Title: The Faithful and the Evil Eye
[Min Byeong-seok's Proverbs Explanatory] 63
The Faithful and the Evil Eye
Text: (Proverbs 28:18 - 22)
Tonight's exposition of Proverbs is about to find favor by hearing about the faithful and those with an evil eye. The order seems to be changing, but first, let's look at the one with the evil eye.
1. one with an evil eye
Let's look at verse 22. 'A man with an evil eye is only in a hurry to obtain wealth, and he does not know that poverty will come upon him.' If you look at these words, people with evil eyes spend their entire lives deceiving themselves, but never live a human life. It's something you can't enjoy. He said they were very impatient about the character traits of the evil-eyed man. But if your impatience is impatient in doing good things, paying off debts, or doing good things to others, you will be blessed as such, but those with evil eyes are easygoing in that regard. . Then you said you were in a hurry to get what? He said, “I am in a hurry to get riches.” But, contrary to his hasty thoughts, what did such a person say is coming? He was saying that if poverty is another word, poverty will come.
So who has the evil eye? Everyone has eyes. But if they are eyes, they are all the same. What does evil eye mean? The eye in the Bible refers to the eye of the heart, that is, the spiritual eye. If we look at our hearts, we have bright eyes and dark eyes. In Matthew 6:22, Jesus said, “The eyes are the lamp of the soul. Therefore, if your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light; if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. In this way, there are good eyes and bad eyes. The evil eye spoken of in Proverbs refers to this evil eye. It is said that the eyes are the lamp of the body. Therefore, if the eyes are strong, the body will be bright. But he said that if your eyes are bad, your body will be dark.
So what is it that blinds a person's eyes?
(1) It is said that riches blind a person's eyes. Matter has an amazing attraction and attraction. For those who do not serve God, riches are in the place of their God. A person who loves material things rather than God while serving God is already possessed by darkness in his body. Therefore, the Bible strictly warns us that we cannot serve God with wealth.
Material things create covetousness in a person's heart. To live lustfully as a human being. By making humans entangled in material things, they degenerate into slavery to material things. In 1 Timothy 6 it says, “The love of money is the root of all evil, and those who long for it have been deceived, and have erred from the faith and have pierced themselves with many sorrows.” Therefore, the heart of a money lover has an evil eye.
(2) What next blinds a person's eyes? Sin blinds man's eyes. Sin is darkness. When a person commits a sin, he is already a servant of darkness. Therefore, it makes that person the possessor of the evil eye.
(3) And pride darkens a man's heart. The bible says that the eyes of the proud are evil. Those with proud eyes despise people and boast of themselves. He does not know humility and exalts himself in front of everyone. But God is against the proud.
2. What Evil Eyes Do
There are many ways in the Bible of what the evil eyed man does. In verse 22, it says, “We are concerned only with obtaining wealth.” To a man with an evil eye, nothing seems greater than money. They will do anything and pay anything if there is a way to raise money.
Even among Christians, there are people who cannot keep Sundays because of making money. Such a person has an evil eye that darkens their heart. It is said that those who have evil eyes want to become rich quickly. Let's look at verse 20. “The faithful are blessed with many blessings, but those who want to get rich quickly will not escape punishment.” Those who want to get rich quickly get caught by the law because they earn money by any means possible, and because they cause harm to others, criminal and civil penalties follow.
Guys, in what way should it be added? You have to be diligent to be rich. You have to work hard to get rich. You must become rich as a reward for your hard work. And through a life of obedience to God's Word, God will give us wealth and we must become rich. It will naturally take a long time to get rich this way.
But anyone with an evil eye is trying to get things done with quick-wittedness. According to Isaiah 5:18-19, those who cannot persevere in all things test God, saying, “God will make his plan come quickly, that we may see.” This is so that I can see myself getting rich quickly. This man has turned away from God, so let me see him perish quickly. Those who wish for nothing to happen quickly, without waiting, are evil-hearted people.
Even in judging sinners, God is patient with His love that does not put out a smoldering lamp or break a bruised reed. "Do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord's promise is not slow, as some consider slowness, but is patient with you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance." That's what you said.
