Vision
Proverbs 29.18 May 7, 2000
Where there is no vision, the people perish:
but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
There is an important understanding about the nature of Biblical preaching we must realize, if hearing a sermon is going to make a difference in our lives. Frankly, if I am going to hear three sermons a week for 50 years as a Christian, I WANT it to make a difference. I would want anything that I spend 9000 hours on during my lifetime to be meaningful.
Biblical preaching is when the preacher is less in focus than the Word of God being preached. In order to do that, the preacher must say much less about what he THINKS, and reveal much more of what the Bible SAYS! After all, it is our calling to "preach the word" (2Tim 4:2).
Just to be very clear, I would like you to look over my shoulder for a moment in the study, as I prepare a message. It will help me communicate God's Word better to you when you understand how I go about understanding it myself. FIRSTLY, there is study. I spend much time studying commentaries, and the words contained in the text. This helps me to understand the context of what the
passage meant when originally written. I call this the ambience, or flavor of the text. When you understand the context of anything, you are much closer to understanding what is spoken or meant. A text without a context is a pretext!
When I preach to you I always attempt to give you something of the ambience of the scripture's setting. It is like getting to the movie for the opening scene....Otherwise you don't know what's happening all the way through. SECONDLY, there are the eternal truths that the church has counted on throughout the centuries. Truth never changes. We call this the axioms of the text. This is where the main teaching of a text enters in. For instance, you could preach about the need for salvation in the text of John 3:16; but the main thrust is the love of God. Our need for salvation is evident as a related subject in that text, but God is the real hero of it!
THIRDLY, there is the need to see us in the text, and what to do about it. These are the applications of the text. When all is said and done, Bible knowledge (Ambience and Axioms) is quite useless unless we see where we fit in, and how our lives can be lived more pleasing unto the Lord.
The cry of people today is, Show me how to live my life. Give me meaning and understanding in this crazy world in which I live." Godly Biblical preaching has to do with communicating the Word of God as truth, understood and applied. That will convict the sin-sick soul of his need for God. It will instruct the believer in the ways of righteousness. And it will never return to the Lord void!
Now, with that as a background, let's see the Ambience (context) of Proverbs 29:18.
In 29:15-21 the writer deals with discipline and its effects. Note that in v.15 & 17 he talks of disciplining a son; in v.19 & 21 it is the disciplining of a slave; and in v.16 & 20 he lays out the disastrous consequences of ignoring that discipline.
The text itself (v.18) has two words that open the entire train of thought, vision...and perish. Vision comes from two basic words in Hebrew which mean to see, and restriction. Prophets are people who see. In ancient times they were even called seers. In this case, revelation, or vision is seeing the restrictions. It has to do with discipline. Paraphrased we could say:
When the people are not seeing things
that should properly restrict them,
then they run amuck, unrestrained.
The young man attended the opera for the first time, sitting high up in the balcony. When the leading lady stepped on the stage it was love at first hearing. He was too far to see well, but that beautiful Mezzo-Soprano voice lifted him to the heavens. He just knew he would marry her.
Making his way backstage after the performance, the love-blinded young man quickly began the whirlwind courtship, successfully sweeping the soprano off her feet. The romance concluded only days later, with a ceremony aboard a cruise ship.
That night, as the honeymoon began, the couple were making preparations to retire. As the young man sat watching his new bride, he began to survey her countenance. He had never noticed the aging lines around her eyes. He thought, "It doesn't matter." Then he saw her take off the wig, revealing very gray hair. "So what if she's a bit older than I. That voice will conquer all!"
Momentarilly the blushing bride removed her petticoat, bringing into view her artificial leg, which she unstrapped, and laid aside. "I can deal with it. -- That voice..."
Then the nightinggale removed her false eyelashes, put her dentures in a glass by the bed, and popped-out her false eye. The young man stood to his feet and implored, Sing, woman.....for heaven's sake, Sing, Sing, SING!
Proverbs 29:18
The Proverb writer knew in his heart that God requires men to observe the restrictions placed upon him. It is then, and only then that man can live a meaningful life. At one point in Alice In Wonderland she asks the Cheshire cat, Would you please tell me which way I ought to go from here? That depends
a good deal on where you want to get to, the cat replied. I don't care much where, Alice says. Then it doesn't matter which way you go, says the cat.
The Proverb text declares the goal, to see the discipline, the restrictions of God.
Axioms (Eternal truths) from Proverbs 29:18:
The MAIN THRUST of this text has to do with understanding our relationship to the God of this universe. It can be seen with a slight embellishment of the text –
Where we cannot see the compelling logic, and overwhelming evidence of God's prior claim on our lives, we will scatter and not serve Him.
Say it simply, preacher. God owns us, and He expects us to serve Him. From this main thrust we can see three other related truths....
