteronomy 13:4. He said, ‘Obey the LORD your God, keep his commandments, obey his voice, serve him, and be obedient to him. This is the right way to serve God. If we deviate from this law, the person's faith will become ill and his life path will become a path without God, and he will lead a difficult life.
2. Our ears and hearts
The role of the ears and the mind is very important to us. For every lesson is first heard with the ear and kept in the heart. The ears and the mind are like sewers that throw water away. Once the water is dumped in the hole, it flows and is discharged through the sewer. In this way, the words of a person who enter the hole called the ear pass through the sewer that leads to the heart, and enter and settle in the heart.
Therefore, even if I did not agree with any words, if they were heard in my ears, my heart would be hurt to that extent. So, there is a saying in China that you should cover up your words and listen, and there is a saying in China that some people went to a flowing stream and washed their ears because they heard dirty words.
We should always be careful and refrain from hearing anything from anyone or anything. In order to always hear only the right words, I have to incline my ear to the right words. It is the wise man's way of life to always keep away from dirty and ugly words or words that go against the truth. That's why you should refrain from socializing with people who are good at useless words, look bad at others, like to fight, and practice lies.
No matter what we say, if we listen to it over and over again, it will stick in our hearts. In the past, the Communist Party ordered a so-called crossbow education, which is to continuously and repeatedly educate the praise of communism. If you do that, you will eventually become infected with that idea and become a communist. If you keep arguing with Jehovah's Witnesses or listen to them, you will soon become stained. That's how they expand the cell network. We must refrain from coming into contact with heresies. Because meeting them often is like meeting someone who has an infectious disease, and it is easy to be contagious. It is important to keep in mind that if you listen to the wrong words, you will be drawn into the wrong things.
How, then, can we listen to this? The sheep must first learn to listen to the voice of their shepherd. The flock cannot tell whether what they are eating is good for them to eat, or whether it is a poison that will kill them if they do. All you have to do is follow the shepherd's lead and eat what the shepherd feeds. Therefore, sheep must know who their shepherd is and follow that shepherd to eat good food to grow in faith and receive blessings. Please find the words of John 10:1-5. ( )
3. Kinds of Lessons to Avoid
So let's look at some of the lessons we should avoid here.
(1) First, we must take into account the lessons of men. Among the lessons of man there are many profound lessons that are very religious and philosophical. In other words, there are many great sages, such as the words of Confucius, the words of Lao-tzu, the words of Mencius, and the words of Buddha, who have contributed and influenced the human society in history. However, it is important to know that their words have many lessons with anti-Christian toxins. Christians are prone to be deceived by these lessons.
However, in the Bible, God's lessons that are greater than those of any other people in the world are unfolding like a gem. No matter how similar the lessons are, if we follow the lessons of men, God's praise, heavenly rewards, or blessings do not follow. Because it is only the word of God, when we follow the word, God is pleased and there is a reward and blessing.
(2) Next, we should refrain from teachings from other religions. The only lesson we need to know and follow is the Word of God. Every religion in the world has its own justifying, plausible, and plausible doctrine. But since they all come from men, it is of no benefit to gaining life. Even though there are different ways of salvation, there is no true way of salvation except faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The teachings of other religions may seem better than the words of the Bible, but they are just paper tigers. There is no life. no ability. They are just the words of a person written on paper, and they do not give us life, nor do they give us the hope of heaven.
(3) Next, we must refrain from the teachings of Balaam. In the church, the teachings of Balaam spread like rotten leaven. The lesson of Balaam is a lesson that prevents us from serving God properly because we are caught up in covetousness and become blinded by the riches of the world. This lesson is also very popular in the church. Anyone succumbing to materialism becomes a slave to this precept. When we pray, we only pray for material things and set our heart's desires only on material blessings, which is proof that we are being led by Balaam's teachings. If you follow these lessons, you will walk the path of Balaam and follow it in the end.
(4) Next we must refrain from the teachings of the Nicolaitans. In the early church, there was a deacon named Nicolas. When this deacon was chosen as a deacon, he had good faith and was full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit. However, his faith became ill and he created a party in the church, which eventually misled people and led them from the right faith.
Their lesson was that now that we are saved, it is okay to sin. As a result, evil spread in the church, and the hearts of the members were corrupted by sin. In order not to be deceived by these teachings, we listen to the word of God and strengthen it in the word of truth. In addition, you must stay away from the cults and do not welcome them generously. To do this, first, our ears must not be shaken from the teachings of God.
Conclusion: In the book of Revelation, at the end of every letter the Lord sent to each church, he said, “Hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” This ear refers to the circumcised ear. We must circumcise our ears. Our ears are those of those who have become eternal servants of God by the blood of the Lord. Our ears should always be attentive to the Word of God. We need to listen to God's word with the attitude of 'Speak only, and I will obey'. In the name of the Lord, I pray that you will become a saint who listens to your ears and lives according to the word.