The Brillo-pad of the Soul - Proverbs 20:30 - Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro Inc.

Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro Inc.

The Brillo-pad of the Soul - Proverbs 20:30

June 19, 2021 • John F. Lawrence

Stripes that wound scour away evil, And strokes reach the innermost parts. Proverbs 20:30

Our society has grown beyond the point of punishing people - for we have become enlightened to where such things are seen as barbaric. We even hold such a view of child training as well. Yet the words of Scripture stand here - and even shock our sensibilities in the 21st century. Now, am I saying here that we should return to caning people - putting them on a whipping post? My answer to this is simply - such a thing is not allowed in our culture - but I'm not so sure that such things are too much to our advantage. Let's begin by looking at the passage itself - then we'll come back to my shocking comments - and maybe some shocking conclusions.

"Stripes that wound" definitely shocks us. The phrase means stripes that are delivered that leave bruises. It can also mean stripes from some sort of corporal punishment. There is no doubt that this means corporal punishment. 21st century society in the West shrinks from such a statement in horror. We have come beyond this point - we are enlightened. Hmmm - and how is that working for our society? Has our system of crime and punishment led to a safer and more secure society? Do we have "repeat" offenders - does our system "scour away evil"? Although I'm sure some reading this would consider me little more than complete barbarian for saying so - I'm not sure that we have the perfect system in place.

It is interesting to note that in Taiwan, where corporal punishment is used for certain offenses - their crime rate is far lower than ours - and their repeat offender rate is a fraction of what ours is. Could it be that a controlled corporal punishment is good for us? Could it be that receiving a beating, a caning, or some other form of corporal punishment is a greater deterrent to crime and misbehavior in society than is incarceration for months and years? In a world where our penal system has become little more than "Crime University" for those who are there - where they are trained in crime and recruited for a lifetime of law-breaking - can we honestly say that what we are doing is what is most effective?

God tells us that corporal punishment "scours away evil." The phrase used here speaks of using a type of brillo pad to scrape and scour out a metal pan. This was the way they cleaned vessels in biblical days. They would scour out a pot, making sure that it was clean of debris and of rust. When they were done - there was nothing harmful left. There is a cost to corporal punishment - a true physical cost - and the pain experienced reminds us to avoid such behavior in the future. Granted such punishment must be closely controlled to make sure that it does not cross over into abuse. (The Scriptures did not allow a man to be whipped beyond 39 stripes.) But physical pain is a motivator - a powerful one. The natural response in our lives to physical pain is to avoid it. Think of your own response to any kind of physical pain. You avoid it - and the only times you allow it is when you know that it has a positive result that goes beyond the pain. We exercise knowing full well that we will experience soreness - yet we know that such exercise is good for us in the end. Could it be that corporal punishment has such a value individually and corporately as a society?

The second half of this proverb says that the strokes reach our innermost parts. Too many look at corporal punishment in light of the physical pain - but according to the Word of God - these strokes reach our innermost parts. There is more than just physical pain in the flesh going on in the person receiving it. There is something communicated to the "inner man." There is warning - there is instruction - there is correction. We remember the pain and honestly - the humiliation involved. Corporal punishment is forced humility - which is something the proud need to humble them to obey the law - to obey what is best for their souls. When it is over we think to ourselves - I won't do that again!

Where this is true of the physical - it is also true of the spiritual stripes that are delivered when we are experiencing the judgments and corrections of God. Here is another thing that is rejected by most of the 21st century enlightened ones. God would not punish - He does not judge! They are indignant with the very thought of such a thing.

God is an excellent parent - the best of the best. His children need rules - need laws - need limits. When they step over those limits there are consequences. No matter how much we or our government want to create a world without consequences - such a world is NOT GOOD for us. It is better that we experience the pain of what our disobedience brings - for such things keep us from future disobedience. The consequences of our actions act like a loving stripe and a gracious stroke that will scour evil from our souls. These things reach our very innermost being. It would be wonderful if we would simply hear God's Word - obey it and be blessed 24 hours of every day. But we are fallen - and we think we're smarter than God. We disregard the instruction and forge on thinking that we really know better - or that the rules really don't apply to us. Then the consequences of our actions come like stripes to our souls. Those strokes reach our innermost parts and instruct us that we can ignore and contradict God - but we do so at the peril of our own safety and happiness. God's scouring in these situations cleanses us and makes us much less interested in evil in the future.