If you have had the thought of getting rich by receiving blessings, you need to give up your impatient mind to earn money quickly and live a rich life. The rich man who is made fast is not the rich man God has given him, so when he stumbles, he will quickly perish. Disasters are coming to these people. Let's look at verse 22. ‘He who has an evil eye is in a hurry to obtain wealth, and he does not know that poverty will come upon him.’ What did it say? It was said that poverty was coming. He said that it is not possible to be rich who wants, but poverty will come into his life and he will perish.
God is in control of all the wealth we use. This God grants wealth according to His will, and He also takes the wealth He has given. However, for those who are in a hurry to obtain wealth, God must prepare poverty and provide for poverty to come.
And there is something that comes to those who have an evil eye, and that is a decisive disaster. Please find the words of Matthew 13:13-16. ‘Therefore I tell them parables, that they see, but do not see, and hear, but do not understand. and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes are closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn and be healed by me.” How can a person with evil eyes be unable to hear the word of God? Because God has imprisoned such people under God's judgment, there is no way to avoid disaster.
So, what kind of eyes do we need to have so that our eyes do not become evil ones? You must have bright eyes. So, what makes people's eyes bright? Psalm 19:7 says, “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making the simple wise; the teaching of the LORD is upright and pleasing to the heart; the commandments of the LORD are pure and open the eyes. ' he said. God's Word brightens our eyes. When we live the life of keeping God's commandments, our eyes are opened.
If you delight in the word of God and listen to it more than following the world's pleasures, rejoice in obedience to it more than enjoying iniquity, and if you meditate on it in your heart whenever you have time, your eyes will be open. Please believe in the fact that your eyes will naturally become bright and your whole body will be healthy. So, let's find out what we see when our eyes are bright. Ephesians 1:18 says, “I know what the hope of God’s calling is.” He said that next time we will know how glorious the inheritance God has given us is. In Romans 8, Paul says that in order to inherit this inheritance with Christ, we must suffer with him.
2. Blessings for the faithful
Next, we will look at the blessings that the faithful will receive. Loyalty refers to our life of conscientious work in the house of God. We are all loyal people in the house of God. How does a faithful person work in the house of God?
(1) Faithful people look to God and work. Although Joseph worked as a slave in Potiphar's house in Egypt, he lived a loyal life. Joseph was not looking at the human Potiphar, but looking at the God who ruled and guided his life. Therefore, the blessing God had given to Joseph also extended to Potiphar's house.
(2) Next, loyalty to God starts with little things. In Luke 16:2 and below, the parable of the unrighteous steward concludes by saying, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much, and he who is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much.” I want you to start your loyalty from the very little things you can do in the church. Then it can become a large vessel used by God.
To be faithful to God, you must first lead a right life before God. You cannot expect a life of loyalty to a liar. It is impossible for a fraudster to become a faithful worker in the church with that image. Therefore, to be faithful in the house of God, you must first be transformed into a new person through Jesus Christ.
Regarding loyalty, God said two things. One is loyalty as a servant of God. And one has loyalty as a saint. In the words of Matthew 24:45 and below, the Lord said that the loyalty entrusted to the servants of God is to distribute food to those entrusted to the master at the appropriate time. The task entrusted to the servants of God is to feed the sheep well. If you neglect this, you will not receive a reward no matter how good you are at other things. The loyalty given to the saints is told in Matthew 25 in the parable of the talents. This parable is to be faithful in your work. In 1 Corinthians 4:2, it is said that what we should ask of those entrusted with is loyalty.
Conclusion: Loyalty must not lie and must be sincere. We should always look to God and only hope for God's reward. Even if others do not recognize you, even if you are sad, if there is damage, even if you are wrongly framed, you can only be faithful if you can endure while looking at the reward of heavenly glory. Gentlemen, he said that the faithful will be blessed. In Psalm 101:6, it says that the eyes of God search all the earth to look for the faithful. God will surely search and find those who are faithful to Him, and He will bless them and give them abundantly and abundantly, and He will repay them abundantly with a heavenly reward.