We are finely in the last week in our series on Proverbs as we have explored God’s wisdom in making the right choices for our lives.
In Proverbs, Solomon points again and again to the fact that the best choice wise people can make is the choice to be righteous, and we discover that those who are righteous are the ones who are blessed by God.
What does it mean to be righteous?
Perhaps the word “righteous” conjures up negative images of a “self-righteous” individual, an annoying super Christian, who thinks they are superior to everyone else and looks down on others for their lack of faith [have a picture of Dana Carvey’s church lady]. But this is not righteous.
Righteous or righteousness has two basic meanings in the Bible: 1) we are living in a right relationship with God,
NIV Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
The righteous run to the Lord, he is their strength and refuge. But what does that look like in real life? I think it looks like a person who walks with God.
and 2) we consistently do the right thing. By doing the right thing I am referring to following God’s commandments, doing God’s will.
NRS Proverbs 20:7 The righteous walk in integrity-- happy are the children who follow them!
Integrity here means we are walking upright or in the ways of the Lord. It does not mean we are perfect but we are consistent in following God. When we walk with integrity we are the same person at church as we are by ourselves as we are at home as we are at work. In other words a person with integrity does the right thing consistently.
The second part always comes from the first part. Our doing the right things must comes from our right relationship with God. If we get the order wrong we become self-righteous because we are not doing them from the power and strength of our walk with God.
We see this clearly in the NT. We discover that being righteous has less to do with how many good things we do, but in what we believe in faith. The Apostle Paul pointed back to the first book of the Bible, Genesis, to remind us that Abraham believed the promise God made to him to make him into a great nation with many descendents (even though he was 75 at the time and didn’t have children either), he trusted God in faith and the Bible says “it was credited to him as righteousness (Gal. 3:6).” Abraham was called righteous by God not because of anything he did, but because he trusted God’s promise in faith. The Apostle Paul goes on to explain that we too are called righteous not by our good works or following God’s commandments, as good as those are, but by believing in God’s promise to us. God’s promise to us is that Jesus took the curse we were under for our sin when he died on the cross (Gal. 3:13), and when we believe this in faith we are declared righteous and therefore able to live in a right relationship with God though faith in Jesus. No amount of good works will make us righteous, only God can do that by faith, therefore no one is able to boast about it. If you have taken that step of faith here this morning you are righteous, no matter what you think of yourself.
Once we are declared righteous through faith, God expects us to live right too. If we believe God has declared us righteous, and set us free from sin, now we must live right, otherwise it’s like spitting in the face of what God did for us.
Once we understand what being righteous means for us as Christians we can go back to Proverbs to see God’s wisdom for living right, or doing what righteous people are meant to do, consistently and how God promises to bless those individuals.
I. Behaviors of the Righteous
What we discover is that righteous people do the very things we have been covering over the last several weeks. I will move quickly over these because they are a review of where we have been over the last seven weeks. If you want more details you can get a tape copy of that particular topic. What do the righteous do? The righteous:
1. Are humble and teachable
Put aside their selfish ambition and pride. When we have pride we are not teachable, we think we know the answers, we don’t need help. Being humble and moldable and shaped by God may include: seeking the counsel of godly people from time to time, getting their advice, and receiving disciple or correction or criticism and asking if the Lord is trying to tell us something through other people.
2. Keep sexually pure
We talked about adultery specifically and the need to guard our heart and our eyes. We should avoid even walking near the fire by creating boundaries in our life with our relationships with the opposite sex, and to prevent our eyes from wandering on material which will draw our hearts away from our spouse like pornography.
3. Manage money wisely
The righteous make a plan for how much to spend, how much to save, and how much to give and stick to it. They give generously following God’s command of giving the firstfruit of the tithe or the first 10% of their income back to God.
Righteous are generous people because they realize God is generous to us and has provided everything we have, therefore we are good stewards of the resources God has given us.
God expects us to care for the poor, for the orphan, the widow, and the foreigner. This is why we have CROP Walks and Blanket Sundays for UMCOR and raise money for Heifer International, and have a bimonthly change offering which stay locally for the ECOP (Emmet County Outreach Pool) fund.