1. WE ARE EXPECTED TO BE DISCIPLINED SO WE'LL GROW.
In every area of life there is a discipline to enter into for the purpose of becoming more proficient. A child obeys parents to learn wisdom and grow. A worker learns new developments in his field to serve his employer. A leader studies trends to understand the marketplace. And in the spiritual realm, believers study scripture, worship often, give, and serve so that they will become mature parts of the body of Christ. The alternative is staying as a spiritual infant.
In the book All God's Chillun, the author tells us that when his little two and one-half year old daughter was chastised for some little wrong, she used to say, It was not I who did that; that was another little girl in me. Failing to
accept responsibility for growing as believers is destructive and chaotic. Chaos is not a good thing in any area of life. The word perish in the text could very well be chaos. Discipline changes the chaos of life into stable growth for a strong body.
2. SPIRITUAL FAMINE IS WORSE THAN PHYSICAL FAMINE.
Chaos in the physical realm is bad (i.e.: no discipline in diet to restrict intake). Chaos in the political realm is also bad (i.e.: no government to restrict criminals). But chaos in the spiritual realm is the absolute worst! Prove it, you say? Glad to.... Just how long will your physical life last? How about the political arena? How long will this old world be around? The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand forever." (Isa 40:8).
I can say with conviction that spiritual famine is worse than physical neediness, for the simple fact that the life we live on earth is short, and eternity beyond this life is long. A four year-old child would tell you in a heartbeat that if there is ice cream to be had, you shouldn't spend your money on okra! Even if that child were educated on the relative merits of ice cream (filled with cholesterol, sugar and fats), as opposed to okra (filled with vitamins, non-fat iron), chances are he will
choose a double scoop of chocolate fudge! That's because he is a child. An adult MAY choose wiser!
See the same thing in the spiritual sense. A spiritual infant (starved of Bible Study and regular worship) makes the same mistakes...only they are mistakes that affect his eternity! There is an example (among many) of spiritual immaturity in the Old Testament. When God's people were conquering the Promised Land, led by Joshua, there was a man among the soldiers named Achan. God had told them that in their victory they were not to touch a single bit of the conquered enemy's possessions...they were holy to the Lord. This one man, Achan couldn't understand why God prohibited it, and disobeyed.
Achan's spiritual famine cost thousands of lives, the defeat of Israel at the hand of a much inferior army, and eventually his own life. He had no strong faith; no discipline to believe that God knew what He was doing when He said not to take any of the spoils of the war. Achan took some, hid it in his belongings, and God judged the whole nation for one man's sin. How many churches today have Achan's stunting their growth? Spiritual famine is far worse than missing a meal or two.
3. CHAOS CAN BE WHIPPED BY OBEDIENCE.
In most cases a negative statement implies the positive opposite. If there is no vision, or revelation; a seeing of the restraints - there is chaos. The inverse then is that discipline towards God will end the chaos and bring peace. Many of the Bible's heroes were men who were visionary, ready to see the discipline of God in their lives.
Jacob learned the hard way. His life was chaos, as he tried to trick his way to wealth and position. But the vision of a ladder climbing up to God's heaven changed him, and put him on a path of learning and loving God.
Jonah got enough chaos for a lifetime inside God's submarine. He repented and ran to the discipline of preaching in Nineveh.
Peter messed things up on an incredibly regular basis; yet he went to the mountain with Jesus, and the vision of Moses and Elijah made him fall on his face in belief.
Paul's life was chaotic and angry. He persecuted the church relentlessly. And then he met Jesus. His statement was what whipped the chaos in his life, Lord, what do you want me to do?"
Applications of this text are as many as people here today. But there are some that are universal, and we can start there.
YOU NEED VISION IN YOUR HEART Without obedience to God, the
discipline of love towards the Father in Jesus, life is nothing but chaos. The only way to take a step towards God is via the cross. Accept Christ now if you have never done so.
YOU NEED VISION IN YOUR HOME Every one of us has a home. Is it
marked by God's control, discipline? Is Christ really the unseen guest at every meal?
YOU NEED VISION IN YOUR DAYS Going to work, school, play, or just relaxing....do you go to the Father for instruction?
YOU NEED VISION IN YOUR CHURCH Our goals, programs, and all we
do should have the discipline of Christ as its' target. There is a story of a bloodhound that started a hunt chasing a huge stag. When a fox crossed the dog's pathway, the hound picked-up a new scent and chased after the fox. Then a rabbit crossed the trail, so the hound chased it a while. Later, the hound caught the scent of a mouse, and was diverted to chase even it to its' lair.
The hound began the hunt on the trail of a magnificent stag, and ended up watching a mouse hole.
God put each of us on this planet for the purpose of serving and loving Him. It is His right; He wrote the owner's manual. And there are many things that will dim the vision and cause chaos. Our job is not chasing mouseholes, but growing in the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
