Episode Transcript
All right, we're in Proverbs 11 verse 19 tonight.
The message is a deadly pursuit.
And our verse tonight is simple, yet it's profoundly simple.
"Saulam against this verse by saying," if you look with me, we'll just read the entire verse in verse 11-19.
"As righteousness tendeth to life, so he that pursueth evil, and pursueth it to his own death."
We'll start with the word "as."
The Hebrew word translated "as" is used over 700 times in the Bible.
Lots of those little words are used a whole lot.
But this is the only time that I could find it translated as "as."
The vast majority of the time is translated as "so," "wherefore," "therefore," and "thus."
So instead of using the word "as" tonight, let's take the words that it's most often translated, again, the vast majority of the time, and let's use those words instead of "as."
So instead of "as righteousness tends to life," we'll say "so righteousness tends to life," "wherefore righteousness tends to life, therefore righteousness tends to life, and thus righteousness tends to life."
That makes a big difference, doesn't it?
The biggest difference is that it connects this sentence with what's been previously said, like the things in the former chapter, like it's a summarization of it almost.
I want you to watch what I mean.
I want to read little snippets from different verses and substitute it with the beginning of our verse tonight, using the most often translated words in this Hebrew word.
Proverbs 11, 4b, "righteousness delivers from death, wherefore righteousness tends to life."
There you go.
See how that goes?
"Righteousness delivers from death."
What do we conclude from that?
Well, "wherefore righteousness tends to life."
Proverbs 11, 6, "the righteousness of the upright shall deliver them, therefore righteousness tends to life."
Proverbs 11, 8, "the righteous is delivered out of trouble, thus righteousness tends to life."
You see how that goes together?
It appears that it's drawing a conclusion from the ideas of the previous chapter.
And the word "as" literally, when you're looking at the word "as" literally, it means to stand something up, to stand it erect.
Take it and stand it up.
So this is a monumental truth.
This is something that is a truth that can stand up to the greatest scrutiny.
And it's the truth that righteousness tendeth to life.
The root word of righteousness is simply the word "right."
Doing right, being right, thinking right.
All of that tends to life.
In 1989, actor Spike Lee, who Brother Shepherd is very fond of, he popularized the saying, "Do the right thing."
You want to remember that?
"Do the right thing."
I got so tired of hearing that.
The problem is no one said what the right thing is, or how to know what the right thing is.
Righteousness, doing right, or what's right, is not defined by what we think is right.
Thank God it's not, because the nation is so polarized right now on what half the people think is right, and half the people think is wrong, half the people think is weird, the other half think is weird.
So righteousness isn't defined by what we think is right, but by what God says is right.
Righteousness is taking that path.
We've been looking at the way of the Lord, or the way that God has for us.
The way of righteousness.
All these different descriptions here in our very long study of the book of Proverbs so far.
What we see is that God's way, God's path, is the right way to take.
Thus it is righteousness when we take it.
Righteousness is taking that path that God has given us in His Word, is doing what God says, and when we do what God says, that tends to life.
Meaning it fosters, it promotes, it results in, and it has the characteristic of being strong and alive, which is what that word translated "life" means.
The word tendeth here is actually not in the Hebrew, it's not really there at all in the text, but the translators supplied it.
But here's a kingdom true for you tonight.
When we follow God's Word, that's when we're really living.
When I look at the pictures that people post of themselves on social media sometimes, I can usually get a pretty good idea of what they think life is about.
A lot of them like to take pictures of themselves at a restaurant with a glass of wine.
As if to let people know, "We're sophisticated folks, we're cut above, we're the wealthier, we're whatever, but we want you to think of us this way."
There's someone, Tammy and I, get a kick at that when they have their picture taken, this particular person always stands at a certain angle, and makes sure his bicep is always showing.
So we get a kick out of it.
But you know what we think and how we want to be perceived, and what we think life really is, it's not always what's right, it's not always righteousness.
Not too long ago I was looking at some photos of an old friend of mine that he had posted on social media.
He had big muscles also.
He had a beautiful wife at a beautiful home with a pool in the backyard.
Looking at his photos you would think, "Man, this guy, he's really living it up.
He's really got life by the tail here, but not too long afterward he committed suicide."
Brother Shephard knows him, knew him.
The truth is, some of the strongest people are very weak.
Some of the richest people are very poor.
Some of the funniest people are very sad.
But when your identity, purpose, joy, and strength is found in the Lord Jesus Christ, that's when you're really living.
It tends to life.
Jesus said in the Gospel of John chapter 6 verse 33, He said, "For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven to give life unto the world."
Jesus came to give life to the world.
Now there's some things we can learn from that.
If Jesus came to give life to the world, that means the world did not have life.
It had to have someone give it life, and that someone was Jesus Christ.
And if Jesus is the one who gave us life, that means there is no life outside of Jesus.
There simply is none.
And I hear someone say, "Ah, there are a lot of people in this world who don't follow Jesus, and they're alive and well.
How can you say that they have no life when they're clearly living?"
Let me ask you this, because you have to think of life the way life is, the way God understands life.
