Proverbs 18
Wednesday, 17th November 2021
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-9 The Foolish
V1 ‘A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; he rages against all wise judgment.’ Foolish men want to leave the Tree of Life and to leave this community. Because they are unwilling to live in the truth, they choose to leave. When they choose not to be with the community, the temptation will come. When we choose to leave the Tree of Life, we will stay with those, who also don’t like the Tree of Life, then they will speak the words of the world, of slander and criticism.
We need to live a life of a good example, and through our lives, we should strive to disciple those, who follow us. When Elisha decided to follow Elijah, it was a covenant, it was a commitment, and it was a life-long journey. People can choose to leave this relationship, like how Judas chose to betray and leave Jesus. On the other hand, Peter also betrayed Jesus by pretending not to know Him, but Peter did not leave, and he ended up living a life like Jesus. Judas chose to run away, not to face Jesus. A lot of people are also like this, they cannot face the truth, they chose to run away, not to listen, and these are the foolish people.
V4 ‘The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters; the wellspring of wisdom is a flowing brook.’ The foolish and hurtful words have power, once they are spoken, they cannot be taken back. In the same way, the words of wisdom can also be very effective when they are spoken timely. V6 ‘A fool’s lips enter into contention, and his mouth calls for blows.’ We must be very careful in everything we say, do let anything foolish come out of our mouths. Whatever we say can lure us into temptation, especially when we are unwilling to be with the community of the Tree of Life.
V9 ‘He who is slothful in his work is a brother to him who is a great destroyer.’ The foolish works without efficiency, they choose to follow their emotions at work, but this will lead them to destruction. Sometimes this is also the way we work, we like to work according to our own pace, our own likes, our own desires, our own ways, but we do not see this as actually leading us away from the community of the Tree of Life.
Section Two V10-11 The Believer
V10 ‘The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.’ We are all blessed sinners, and God is our strong tower, which is like the City of Refuge in the Old Testament, where the sinners run away. When we live in the strong tower of the Name of the Lord, we will be protected, and we will be safe.
V11 ‘The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his own esteem.’ But a lot of time we do not believe in it, we do not believe God will deliver us and we do not believe we will be forgiven. Instead, we chose to believe in our wealth, our family, our social status, our fame, our health… what is it that we believe in? Are we believers of the Name of God? Or are we believers of this world?
Section Three V12-24 The Prideful
V12-13 ‘Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honour is humility. He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.’ What is our attitude? Our attitude comes from what is truly in our hearts. Before we hear any teaching, we already have a conclusion in our mind, because we thought we know what others are going to tell us, and we choose not to listen. We are prideful, yet we do not know how foolish we are. Because when we are like this, we do not have humility and we do not have ears that can hear.
V14-15 ‘The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit? The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.’ Nevertheless, those who are humble can take disciplines. They listen to the teaching, they seek wisdom, and they can take criticism. Being prideful makes us sad and sick whereas being humble allows us to learn and be more like Jesus. V17 ‘The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbour comes and examines him.’ Those who are prideful will always argue and plead for themselves first, but people around them, their neighbours, can see clearer than themselves.
V22 ‘He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favour from the Lord.’ King Solomon wrote the Book of Proverbs, and we all know that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He must know it better than anyone else about the problems of having a lot of wives. He wrote this verse with a purpose. Do we know how important our wives are to us? V24 ‘A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.’ Not only our wives can influence our lives greatly, but our friends also play a big part in our lives. It’s not about having a lot of friends, but it’s about building relationships with a few friends, who are like brothers, like families, and who can support one another.
We tend to overlook the relationships we have between our brothers and sisters in Christ. Somehow, it’s very easy to let go of this relationship, when we choose to leave the Tree of Life when we choose to leave the church community, then we also choose to leave the group of friends that can really help us and support us in life. There is nothing to fight about in the church because we are all under the authority of Jesus. No one is greater than the other, and no one should criticise anyone else. In the church, we should be helping one another to walk away from death and walk into the Tree of Life. May the Holy Spirit help us to have the ability to discern, to face our true self and to lead us into the path of the Tree of Life.