Stripes and strokes - whether physical or spiritual - are actually good for us. Without them we will place too much trust in our own faulty conclusions when they contradict those of God, Who truly does know best. Is all this pleasant? Not in the least - but often the unpleasant is far more instructive to us than a world without any consequences or punishment. Some describe this world without punishment or consequence as paradise. In the end though, such a world is only a breeding ground for pride, arrogance, and a foolishness that will lead to destruction. The school of stripes and strokes may seem severe to us now - but in the end they bring peace and joy as we learn the way of God's judgments and corrections - and how to avoid them through a life of submission and obedience to His infinitely wise ways.

A Tested Word Only a Fool Would Add to - Proverbs 30:5-6

June 30, 2021 • John F. Lawrence

Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. 6 Do not add to His words Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar. Proverbs 30:5-6 It should not suprise us that in the midst of the wisdom of the ages we find a statement as to the trustworthiness of the Word of God. That is wisdom indeed - that we can trust God's Word because it is tested. We learn that it is a shield for those who need refuge. It is a word we are not to add to or subtract from. And it is a Word that God will protect to the point of proving that all who add to it are liars. A TESTED Word - The first thing we are told is that every Word of God is tested. There is an interesting start. Every means the whole of something - all of it. Each and every word that makes up God's revelation of Himself is tested. Those who mock the thought that we can trust every word in God's word need to realize that such a statement is not just made by theologians - but by God's Word itself. The idea of these words being tested refers to the smelting process of silver or gold. The smelting is done by exposing these metals to heat - intense heat - and thus bringing out all the impurities in them. What is left over is pure gold or silver. God's Word has been thoroughly tested and purified so that what we have is reliable - it is the smelted pure gold - and we can trust its purity. A SHIELD - This word serves as a shield to those who take refuge in God. Here we see that God's Word is equated with God Himself. Of course this should not shock us because what a person says ought to be true of the person. What a good reminder though that God is good for every word He speaks. A wise man would note this and look to God's Word for the ultimate promises in his or her life. ADDING TO GOD'S WORD - Don't add to God's Word is the warning given here. Yet there are myriad people and groups who have tried. Before turning the cults, first we need to see that individually we can add to God's Word. If we do not know it well, we can take our own personal desires and impose them upon the Lord. We can also go for years thinking that God has said something - and only be mistaken because of personal ignorance of the Word. Regardless of the reason - any personal addition to God's Word is strictly forbidden. There are also groups who add to God's Word. The Mormons have done so by adding the Book of Mormon to it. The Jehovah's Witness group has mistranslated it, and in so doing have built an entire doctrine around denying the deity of Jesus Christ. Numerous other groups have proven foolish doing these same things only to be proven false when we examine the truth. The destruction that faces those who do such things and who adhere to such things is beyond our comprehension, for many will only become aware of their error in the judgment. PROVEN A LIAR - Those who decide to add to God's Word will have the unfortunate position of being proven liars. God promises personally to reprove those who do this. The Word used here for reprove has a legal sense to it - that the person will find a case against them - one with a judgment as well. There is also a sense in which this is a personal reproof - a rebuke. The judgment that will be rendered to those who add to God's Word is that of being a liar - a proven liar. We consider such words strong indeed. Yet God does not take lightly those who add to His Word their own thoughts and ideas. It is important to have something upon which to found our lives. There needs to be some kind of bedrock document - some truth upon which our lives can be built. The philosophies of our day disdain such truth - or at least disdain that there is a universal truth upon which all men can base their lives. Instead they hold to an individual truth which all men can hold simultaneously in their hearts - even if their truths radically contradict one another. Yet, in spite of all the volumes written and all the speeches given - their truths still stand as the lies of rebellious men who think they know better than God. God's truth has stood throughout time as THE TRUTH. It has stood, will stand, and will be the very basis upon which the ultimate judgment shall be rendered. When looked at in that light we can see the wisdom in holding fast to God's words as they have been given to us. To do otherwise would simply to be to add our name to the list of liars who will be proven wrong throughout history and who, if not in the immediate - in the ultimate - will be shown to be those who misrepresent the truth.