I'll tell you right now, those of us here, we have only a small inkling, a small idea of what life is.
Because of sin, our life has been so suppressed, and we're so used to it.
When we understand and we experience the fullness of life that's unrestrained by sin, when Jesus comes again and He removes all sin, when we experience that, we're going to say, "Man, I just thought I was alive.
I just thought I knew what life was."
No one has ever experienced it.
Even Adam did not have the full experience of life in the sense of his potential, because he had life in innocence.
He never experienced life in righteousness.
And righteousness tends to life.
Life is in degrees that's proportionate to the person and to the righteousness thereof.
If someone's in a coma, and it's a coma that they will never come out of, they can't eat, they can't drink on their own, they're not even aware of their own existence.
Is that personal life?
The heart's beating.
Their kidneys are functioning.
I mean, medically, they're alive.
They call that clinical life.
So they have clinical life, but are they really alive?
They can't have any fellowship with friends.
They can't give their family a hug or tell their wife or kids, "I love you."
They can't sense love.
They can't express love.
They can't think because they're unconscious.
So what do we learn from that?
They have no social life.
They have no family life.
They have no personal life.
They only have clinical life, even though they may be alive clinically or physically in some measure.
They may have a heartbeat, but wouldn't it be safe to say that a major part of that person has died?
No social life.
No family life.
No personal life.
The same can be said for someone who has no spiritual life.
The most important part of us is our spiritual life.
And you take that spiritual life away and all you're left with is physical life.
That's comparable to having only clinical life and not having your social life and your personal life and your family life.
So they may be alive physically and they may have a great social, familial and personal life, but those things are all temporary.
What really matters is their spiritual life and without Christ, the biggest part of them is dead.
And the rest of them that's still living is not far behind.
It will die soon thereafter.
The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 6, it says, "But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth."
So there is someone who lives for the pleasures of this carnal world rather than living for the pleasure of the eternal spiritual God.
All they have their hearts set on in life is the pleasures of this temporary fallen world.
If that's what a person has, then the person who lives in those pleasures is dead while she lives.
Because the major part of her life is gone.
Thinking of the coma again.
She may think she's living the dream, but she's not fulfilling her purpose.
And if she's not living her purpose, she's not really living at all.
Righteousness tends to life.
Look back in your text now.
So he that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death.
There's the logic here.
So he that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death.
What do we learn about God?
God is life.
Jesus said this is life eternal.
That they may know you, the one true God.
You know God, you know life.
And Jesus Christ whom thou sent, who also is God.
So God is life.
So the more godly a person is, the more life a person enjoys.
Likewise, the more ungodly a person is, the less life a person enjoys.
Ultimately, people who reject God will be separated from him.
And when they're separated from him, since he's life, since God is life, when they're separated from God, what happens?
They're separated from life.
Since God is a light, when they're separated from God, they're separated from light.
So what happens is, they're cast into what?
Outer darkness.
And there is death, the second death.
Because why?
They rejected God, therefore they rejected life.
They rejected God, therefore they rejected life.
So they live forever in the state of death and darkness and suffering.
Because God's joy, in having rejected that joy, they have pain.
And this is just the logic here.
He that pursues evil, that is he that pursues godlessness, godliness is turning toward God and walking the path of God.
Unguyliness is turning your back to God and walking the unrighteous path away from him.
And so if you're walking in God's direction down that righteous path, you're walking a path of life.
You're walking the other path, you're walking a path of death.
Therefore, if you're pursuing evil, what are you pursuing?
You're chasing after your own death.
You just don't realize it.
Again, ultimately, those who reject God, they're going to be separated from him, so they're going to experience eternal death.
When God sentences a person who has rejected him, do you remember what God's going to say?
Now God's life, in here is life speaking to someone standing before him, and he says what?
"Depart from me."
Now when God tells them, "Depart from me," what is God doing?
He says, "Depart from me."
He's actually saying, or practically saying, "Depart from life."
And so by telling them, "Depart from me," he's given the sentence of death, the second death.
So when God says, "Depart from me," that's a death sentence.
And listen, when people depart from God on their own, they send themselves to death.
It's sad.
It's reckless.
It's unexplainable, because you can't explain wickedness.
It's foolish.
But they're bringing death upon themselves, and that's what the world does.
The world pursues evil.
He that pursues evil, the world chases after evil.
They lust after, seek after, work, and pay for an agenda that is contrary to the Word of God.
George Soros has enough money.
He could sit back and relax.
He could be like the man in the parable that says, "I have enough.
I have plenty to fill up my barns, and then some, you know, I'm going to eat, drink, and be merry, you know, and take my ease."
George Soros has enough money.
He could fit that bill.
But he won't.
He's obsessed with pursuing evil in this world.
It's an insatiable appetite to pursue after it and to promote it.
I don't want to mention some things because I wouldn't want to spark curiosity in a child, a young person.
But there is a venue online that's become very popular, that a lot of young women use this venue to make money.
One of the most recent things on the news was a teacher that used this venue to make money, and most adults working around that would know what I'm talking about.
And I sure don't want to give any credit to it, so I'm not going to mention it.
