Proverbs 15:1-33

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Let’s take our Bibles together and turn to the Book of Proverbs. One of my struggles as we’ve worked through this book verse by verse has been to discern God’s overarching purpose for Proverbs in the life of a Christian, 3,000 years after it was first written. Because you’re not going to get saved reading and appropriating just Proverbs. You’re not going to come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ through this book exclusively. Even OT saints wouldn’t be saved by just reading and appropriating this book. I don’t think that’s the intent of this book. Like I’ve said before, I’m so glad Proverbs is in the Bible, but I’m also glad it’s not the only book in our Bible.

But what I do think Proverbs helps us do is to live lives that are pleasing to the Lord. In that way, it’s a great book for Christians (young and old) to read and to examine, “How can I honor the Lord in my life?” “How can I live my life, as a Christian, in a way that exemplifies a Christlikeness that imitates my Savior, and honors the Lord?” That’s the question I want to approach Proverbs 15 with, because I think this chapter gives us four answers to that question. 

Let me state that question again, “How can I live my life, as a Christian, in a way that exemplifies a Christlikeness that imitates my Savior, and honors the Lord?”

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Here’s one way. Get a hold of your tongue. Write this down #1.

1) Honor the Lord with a gentle tongue (15:1–4)

Solomon says in verse 1, 

1 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Now we’ve talked about the tongue quite a bit in Proverbs already. But many of those statements had to do with not talking versus talking. They talked about using your words wisely, and when necessary, stay silent. But this passage isn’t saying, “Say nothing.” It’s saying, “Say the right thing.” And it’s not saying, “Tell a lie if it suits the situation.” It’s not saying, “Deceive a person for the sake of peace.” It’s not saying, “Peace at any price.” It’s saying, “Say what you need to say in a tone that deescalates a difficult situation.” 

The assumption in verse 1 is that you’ve got someone who is already angry. You’re not going to do yourself any favors by inciting more wrath in that person. You want to respond with a “soft answer.” Be truthful. Be honest. But don’t be wrathful. 

There’s an old Aesop’s Fable that goes like this. The wind and the sun get into an argument about who is mightier. So they come to an agreement—whoever can get the man to remove his hat and scarf is the mightiest. So the wind blows seventy miles an hour. But the man just pulls his hat down tighter and puts another knot in his scarf. Instead, the sun comes out and slowly warms up the man. And he willingly takes them off. Aesop was on to something even apart from Scripture. You can’t change a person by force or dominance. You change them through warmth and grace. Even that doesn’t work sometimes, but you’ve got a better chance of changing them that way than reacting in anger or matching wrath with wrath. That just escalates a conflict, and nothing gets resolved. 

Solomon says in verse 2,

2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

In combination with verse 1, this verse has the idea of moving a conflict towards a resolution. A wise person with a gentle tone and a gentle tongue will help resolve a conflict. But a blathering fool will just pour gasoline on a fire. Have you ever heard two foolish people get angry and argue incessantly? It’s like watching the Jerry Springer Show. But people who love God and fear God know how to engage in conflict and come out better at the end of it. Their tone and their wisdom lead towards knowledge and maturity. 

Look marriages that are great aren’t great because some husbands are born perfect. Or some wives have just a natural ability from the first day they got married to be the best wives in the land. No, good husbands and good wives are made. They learn over time to resolve their conflict. And they learn to prioritize God in their relationship. The most important thing in a marriage is not to win the conflict. Lots of husbands win the battle of a conflict with their wives and lose the war. The goal is not winning. The goal is repentance and forgiveness and wisdom and peace and the marriage vows kept intact.

Look at verse 3. 

3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. 

You might say, “What’s that verse doing here? I thought we were talking about the tongue.” Well that’s a veiled threat right there. Solomon is saying, “You better watch what you say. You better keep a tight rein on your tongue.” 

Why? Why should I do that? Because, “He sees you when you’re sleeping; he knows when you’re awake; He knows if you’ve been good or bad; So be good for goodness sake!” Who are we talking about here? Santa Clause? NO! 

3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. 