箴言 18 –
2021年11月17日 星期三
潘锡安牧师
一、愚昧人（v.1-9）
V1 神的国是一个共同体，我们的神是圣父、圣子、圣灵三位一体，神给我们在地上的家 – 教会 – 不是一个人而已。“与众寡合的”人不喜欢与人交往，他们的心不喜欢与别人有关系，只想着自己喜欢听和做的东西。他们不愿意配合别人。他们“恼恨一切真智慧”，不喜欢被人“提升”，当被人提升的时候，他们就会封闭自我。
V2 不喜欢被人提升的人就是“愚昧人”，他们不想明白什么是对的，不想被别人调整，只活在自己的世界，只想表达自己觉得好的东西。他们以为自己里面的是真理，然而这类人被圣经称为愚昧人。愚昧人想要离开生命树，因为真理让他们不舒服。
V3 当我们选择不与生命树这个团体一起的时候，恶人就来了。恶人就是不认识、不面对真理的人。离开生命树团体的人喜欢跟恶人一起讲批评论断的话，带着“藐视”。他们带出的不是生命，而是羞耻、是非颠倒、辱骂。耶稣在上十字架前被很多人唾骂，甚至包括他自己的门徒，但耶稣在复活后还来找自己的门徒，带他们一起团契。带领门徒就是建立师傅和徒弟生命的关系，然而，人可以选择离开这层关系，正如卖耶稣后自我了结的犹大。犹大选择不要耶稣帮忙而是抽离、逃避，最终招来“辱骂”。这就是愚昧人的生命。
V4 人很容易讲一些“不经大脑”的话，然而他们不知道，说出口的话是拉不回来的，如同深水，若伤害了人就能将人淹死。而“智慧的泉源”就仿佛活水江河，是对人有益的，让人得医治。我们要懂得控制自己的口舌，不要任意讲不该讲的话。
V5 一个愚昧人的心不对，带出来的行动也有问题。偏袒、赦免恶人是不好的。义人的案件本来是平的，但愚昧人将他们颠倒是非，使案件歪斜，因为愚昧人不愿被人提升，一直活在自己的错误里面。容易玻璃心的人就是愚昧人，没有活在生命树下。
V6 愚昧人讲的话没有带出平安，他们一开口就“启争端，。。。招鞭打”，惹人生气。
V7 “他的嘴是他生命的网罗”- 原文指他的话让他的魂接受诱惑，因为他不愿意在生命树的共同体，反跟恶人一起，就进入灭亡。
V8 愚昧人最喜欢讲别人的事，因为他们觉得自己是对的，而别人都是不对的。他们不知道他们传舌的话会进入人的心里，造成极大的伤害。让我们舌头上说的都是神的话，离开愚昧。
V9 “做工懈怠的”愚昧人做事没有效率，只凭着自己的心情。“浪费”原文指“死亡”，所以如果我们做事懈怠，就是与死亡为兄弟。
二、相信的人（v.10-11）
V10 当以色列人进入迦南地的时候，神吩咐他们每个支派都要建逃城，使无意杀人的人可以逃到那里躲避人的复仇。“耶和华的名是坚固台”，仿佛这些逃城，我们每一个相信神的名的人都可以奔进神的城，靠着耶稣成为义人。我们若离开“逃城”，就会面对世界上的仇家，唯有在城里面才有平安。
V11 富足的人相信财物是保护他们的城墙，却不知道那其实不能保护他们的灵魂。我们相信的是耶和华的名，还是其他东西呢? 我们是否只相信我们的钱财、儿女或自己？
三、骄傲的人（v.12-24)
V12 一个人会败坏，是从心的骄傲开始。这一节讲的是我们的态度，骄傲导致败坏，而若要有尊荣，就要先谦卑。
V13 这里讲的是人的心，当我们被教导的时候，如果我们心里已经有了先入为主的偏见，以为自己什么都懂了，接下来的话就再也听不进去了，这就是我们心里的骄傲，是“愚昧和羞辱”，因为我们没有办法谦卑下来，没有聆听的耳朵。
V14 圣灵的宝剑就是神的话，我们被神的话医治的时候，仿佛被剑割在身上，若我们的心骄傲，就会觉得太痛、不舒服，唯有谦卑的人才能够领受医治，使心苏醒。
V15 有智慧的人会寻求并得到知识，但骄傲的人受不了知识，因为他们的心容易痛。
V16 骄傲的人不靠神。犹大王希西家因为骄傲，就将自己所拥有的一切给巴比伦的使者看。有俗语说，“有钱使得鬼推磨”- 其实这就是骄傲，不相信神，不愿意祷告、寻求、等候神。
V17 人以为自己的话可以得到别人的同情，但他们的“邻舍”因为常近距离观察他们，知道他们的真实生命。
V21 生与死、谦卑与骄傲，在于我们的舌头，我们的选择是什么？
V22 原文讲的是得着“一个”妻子，作者所罗门明白娶了一千个妻妾的痛苦。所罗门在圣殿的对面立了宫殿给他所娶的外邦妻子拜偶像，结果神的愤怒临到，致使他们失去“耶和华的恩惠”。让我们所娶的妻子使我们能更加贴近神而不是远离神。
V24 我们很容易被这个世界影响，因为“在家靠父母，出外靠朋友”，然而当我们有这个态度的时候，“朋友”已经成了能交换利益的价值。圣经里所定义的“朋友”是比我们家里的兄弟还“亲密”的。正如师傅与徒弟的关系是一生一世，朋友不是拿来利用，而是一种盟约的关系。我们是否看重在主内弟兄姐妹的关系？是不是弟兄姐妹之间一遇到矛盾就要与教会这个团体割离？同时，也不要随便与刚认识的人称兄道弟，因为若不是在同一棵生命树下，他人跟我们说的话反而成了毒药。教会有耶稣基督赐给我们的权柄，我们在教会里讲的就是权柄、生命树下的谦卑顺服、舍己利他，没有什么是非可讲。如果我们听到人讲是非、批评论断的时候，我们就可以用生命树的准绳来提醒他们，使他们不要进入死亡里。我们不要害怕人因此不理我们，而是要借着生命树的气息互相帮助，这才是真实的关系。
求圣灵帮助我们有智慧分辨，选择当谦卑的人，使我们能面对自己真实的光景，走在生命树的道路上。