So you have to ask yourself, why are so many young women selling themselves online today for people to watch?
For money.
Why are they doing that?
And why are there so many people who want to pursue watching them?
Because both they and the people watching them are pursuing evil.
It's that simple.
Why is there a freedom from religion organization in the United States?
Why is there a large group of people who are influencing, financing, and working nonstop to destroy the Christian worldview and to set up a humanistic government?
Very simple, because people are pursuing evil.
But righteousness is life, and evil is death.
So when people pursue evil, they are pursuing their own death.
They are dead while they live.
And they die again when they stand before God, clothed in the unrighteous works of their own hands.
And when that day comes, what's going to happen?
Well, they'll no longer be dead in measure.
They're dead while they live, which means they're not completely dead.
They're physically alive.
They have social life, physical life, personal life, family life.
But having no spiritual life, having rejected God, they're still dead while they live.
But when they stand before God, when that day comes, when they're judged, and God says, "Depart from me," their pursuit of unrighteousness will mean they will no longer be dead in a measure, but they will experience death without measure.
The Bible says that we're given the Holy Spirit by measure.
The saints are.
The Bible says Jesus was given the Spirit without measure.
The Bible says the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of life.
And so one day we will have the Spirit, I believe, like Christ without measure.
At least in some respect.
But when that day comes, they'll experience death without measure, as one might experience darkness with no light at all.
We turn the lights off in here, it's dark.
"I want to give me a cell phone."
You go into a cave, a deep, deep cave, and you turn the lights off.
It's a different kind of darkness.
We'll experience being without God at all.
Not just physical darkness, but spiritual darkness.
No light at all.
Inside and out.
No life at all.
Inside and out.
That's what's going to happen to those who pursue evil.
On the other hand, those who are dressed in the righteousness of Christ.
That's one thing about every Christian.
Every Christian is someone who pursues righteousness.
Why?
Because at some point in time, in order to be a Christian, at some point in time, you have to realize you're unrighteous.
When you realize you're unrighteous, you realize that what happens to the unrighteousness, they inherit death.
They inherit condemnation.
They don't want to stand before God unrighteous, so they pursue righteousness.
They pursue some means by which God can accept them as being righteous.
And the gospel gives them the answer to that.
It shows them the cross.
It shows them the righteousness of Jesus.
That's imputed their account when they believe on Him.
And how our unrighteousness was imputed to His account when He died on our behalf.
And so by pursuing Christ and by pursuing the gospel and laying hold of Him, what did we do?
We pursued righteousness.
And by pursuing righteousness, we gained life.
And by rejecting Christ, you lose righteousness and you gain death.
And so those of us who are dressed in the righteousness of Christ will experience life without measure.
As one might experience light with no darkness at all, inside and out.
Don't think of darkness without you hurting your eyes.
It's not like that.
Not like that.
Our plural physicalizing only takes so much light.
When we're made like Jesus, we're going to have light.
And light isn't brightness.
Light is revelation.
And it will not be the revelation of us, but the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Who is life and peace and joy and godliness and all things that are how He created the world to begin with.
All things that are good.
That means we will experience all of the goodness of God without measure.
The Bible says in 1 John chapter 1 verse 5.
"This then is the message which we have heard of Him and declare unto you that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all."
Jesus came that we might have life to give us life.
He had to supply us righteousness because righteousness tends to life.
Jesus said, "I came that I might have life."
The only way we could have life was to supply us righteousness.
Because righteousness tends to life, evil tends to death.
And so He came to give us life therefore He had to supply us righteousness.
And when Jesus comes again, He will abolish sin which tends to death.
And He will reign in righteousness until all unrighteousness is God.
Repeat that again.
Jesus comes again.
He will abolish sin which tends to death.
And then He will reign in righteousness until all unrighteousness is God.
That's what that 1000 year reign is about.
Romans 5 21 will close with this.
Romans 5 21 says that He will do this quote, "that as sin hath reigned unto death."
Man, can you get that now?
Jesus is going to come back and reign.
Why is Jesus going to come back and reign?
"So that as sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto what eternal life?"
Through whom?
By Jesus Christ our Lord.
He came to give us life.
To do that He had to supply us righteousness.
And by supplying us righteousness He's going to come back and reign on the throne until all unrighteousness is God.
"So that grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."
Those who pursue righteousness will find it in Christ.
Those who find Christ will obtain righteousness.
Those who obtain righteousness will experience everlasting life.
Because as sin has reigned, Jesus our righteous Lord will reign until all unrighteousness is God unto eternal life by Him.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word.
Thank you Lord that you didn't just come and give us life.
Because life without righteousness Lord, if you gave us life without righteousness we would be dead while we lived.
But Lord you came to give us life by supplying us righteousness.
And by supplying us righteousness you had to remove all unrighteousness.
And by removing all unrighteousness you removed all death.
And by supplying us Jesus everlasting righteousness you imputed unto us eternal life.
And one day Lord you said that life will reign, that righteousness will reign.
And when it reigns it will conquer.
And when it conquers all death will be gone.
And we will live in victory through Jesus Christ.
In His name we pray and we thank you.
Amen.
