INTRO.- More American proverbs, sayings, or quips and quotes.
- Honeymoon: the period between “I do” and “you’d better.”
- Marriage begins when you sink in his arms and ends with your arms in the sink.
- It takes two to make a marriage – a single girl and an anxious mother.
- The greatest undeveloped territory in the world lies under your hat.
- Love your neighbor but don’t pull down your hedge.
- If you look like your driver’s license photo, you’re too ill to drive.
- When somebody says, “It’s only money,” it usually isn’t his money.
- You might as well laugh as yourself once in a while, everybody else does.
- A successful man keeps on looking for work after he has found a job.
- The temptation to say an unkind word should first be rehearsed to see how it sounds when addressed to you.
- Church is where you go to find out what your neighbors should do to lead better lives.
- The fellow who coined the phrase, “What goes up must come down,” certainly didn’t have prices in mind.
- Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most do.
- A leading authority is anyone who has guessed right more than once.
- The toughest part of dieting isn’t watching what you eat. It’s watching what your friends eat.
- Those who think the competitive spirit is dead ought to watch the customers in a supermarket when a cashier opens a new checkout lane.
- A laugh is a smile that bursts.
- A prune is a plum with experience.
- A good neighbor is someone who lets his grass grow as high as yours.
- The really tough thing about humility is that you can’t brag about it.
- The best time capsules are our children.
- The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.
- Habits are first cobwebs, then cables.
- Arriving 15 minutes early does nothing but guarantee a 30-minute wait.
- Anyone who’s always raising the roof usually doesn’t have much in the attic.
- There’s no limit to what the boss can do if he puts someone else’s mind to it.
- Knowledge has never been known to enter the head via the open mouth.
- To teach is to learn twice.
- Barbara Bush once said comparing herself to her predecessor: “Nancy Reagan adores her husband. I adore mine. She fights drugs. I fight illiteracy. She wears a size 3. So is my leg.”
- Nothing makes a person more productive than the last minute.
- Man can learn a lot from fishing. When the fish are biting no problem in the world is big enough to be remembered.
- Anyone is who is plugged into current events is bound to be shocked.
- Many convictions are usually family hand-me-downs.
- Football builds self-discipline. What else would induce a spectator to sit out in the open in subfreezing weather?
- Recession is when the man next door to you loses his job. Depression is when you lose your job. Panic is when your wife loses her job.
- Some men play a fair game of golf. That is, if you watch them closely.
- A 1940 class reunion has the same old faces but a lot of new teeth.
- Most of us have experienced an energy crisis for many years - we can’t get going in the morning.
- If George Washington never told a lie, what is his picture doing on a dollar bill that’s worth about 43 cents?
Now to the book of Proverbs.
I. FEAR NOT
3:25-26 “Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.”
This is one of those probability Proverbs. When we put our trust in the Lord we will probably have no reason to fear sudden disasters or anything else in life that could harm us.
NO FEAR. Did you ever see those words on the rear window of a car? I have. What’s the idea? I’m not sure.
I found a nofeargear.com internet site, which dealt with motorcycle products. Perhaps motorcyclists show “no fear.” Here are some “no fear” decals or sayings that I found.
NO FEAR. Drive it like you stole it.
NO FEAR. I live with fear every day. Sometimes she lets me race.
I think we should have one that reads: NO FEAR. The Lord is my shepherd.
The truth is, however, that most of us fear something in life. Work, people, financial disasters (Martha Stewart), reputation loss, aging, poor health, death, or loss of loved ones, bad weather, storms, etc.
ILL.- Researchers at Johns Hopkins University reported that 30 years ago, the greatest fears of grade school children were: 1) Animals, 2) Being in a dark room, 3) High places, 4) Strangers, 5) Loud noises. Today, kids are afraid of the following: 1) Divorce, 2) Nuclear war, 3) Cancer, 4) Pollution, 5) Being mugged. How sad that our children are plagued with such fears.
But we adults often experience this same plague of fear!
ILL.- One summer night during a severe thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small son into bed. She was about to turn the light off when he asked in a trembling voice, "Mommy, will you stay with me all night?" Smiling, the mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly, "I can’t dear. I have to sleep in Daddy’s room." A long silence followed. At last it was broken by a shaky voice saying, "The big sissy!"
HAVE NO FEAR OF SUDDEN DISASTER. Here’s the kind of disaster we would prefer.
ILL.- A farmer sent his nephew a crate of chickens, but the box burst open just as the boy started to take them out. The next day he wrote his uncle: "I chased them through my neighbor’s yard but I only got back eleven." Answered the uncle, "You did all right. I only sent six." Most disasters don’t work that way. We don’t generally profit from them. We generally lose something from them.
Most disasters are real disasters that take lives and property with them, such as fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. We remember Job old who experienced the worst disaster of all. He lost everything. He lost 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 oxen, 500 donkeys and a large number of servants. If Martha Stewart thinks she has lost a lot, she needs to read the story of Job! And to top it all off, Job lost all of his children: all 7 sons and 3 daughters! Talk a horrible disaster, Job experienced it!
Personally, I’m not sure there is anything worse than losing your own children and yet Job lost all ten of his children. I don’t see how anyone could cope with a loss like that.
We all live with the fear that we could lose a child. It could happen to anyone of us at any time. And they don’t have to be young to lose them in death.
Another great fear that many people have difficulty with is death. It is natural for us to want to live as long as possible, but what happens to us when we get the news that we have a terminal illness? Fear strikes the spirit, our spirit.