4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

There’s the tree of life again! What an amazing usage here of that term. Look, here’s what I believe. I believe that there was a real tree of life with real fruit on its branches in the Garden of Eden. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil gets all the press in Genesis 1–3. But the tree of life was there too. And Adam and Eve were able to eat of its fruit. And in some mysterious way, it was key to their immortality. That’s why God took it away from them after they sinned. And I believe that we will literally eat of that tree again in the New Jerusalem (Rev 21–22). That’s when that tree shows up again. 

But I also believe in the metaphorical usage of that language, “the tree of life,” in Proverbs to describe different things. And here Solomon says, “We can be a kind of tree of life to others.” How, Solomon? How so? Buy the use of our tongue. But with the use of gentle, uplifting speech we can invigorate others. 

By the way “gentle” in verse 4 is literally “healing” or “balm.” We don’t just want a “gentle tongue.” We want a tongue that heals. And I don’t know about you, but I want to be like that in the use of my tongue. I want to encourage and uplift and invigorate others… by speaking truth, by communicating the gospel, by encouraging the discouraged, by reminding people of the hope that we have in Christ Jesus, even when our world seems so hopeless.

I know I started this section by saying, “Get a hold of your tongue.” But that’s not really the sense of these first four verses. It’s more about shaping and mobilizing your tongue to honor and serve the Lord.

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So let’s honor the Lord with a gentle tongue. Here’s another way to honor the Lord. 

2) Honor the Lord with a teachable spirit (15:5–12)

Look at verse 5. 

5 A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.

The word “reproof” here is the Hebrew תּוֹכַחַת (tô·ḵǎ·ḥǎṯ). And that’s a pretty strong word that means “rebuke” or “reprimand” or even “words which show strong disapproval.” So as a hedge against what was said earlier, don’t think that you can ignore a person or get angry just because they didn’t use a gentle tongue. There’s wisdom on both sides of the equation. There’s wisdom in using gentle speech, and there’s wisdom in heeding counsel and instruction, even if it comes across a little gruff. 

It’s frustrating in this modern-day world how every young person is angry at their parents and is suffering from trauma and mental anguish because their parents yelled at them occasionally. Or because their father was too gruff. Listen, let me address both sides of that. Children, need to be teachable and heed reproof. Parents, don’t be so gruff. 

Look at verse 6. 

6 In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked. 

7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools.

8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.

9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who pursues righteousness. 

Let’s drill down a little bit on these verses. Right in the middle of this section on being teachable is this shorter section on righteousness and living in God-honoring ways. And the language here is strong enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Twice, Solomon uses that “abomination” language. What’s an abomination to the Lord? Wickedness. What does the Lord abominate? The sacrifice of the wicked and the way of the wicked. What does God love? Righteousness. And as a Christian, you can’t just dismiss this as OT language build on an OT system of sacrifices. 

Look, we are made righteous in Christ Jesus. The NT is clear about that. But we are not saved by Christ in order to live a life of sin and wickedness and godlessness. There’s a word for that. It’s called antinomianism. Another word for it is licentiousness. It’s the idea that Jesus has saved us, and now we’ve got a license to sin with impunity, because after all, Jesus died for those sins anyways. That’s not Christianity. That is shameful, superstitious paganism.

And when you get saved, you don’t become less concerned with your own sinfulness. You become more concerned with it. You become a soldier locked in a battle against your own flesh. And you put to death the deeds of your flesh, and you pursue righteousness and godliness and holiness with everything you’ve got. 

“Why, Tony? Why is that the case?” Because, 

9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who pursues righteousness.

You might wonder why I’ve used the word “teachable” so often in this series. Why is that so important? Because I don’t really know of a Christian life that is unteachable. To be a disciple of Jesus is to be teachable. And what are we learning? We’re learning how to be like Jesus. What was Jesus like? He was sinless. “Are we going to be sinless, Pastor Tony?” No. But we’re going to sin less! The Holy Spirit’s going to shape and mold us into the image of Christ. 