The Sudden Problems of a Stiff Neck - Proverbs 29:1

June 29, 2021 • John F. Lawrence

A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. Proverbs 29:1 Stiff-necked . . . now there is a term you don't hear too much any longer. Yet, it would be wise for us to avoid being stiff-necked - especially when it comes to how we receive correction and reproof from others - and from God. The "hardened-neck" is the one that is stiff, and it also has the idea of being severe or fierce. Thus the hardening is very decided. When a man hardens his neck - he is doing so with quite the attitude. Zhodiates brings out that this means someone who is harsh with anger - cruel - stiff-necked. This is a difficult person - stubborn and hardened and filled with resentment toward the one offering the reproof. The reproof is not just criticism. It is also not just a one time statement. The proverb says "after much reproof." There are those who are offering the needed rebuke and correction., but not in the form of a lengthy lecture. This is reproof given because of multiple offenses. The one needing the reproof is repeating the same mistake again and again. But - from the previous word - it is clear that the one receiving it is not interested in hearing it. Suddenly, speaks of something that happens all at once - there is an aspect to this that is shocking. The promise of the proverb is not for a slow decline - but for a sudden moment of retribution from the Lord. The one who receives this "sudden" consequences is broken. Broken is "shabar" means to break in pieces - and also has the idea of being abolished, crushed, demolished, destroyed, smashed, shattered, or torn down. This is a devastating breaking from God. What is worse is this breaking is described as bein beyond remedy - literally "no healing or cure" - This is something that is not recoverable. When I consider this, it makes me fear pride and arrogance. It also makes me want to turn from areas where I am receiving much instruction - and much rebuke - and turn to the Lord with a humility and brokenness that is self-imposed. Actually, it makes me want to turn in any area where I'm receiving correction - why wait until it becomes "much" reproof - respond now. Oh to have the brokenness that comes from the Lord as a gift - the broken and contrite heart that He gives as a loving gift to His children - rather than the brokenness that comes as a horrific retribution when we resist Him and those who are sent of Him to correct and train us in righteousness. Learn to receive correction and reproof as good friends - friends who only want us to avoid the breaking that comes with arrogance and self-centered thinking that rejects comments not meant to hurt - but meant to protect us from a stiff neck and its consequences.

Delivered . . . From Yourself? - Proverbs 28:26

June 28, 2021 • John F. Lawrence

He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But he who walks wisely will be delivered. Proverbs 28:26 "Just trust your heart," is a phrase that we hear often in our world. Yet this counsel runs absolutely counter to what God tells us in Proverbs - and honestly - everywhere else in Scripture. How could there be such a wide discrepancy between the common wisdom of the world and that which God gives us in the Word? To trust in your own heart is to be confident in it. The word means to feel safe and secure - to feel that you can rely on it in every situation. God calls the man or woman who lives this way a fool. But there is a reason God says this - a good reason. The world in all its philosophies usually does not want to take into account the fall of man into sin and rebellion against God. They say that those stories of a garden and a tree of good and evil are just that - stories. So they write off the rebellion of man - and choose instead to trust their own rebellious hearts. But the one who does not take into account the fall of man is a fool. He does not realize the corruption of his own heart. It is like trusting a watch that has been set incorrectly. No matter how accurate you think it is - it is fundamentally flawed. So is the man who trusts himself and does not see his sin. The one who walks wisely is promised deliverance. We've seen these words before in Proverbs. Walk speaks of our lifestyle - the way we walk about the world. The walk of this man is according to wisdom - which is "chokmah" and means a wisdom - but one used with skill - meaning a practical wisdom that is lived out in a myriad of decisions every day. The one who walks this way will be delivered. Delivered? From what are we to be delivered? What are we escaping? When we walk wisely according to God's ways - we will be delivered from our sinful ways and tendencies. We are delivered . . . from ourselves and from a fallen world that walks contrary to God's wisdom. Believe it or not, that is the primary trap set for us every day - to turn to ourselves rather than to turn to God. Only the wisdom of God's Word will deliver us from such a fate. It seems absolutely natural and right to live like this. The truth is that was the reason for the Fall in the garden - and the fall of everyone who trusts themselves rather than God since. When we choose these normal patterns of the flesh - trusting ourselves rather than living in a conscious dependence upon God we are choosing danger and foolishness. That is a fate which we all need to be delivered from every day.