ILL.- I watched the Larry King show last Thursday night with great interest. Tammy Faye Messner, formerly Tammy Faye Bakker, was being interviewed. In the past, when she was married to Jim Bakker and they had the PTL Club I thought she was some kind of nut. But now she told the world that she has lung cancer and I was very much interested in her response.
She said that she would start chemotherapy treatments some time in April. Larry King asked her all kinds of questions about her faith and her fears and it was interesting to see her response. AND HER FAITH CAME THROUGH TO THE AUDIENCE. She often quoted Scripture and said that even though she feared in some ways, she was not afraid to die. She is 62 years old and believes in the Lord and His grace.
And I had to hand it to her, her testimony was good, it was strong, and it was pointed to the Lord. The threat of death carries with it a strong fear factor, which all of us will or mayl face. Larry King even admitted that Tammy was right when she said that we’re ALL terminal.
Brothers and sisters, we are faced with many things in life that conjures up fear within us. If it’s not evident on the outside, it’s a sure thing on the inside. We may not show it, but it’s there. How do we cope? What do we do? IT’S CALLED FAITH. Faith in the Lord is the only way to either cope with our fears or overcome them.
We have to keep trusting that the Lord will care for us and our loved ones. We have to trust Him to provide for us in every way and that He will get into heaven, come what may or no matter what happens in the “here and now.”
Mark 4:39-41 “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’”
Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? Good questions for us in the midst of life’s difficulties. Faith is the victory that not only overcomes the world, but also every fear that haunts us in life.
ILL.- Dr. E. Stanley Jones put it this way: “I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath--these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely--these are my native air.” We are made to live by faith and by faith we must live.
II. WITHHOLD NOT
3:27 “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.”
ILL.- A cheapskate was shopping for an inexpensive birthday gift for his friend. The only thing he could find in his price range was a badly broken vase. He bought it for almost nothing and asked the store to ship it, figuring his friend would think it was broken in the mail. A week later he received a note: “Many thanks for the vase. It was nice of you to wrap each piece separately.”
I don’t believe this is the kind of good that we’re supposed to demonstrate to others. Doing good to others doesn’t mean that we have to spend a fortune on someone, but at the same time we must not be cheap for the sake of being cheap.
If the Lord had been a cheapo with us, where would we be? In the first place, He probably would not have sent Christ to earth to die for us. And secondly, we would not be as blessed materially as we are. WE ARE THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD! We are blessed because God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. God is a giver of nothing but good, and so must we be!
We must be quick to spread good around, everywhere we go.
ILL.- Someone said, “The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention!” We intend to do something for someone, but often procrastinate until it’s too late.
James 4:17 “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” That’s a real thought-provoking verse of Scripture. It may be that we are more guilty of the sin of omission than the sin of commission. WE FAIL TO DO THE GOOD THAT WE OUGHT TO DO!
We are supposed to be in the business of doing good to others, anywhere, any time, to any person.
Jesus is described by Peter in Acts 10:38 as going around “doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil.” While we can’t heal people who are under the power of the devil (only the Lord can do that through saving them), we must still look for opportunities to do good to others. Little things as well as big things.
What are we talking about: opening doors for people regardless of their age, greeting people with a smile and/or a handshake or a hug, being quick to speak a word of greeting, helping a neighbor with a need, helping someone in the church with a need, etc.
ILL.- A while back four of our men went over Tom and Louise Smith’s house to rake and bag leaves, trim bushes, etc. and now they are looking for more jobs! Well…maybe not.
Jerry Rhodes hit me up the next Sunday and said, “Where were you last Tuesday morning? I was looking for you.” I said, “I was in my office working.” He said, “I was looking for you at Tom and Lousie Smith’s…”
Brothers and sisters, not all of us can rake leaves, trim bushes, etc. for someone else, but we all can do something for others. We need to open to opportunities to do good for others…and for all people. It’s a loving witness for Christ and a demonstration of love for others.
Gal. 6:9-10 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
We don’t do good to others in order to reap a harvest, but we will reap a harvest. It’s the divine principle of reaping what you sow. And we do want to sow good everywhere we can. And we sow this good to all people, not just people in the church.
3:27 “Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.”
Withhold not good to others. I think we should do good to all people, even those who don’t deserve it or those who least expect it. It will shock them in a good way.
Like what? Like doing something unexpected. Like stopping on the highway to help someone change a flat tire. Like going to someone’s house without being asked and raking their leaves. Like scooping snow from someone’s driveway without them knowing it. Like delivering a bag of cookies in a gesture of loving kindness. Like taking someone to the store to shop because they have no other way to go. Like suddenly going to baby-sit for a young mother so she can get out for a while.
There are all kinds of things that we can do for others. If our God is the author of all good we need to let Him work through us to do that good. WITHHOLD NOT GOOD TO OTHERS WHEN IT IS IN YOUR POWER TO ACT.
CONCLUSION----------------------------------------
Fear not. Withhold not good. But there are other things according to God’s proverbs that we should not do:
Plot not – 3:29
Accuse not – 3:30
Envy not – 3:31
Travel not – 4:15
Forget not – 4:21
Speak not – 4:24
Swerve not – 4:27
ILL.- It is said that as much as 77% of everything we think is negative and counterproductive and works against us. People who grow up in an average household hear "No" or are told what they can’t do more than 148,000 times by the time they reach age 18. Result: Unintentional negative programming.
Not all negatives are negative. Some can lead to very positive results. When God says “fear not” it should help to lead us to a more positive faith. He is trying to help us, not hurt us. He is trying to encourage, not discourage us. And the same holds true for most of God’s “nots.” Withhold not good to others. Let’s learn to listen for the “positives” in God’s “do nots.”