And by the way, that plan didn’t begin when you got saved. God actually initiated that plan before the world was even brought into existence. Paul says, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom 8:29).

Look at verse 10, 

10 There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; whoever hates reproof will die. 

There’s that word for “reproof” again— תּוֹכַחַת (tô·ḵǎ·ḥǎṯ). Unteachable people are authors of their own destruction. And those who reject the teaching of the gospel will die in their sin and be lost forever. 

11 Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord; how much more the hearts of the children of man! 

That’s a terrifying proverb. This is actually a pretty scarry section of Proverbs. All this talk about abomination and death and Sheol.

Sheol, just by way of review, is the abode of the dead in the Hebrew world. We could translate it “the grave,” but it’s more than just that. It’s the holding place for OT saints and sinners both. 

“Abaddon” is basically synonymous with Sheol. In Hebrew it means “destruction.” In Revelation, John calls the angel of the bottomless pit (the Devil?), “Abaddon” (Rev 9:11). He is the epitome of pride, death, and destruction. And he leads human beings to death and destruction.

And what Solomon is saying here in verse 11 is that Sheol and Abaddon, these mysterious realities to the Hebrew mind… death, destruction, the afterlife, the abode of the dead, etc. … they lie open before the Lord. It’s not a mystery to the Lord. He knows them. He created them. One commentator said it this way, “God’s eye penetrates even the most secret corners of the unseen world.”

And here’s the argument. It’s a how much more (qal wahomer) argument. If the Lord knows all about those mysterious realities (Sheol and Abaddon), how much more does he know the heart of the children of men! The reality is that he knows everything. He knows the number of the hairs on our head. He knows the number of our days. He knows the righteousness and the wickedness embedded in our hearts.

So don’t be prideful. Don’t be a scoffer. Look at verse 12. 

12 A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise. 

Scoffers aren’t as strong as they seem. They don’t like being scrutinized! So again, don’t be prideful. Don’t be a scoffer. Don’t be unteachable. Don’t be foolish. Don’t think that you can live your life in full autonomy apart from God and apart from his scrutiny. He knows everything. 

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Write this down as #3. 

3) Honor the Lord with a cheerful heart (15:13–24)

Solomon says in verse 13, 

13 A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed. 

The heart is the center of your being in Hebrew thought. The Hebrews didn’t think of the brain as the center of your being. It was your heart. And the heart was the center of your volitional forces, the center of your emotional forces, the center of your decisional forces, and the center of your moral fortitude. And the rest of your body follows your heart, including your face. And when you have a glad heart, the rest of your physical and metaphysical self follows suit. The same is true when you have a sorrowful heart.

Now Solomon isn’t saying… not yet anyway… what we should do. He’s just stating a fact. Glad hearts make for cheerful faces. And a sorrowful heart equals a crushed spirit. That’s true. But there are some behaviors that engender cheerfulness. And also there are some behaviors that are inimical to cheerfulness. 

Look at verse 14.

14 The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly. 

Fools laugh at sin, as we’ve seen already. Fools delight in evil. It makes them smile. Contrary to popular opinion, ignorance doesn’t lead to bliss. And folly doesn’t lead to jolly. Maybe it does for a while. But there’s an expiration date on that. Eventually fools reap the whirlwind. And they find themselves broken, poor, destitute, and isolated from other people because of their relentless pursuit of foolishness. 

Look at verse 15.

15 All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast. 

16 Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it. 

Ignorance is bliss! That’s a common myth than needs to be busted. Let me give you another myth that circulates in our world that needs to be busted—money makes people happy. Does money inevitably make people happy? No, it doesn’t. And if fearing the Lord and doing what right means that I have to live a life of poverty with scarcity and meager resources, so be it! “Better is a little with the fear of the LORD.”

Look at verse 17, Solomon’s not done with this topic yet.

17 Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it. 

