“The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.” - Proverbs 11:3
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Perverse: Adjective (of a person or their actions) (1) showing a deliberate and obstinate desire to behave in a way that is unreasonable or unacceptable often in spite of the consequences: e.g. X’s perverse decision not to cooperate,(2) contrary to the accepted or expected standard or practice: in two general elections the outcome was quite perverse, (3) Law (of a verdict) against the weight of evidence or the direction of the judge on a point of law, (4) sexually perverted.
Transgressor: verb [with object] infringe or go beyond the bounds of (a moral principle or other established standard of behavior): she had transgressed an unwritten social law | [no object] : they must control the impulses that lead them to transgress.
You can see how this text links up with all we have said about Pride —- summarized as deliberately and willfully pursuing a course of action —contrary— to God’s truth, commands and moral principles , IN SPITE OF revealed truth, and consequences!
Last week, our text focused on the end/ destination of the proud ( “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” - Prov 16:18 ) This weeks text —- assures us —— , that choosing Gods way is best.... that is what the Whole Word declares with one voice from Genesis to Revelation, and shows us how the LORD plans to deal with it.
The obstinacy of the wicked ( in the face of Gods Word and His warnings ) in continuing to disobey and transgress His commands is great. Even when the Earth is pounded by the judgments of God in the book of Revelation, people will STILL NOT repent!...
....here it is after the 6th trumpet : Revelation 9:20–21 (AV): “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues —yet repented not— of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: —Neither repented they—- of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”
Surely these people will repent when they see Christ redeem His people after the reign of the Antichrist ( Trumpet 7 ), and have to endure the wrath of God ( the 7 Bowl judgments )?
Nope. Here is their reaction, verbatim, during THAT period.
Revelation 16:7–11 (AV): “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they —repented not— to give him glory.
And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and —repented not— of their deeds. “
Revelation 16:17–21 (AV): “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men —blasphemed God— because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. “
And as we saw last week, even after Christ’s Millennial rule, men will STILL rebel... that is what perverseness and transgression looks like, and it WILL be destroyed!!!
When Christ Ascended ( we just celebrated Ascension Day ) after completing His earthly mission, Satan was cast from Heaven forever... the end began for him that day... that was the day Christ was able to reclaim the earth on behalf of all humanity.
Revelation 5:5–7 (AV): And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, —hath prevailed— to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb ——as it had been slain—- {showing us that this event is POST-CRUCIFIXION}, having seven horns and seven eyes, which __are__ the seven Spirits of God —sent forth into —all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. “
The mission of the Spirit in this age of Grace is to bring man forgiveness, leading to repentance ( STOP TRANSGRESSING! ) Never has the Lord been this direct in all of the ages of man till this point..... yet, even after that, what do we see? No change!
The debate of Satan and God is not an —academic— one about free will. Satans perverseness has had very real and extremely painful impacts on heaven, earth, and humanity.... the Lord had to wipe out generations of humans with a flood to give us another chance, and even send His Son to die for us so that we could be saved, and as we have just seen, this perverseness persists even in the face of revealed truth and consequences!
What hope then for humanity? How are pastors to deal with the fact that congregations just don’t “get it” , even when these pastors have been laboring and preaching till they are blue in the face? What hope for Christians in name only, that serve God with their lips, but their heart is far from Him? And what hope is there for people that don’t even have this amount of light?
Spiritual darkness is descending like a cloud, and here is a sober and unpalatable truth. It’s going to get worse, and not better.... but God be praised that He has placed a LIGHT at the end of this dark tunnel. He hasn’t sugar coated anything, but given us the ability to endure and overcome persecution, and promised to be with us in the midst of the waters, in the middle of the furnace, through our lives as we walk through this vale of tears under the shadow of death, disease, and wickedness. His integrity will be our guide to help us come out the other end .... Hallelujah!!!
The Holy Spirit enables us to love our fellow man, through the gifts and fruits of the Spirit, because the Lord knows, our fallen souls are incapable of doing so! That is why He was sent.... to :
1. Convict us of Sin -
"And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:" (Jn 16:8)
2. Reveal Christ -
"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me (Jn 15:2) He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." (Jn 16:14)
3. Give us our New Birth and Seal us.
"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (Jn 3:5) "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." (Eph 4:30)
4. Sanctify/Regenerate us
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto —obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: (1 Pe 1:2)
5. Edify/Teach us.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (Jn 14:26) Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (1 Co 2:9-11)
6. Comfort/Encourage us.
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (Jn 14:16)
7. Intercede for us ( Because we will STILL blow it ).... And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Ro 8:27)
He did not come to make all traffic lights green, solve world hunger, or take the government of this world by violence, just as Christ didn’t either! That prerogative is Gods alone, in His timing. He came to help reveal God, and help us get through this Life! We are to carry our cross like Christ carried His, with Grace, Compassion, Joy and Love, trusting in the Lord to keep us from being tested beyond our abilities to resist!
Revelation 22:10–11 (AV): And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, —-let him be unjust still (!): and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still (!) : and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Just as death and life wage a constant battle in our bodies till the day we die, the upright and the perverse will coexist for quite some time in the future. Let that not depress us, because that is not our problem!
1 Peter 1:13–25 (AV): “ Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As —obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of —-conversation—- ; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
And if ye call on the Father, who —without respect of persons —judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
Seeing ye have purified your souls in —obeying the truth— —through the Spirit— unto unfeigned love of the brethren, ——see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: ———
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. “
Hallelujah!!