4. Master their Mouth
The righteous use their mouth or tongues to be fountains of life. They refrain from gossip, lying and deceitfulness, words of anger, prideful words, and complaining. They hold their tongue and they think about what they will say before they say it, and they use words in kindness and to encourage and build up others.
What I want to focus on the rest of this morning is what God promises us from the book of Proverbs will be our blessing for the righteous.
II. Blessings of the Righteous
God promises us that when we behave in a righteous manner God will bless us in several ways.
NLT Proverbs 13:21 Trouble chases sinners, while blessings chase the righteous!
God promises to:
1. Provide for our needs
NIV Proverbs 10:3 The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
Jesus said something similar, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
When we seek God’s righteousness first, seeking to live in relationship with God and live according to God’s word he promises to provide for “all these things”, which means God will provide for every need we have. God will provide food so we don’t go hungry, clothing, and shelter. God promises to provide. If we walk with God and do his will, we don’t have to worry about a thing because God will be faithful to keep his promise.
2. Hear our Prayers
A second blessing God promises is to hear our prayers.
NIV Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
This is often difficult for us because we like to think that God is impartial with all people, we’ve all heard Scriptures like, “God is no respecter of persons,” implying that God treats all people equally. While God loves all persons equally, God does play favorites. He blesses those who have chosen to walk with him and do his will, including hearing our prayers. In the NT book of wisdom, James, this is reinforced:
NRS James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
Why is the prayer of a righteous person powerful and effective? Because God hears and answers their prayer. In the Scriptures God promises to hear the prayers of those who are righteous, but God does not make any promises to hear the prayers of those who are not. Does God listen to the prayers of those who aren’t yet his children? Yes, of course he does, but he doesn’t make any promises regarding this because their prayers may not reflect God’s will, prayers may be selfishly motivated. If my prayer is for a brand new H2 Hummer God will not necessarily answer this prayer. The righteous pray God’s will, presumably because we are abiding in Christ (John 15), living daily with him and know what he wants us to pray. Does God want his people to pray for healing? Yes, because God is the healer? If someone has a need such as food or shelter should we pray for this? Yes, because God is the Provider. They are consistent with his character. Those who walk with God know His character and His Word and pray that way and God hears and answers.
3. Deliver Us from Evil
The third blessing God promises to provide the righteous is to protect and deliver us.
NIV Proverbs 11:8 The righteous man is rescued from trouble, and it comes on the wicked instead.
Jesus prayed in the Lord’s prayer, “protect us from evil (or the evil one).” God protects the righteous from evil and he delivers us from the hands of evil doers and he takes their evil schemes and turns them back on themselves. Does this mean that bad things will never happen to us because we are Christians? Obviously not because our experiences demonstrate that we do face evil. Perhaps we have wondered if God hasn’t kept his promise. Whether it is enduring disease (like cancer), a terrible accident, being a victim of a crime. Does this mean God is contradicting himself? God isn’t following through on his promise?
We live in a fallen world and bad things do happen to Christian people, because God has given bad people freedom of choice just as he has given us freedom of choice. How can God deliver us from something unless we are already in it? God does deliver us but we need to remember it is done God’s way in God’s timing, not our own. Remember in the OT, how long were the Israelites slaves of the Egyptians before God delivered them? Actually that is a trick question, but it is somewhere between 80 and 400 years, we don’t know exactly but it was a long time. This seems like a pretty long time to me. I think I would be wondering what God was doing? How long did the Israelites wander in the heat and desert before God opened the way to the Promised Land? 40 years. Again I think I would feel as though God had forgotten his promise.
When we face evil or difficult circumstances we wonder why God doesn’t deliver us and take care of issue now. Be patient and trust him, he will deliver us and work things out for good, just like the NT passages which says “the Lord is not slow in keeping his promises, as some understand slowness (2 Pet. 3:9).” and
NIV Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
4. Give us Life
The last blessing which God promises to provide the righteous is life.
NIV Proverbs 11:19 The truly righteous man attains life, but he who pursues evil goes to his death.
God’s greatest blessing to the righteous is life. Jesus reminds us that the righteous experience two kinds of life, both abundant life on this earth (John 10:10), characterized by love, joy, peace, etc., and eternal life in heaven with God (John 3:16). Jesus came so we could experience both to the fullest. These are God’s gift to you.
Remember God will keep his promises to the righteous.