“Better is a dinner of herbs.” Herbs! Have you ever had a dinner of herbs? “Hey honey, What’s for dinner?” “O well today we’re having herbs.” “Herbs? You mean like parsley and oregano.” The Hebrew word here יָרָק (yā·rāq) could be translated “vegetables” or “greens.” But honestly that’s only a slight improvement from “herbs.” “What are we having for dinner today, sweetie?” “Vegetables.” “No, really, what are we having?” In my house vegetables aren’t a dish, vegetables are sides for the meat. And herbs aren’t a dish either. Herbs are what you put on the meat to make the meat taste better.

But what does the Bible say here? “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.” You’re better off eating parsley the rest of your life in a peaceful home than living high on the hog in a house of strife. Thankfully, I’ve never had to choose between good cooking and a happy home. 

And most men, I believe, if they had to choose between good food and a peaceful home, they would choose the latter every time. Most men if they had the choice between a short life and a happy home or a long life in a house of strife, they would choose the short life in a heartbeat. 

And speaking of men, look at verse 18:

18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. 

  A man who is “slow to anger” is literally “long of nostrils.” Remember that analogy? Who is described as “long of nostrils” in the Bible? “[Yahweh] is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Psalm 103:8). Jonah said of Yahweh, “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (4:2).

A man who is slow to anger… a father who is slow to respond in wrath and indignation… a husband who is eager to quiet contention… that looks good on a man. Because when we, men and women both, are slow to anger, we imitate deity. God is long of nostrils. And God wants his image-bearers to be long of nostrils. 

Look at verse 19. 

19 The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway. 

I’m glad Solomon added this, because contentment shouldn’t be used as an excuse for laziness or slothfulness. Remember what I said earlier about the four categories. There’s 1) the righteous rich, 2) the unrighteous rich, 3) the righteous poor, and 4) the unrighteous poor. The righteous rich earn their wealth honorably and give their wealth to others generously. The unrighteous rich earn their wealth dishonorably and are stingy towards others. The righteous poor fear God, work hard, and make do with what they’ve been given. They know that their greater treasures await them in eternity, and they are never lazy. The unrighteous poor are lazy, vengeful, and sometimes violent. They blame others for their circumstances and play the victim card to their own advantage. The sluggard is an example of the unrighteous poor. 

And by the way, this analogy of the sluggard is hilarious. Whenever the sluggard is mentioned in Proverbs, it’s usually framed with a clever, illuminating illustration. For example, Proverbs 10:26 says, “Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.” Here the sluggard is likened to a hedge of thorns. The way of the sluggard is as slow and as painful (to him and to others) as walking through a thornbush. That’s painful! In other words, Solomon is saying, “Don’t be lazy. Don’t be a sluggard. It’s painful for you and it’s painful for others.”

Look at verse 20.

 20 A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. 

What a vivid contrast. By the way, parents, if you have a wise son or a wise daughter… if you have children that gladden your heart… make sure you tell them that. Tell them, “You’re a good daughter, and I’m proud to be your father.” “You’re a good son, I’m so proud to be your mother.” Don’t be one of those proud and obstinate people who thinks things are better off not said. That’s silly. 

My dad tells the story about my grandad. When my grandad went to live in an assisted living home after he had a stroke, something strange happened to him. He turned into a different kind of person. And my grandad would call my dad every week. And he would just gush about him. And he would say, “I just want to tell you, I love you, Randy.” And my dad didn’t know what to do with that. Don’t wait till you’re eighty years old and have a stroke to tell your kids that you love them and you’re proud of them.

Look at verse 21,

21 Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense, but a man of understanding walks straight ahead. 

“See, Tony, fools have fun too.” Yeah, like I said, that fun has an expiration date. And you can chase cheap thrills and silly laughs if you want to. But that’s not the kind of cheerfulness of heart that you want. 

And by the way, do you know who are some of the most depressed people in the world? Comedians. It’s a well-known fact that people who work the hardest to make fun of stuff and make other people laugh are some of the most unfulfilled, depressed people in the world. Not always. But enough to get noticed. 

Just a nota bene here too, the “lacks sense” statement in verse 21 is literally “lacks heart.” So we’re not talking about someone with a fun-loving personality or a whimsical nature. We are talking about people who pursue a heartless joy. We are talking about people who pursue mindless entertainment. If that’s all you chase and if that’s all you pursue in this world, your life is going to be shallow and sad and pathetic. 

Look at verse 22.

22 Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. 

23 To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is! 

In verse 21, Solomon said, “Folly is a joy to him who lacks sense.” But to a wise man, it’s not folly that brings joy, it’s an apt answer. Being “apt” has to do with timing and with tone and with receptiveness. 

I hear people protest all the time, “But what I said to them was true, Pastor Tony! What I said was true!” Okay, but was it apt? Was it the right word at the right time? Was the timing right? Was the tone right? Was it meant to help and edify a person? Or did it tear them down? 

Some people use truth like an unwieldy sword they don’t know how to control. They just swing it around wildly cutting and hacking people to pieces. Listen, we need to be careful with that. “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver” (Prov 25:11). Choose your words, and choose your moments, carefully. 

24 The path of life leads upward for the prudent, that he may turn away from Sheol beneath.

There’s upward and there’s downward. There’s the path of life, and there’s the path of death. The prudent way, the way of cheerfulness and contentment is the way of God-fearing wisdom. The fool makes a beeline for Sheol. 

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Write this down as #4. As followers of Jesus Christ, we want to cultivate a gentle tongue, a teachable spirit, a cheerful heart, and finally, a humble mindset. 

4) Honor the Lord with a humble mindset (15:25–33)

Someone asked the church father Augustine once, what is the first, great demonstration of grace in a Christian’s life. He replied, “Humility.” Then they asked him what the second was. And he replied, “Humility.” Then they asked him what the third was. And he said, “Humility.” 

The great Christian evangelist, D.L. Moody, said once: “There is no harder lesson to learn than the lesson of humility. It is not taught in the schools of men, only in the school of Christ. It is the rarest of all the gifts. Very rarely do we find a man or woman who is following closely the footsteps of the Master in meekness and in humility.”

Charles Spurgeon said once, “Oh! vain man, why shouldst thou be proud? Think of our mortality. In a few more years we shall be worms’ meat. Caesar’s dust shall be eaten; eaten by the basest of creatures. Take up the skull of some departed one in your hand, and say, ‘What had this man to be proud of?’ … [L]ook on some body which has been buried but a little while, what a heap of loathsomeness!” That’s depressing, right? Thanks a lot, Charles Spurgeon! It’s depressing, but also, in a good way, it’s sobering. We shouldn’t think more highly of ourselves then we ought to think.

There’s also that great moment in Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” when Hamlet holds the skull of his old friend, Yorick the Jester. Then Hamlet starts to pontificate on the fragility and transience of life. Shakespeare gets it. He knows how fragile and fleeting this life is. We are but dust. 

I heard John Piper say once that he tries to get down on his knees at least once a day just for ten seconds or longer, and say, “I just wanted to remind myself, Lord, I’m not God.” If you don’t understand that or if you don’t think that’s necessary, it’s probably because you don’t know the gullibility and susceptibility of your own heart. It’s good to remind ourselves regularly that God is God, and we are not. 

Here’s what Solomon has to say about pride and humility. Look at verse 25, 

25 The Lord tears down the house of the proud but maintains the widow’s boundaries. 

The widow in the ancient world was the embodiment of meekness and deprivation and destitution. She has nothing to be proud of. But Solomon says here that the Lord is on her side. And he is opposed to the proud. That’s a biblical concept threaded throughout the entire OT and NT.

Look at verse 25,

26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but gracious words are pure. 

27 Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live. 

28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. 

Just look at how these parallelisms are presented in this passage. Pride is associated with greed and unjust gain and wickedness and evil. These are the things that God abominates. These are the things that people do when they don’t fear God and when they don’t think that God exists or will punish their actions. 

It’s foolish to assert that God doesn’t exist. And the fool who asserts that is pridefully self-absorbed. The logic of these verses goes like this—the foolish person is a prideful person is a wicked person is an abominated person. 

Look at verse 29, 

29 The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

I want my prayers to be heard! Don’t you? I want the Lord to be close to me, not far from me! I want God to be receptive to me, not repulsed by me. 

And let’s be clear about this, Jesus Christ provides that access to God that I can’t secure myself. But the very act of coming to Christ is an act of self-abnegation. I say to the God of the Universe, “I am a rotten, dirty sinner who can’t save himself. Will you please save me? I believe in Jesus’s payment for my sin. I humbly submit to him as my Savior and my Lord.”

But even as Christians, there’s a sense in which wicked and selfish behavior can distance us from God and neutralize our prayers. Peter told husbands in 1 Peter 3 to treat their wives in an honorable way less their prayers be hindered (3:7). That’s about as close to a threat from Peter as we’ll find in the NT. He’s saying, “Husbands, you better respect your wives or else God will cut off the communication lines between him and you.” 

You might say, “God would never do that, Pastor Tony. Me and God are tight, and Jesus is my homeboy.” Yeah, you think that! The Lord has never promised that he would respond positively to our wicked and prideful behavior. In fact, it says just the opposite. It says in both the OT and the NT, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (cf. Prov 3:34; 1 Pet 5:5; Jas 4:6). 

Look at verse 30.

30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones [or makes the bones fat].

31 The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. 

Notice the use of body parts here: “the eyes,” “the ear,” and “the bones.”

32 Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. 

The word for “intelligence” here in Hebrew is “heart.” 

32 Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains [a heart].”

“If I only had a heart” sang Tin Man in “The Wizard of Oz.” Actually the Hebrew concept of heart encapsulates heart, brain, and courage in the ancient world. So this might as well be the longing of Tin Man, Scarecrow, and the Lion from The Wizard of Oz. 

OT scholar, Allen Ross, says about this verse, “One must acquire understanding, especially about oneself, to grow spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally.” And obviously, if one must acquire understanding, they must demonstrate the fear of the Lord and teachable humility. 

Look at verse 33. 

33 The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. 

Listen, you need to know this. Outside of the Judeo-Christian world, there’s not a great value placed on humility. To be honest, most of the ancient and modern world thinks of humility as a vice not a virtue. The Tyndale Bible Dictionary says it this way: “Outside of biblical faith, humility in this sense would not usually be considered a virtue. Within the context of the Judeo-Christian tradition, however, humility is considered the proper attitude of human beings toward their Creator. Humility is a grateful and spontaneous awareness that life is a gift, and it is manifested as an ungrudging and unhypocritical acknowledgment of absolute dependence upon God.” 

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Let me close with this. I want you to understand how important this is to the Christian faith, this attribute of humility. There’s this great scene in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress where these two dopey characters, Formalist and Hypocrisy, try to jump a wall and take a shortcut on the road to the Celestial City. They don’t want to go through the gate (Jesus Christ) to get on the path. 

And when Christian sees them, he says, “What are you guys doing? You can’t get on this path without humbling yourself and going through the Gate (see John 10:1)!” And they say, “Forget you, Christian. We found a short cut. We don’t need Jesus. We’ll do it ourselves.” And that leads them right to destruction.

Do you know what city those guys were from in the book? They were from the land of Vain-Glory. Bunyan’s point is that you can’t get saved coming from the land of Vain-Glory. You can’t trust in yourself to be saved. You’ve got to humble yourself and walk through the gate. 

Another puritan, the puritan pastor, Richard Baxter, said it this way: “Humility is not a mere ornament of a Christian, but an essential part of the new creature. It is a contradiction to be a sanctified man, or a true Christian, and not humble.” Let me summarize it this way—humility is essential to a Christian’s salvation, and it’s essential to a Christian’s sanctification.

And here’s what we do as Christians, ipso facto, after we get saved. What we do is we honor the Lord with an honorable life. And here are four ways to pursue that. 1) We honor the Lord with a gentle tongue, 2) We honor the Lord with a teachable spirit, 3) We honor the Lord with a cheerful heart, and 4) We honor the Lord with a humble mindset. 

Taught by Tony Caffey

Senior Pastor of Verse By Verse Fellowship

Proverbs