The Rebellious are the wicked, the haughty, the destructive regarding life; they are the Truth rejectors, they are the Light haters, they are the Bible despisers, devoted to darkness, they reject Christ and His Word maliciously. The rebellious are destined to destruction. And we saints were once members of this camp, to one degree or another!
The Righteous are the wise, the humble, the devoted to life; they are the Truth receivers, they are the Light lovers, they are the Bible disciples, dispellers of darkness, they receive Christ and His Word joyfully. The righteous are destined to glory.
The wonderful thing is that the rebellious can change camps at any time in their lifetime. All they need to do is repent of their sin, turn to Christ and by faith believe the Gospel, surrendering themselves to Jesus by making Him their LORD and Savior.
In the two verses we’ll be looking into tonight, we’ll learn quite a few things about both camps.
PROVERBS 24:15-16
15 Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; Do not plunder his resting place; 16 For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.
The wicked are known for lying in wait to ambush the righteous in one form or another. That is, to take down the righteous and righteousness wherever, however they can:
PSALM 11:2
The wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow on the string, that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.
PSALM 12:8
The wicked prowl on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
This reminds me very much of 1 PETER 5:8; there it says that the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
The righteous are to walk in the Light, to do everything openly, honestly, no secret, harmful agendas. But we see in these few verses that the wicked do things in secret, in the shadows, operating with deception. They lie in wait to ambush, just as Satan prowls as a lion hides until he pounces on his prey.
Madelyn Murray O’Hare, a devout atheist established the American Atheist Organization and in 1963 almost single-handedly fought against Christians, appealed to the Supreme Court and succeeded in having the 10 Commandments, prayer and the Bible removed from the public schools, on the grounds that these things were unconstitutional, operating under the idea of “separation of church and state” – which nowhere appears in any of the founding documents of America. What the Constitution says is this in the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”
Madelyn hated America and wanted to move her and her son to the Soviet Union but they were denied citizenship!
This opposer of GOD met a gruesome end when in 1995 she was kidnapped, murdered and then dismembered along with her son and granddaughter by David Roland Waters, a former American Atheist member and office manager!
This has a parallel in the Old Testament when King Sennacherib of the Assyrian Empire came against Israel with the intent of wiping them out, but when intrigue and potential insurrection was rumored in his kingdom, he left Israel alone and returned to Assyria, only to be slain by his own sons! You don’t mess with GOD or His chosen people!
O’Hare’s only other son, William Murray became a born again Christian in 1980 and later became a Baptist minister.
In 1968 teaching evolution was allowed into the public school system after the court ruled in its favor “Epperson v. Arkansas”. In the last half a century it has dissuaded more young people than any other belief system from a belief in a Creator GOD.
In 1973 Roe v. Wade made the slaughter of the unborn legal.
And while this is still legal, apparently, it’s illegal to preach the Gospel and pray in front of an abortion clinic. That’s what Bevelyn Beatty Williams, a 33 yr. old Pro-Life activist did, and she was sentenced on July 24, 2024, to three years, five months in prison for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, simply because she stood in front of a woman who was on her way to abort her baby.
In the midst of all of these events that took place in the 60’s and 70’s, there was the sexual revolution that promoted “free love” – sex outside of marriage on a national scale. This drew many youth, who came from church-going families into the web of wickedness. This sinful practice has so permeated our society that today, you find even professing Christians “shacking up” together and too many churches don’t even bat an eye at it!
Scripture warns the wicked against plundering the righteous, that is, attacking and stealing his resting place.
For us saints today, Jesus is our resting place (HEB 4:8-11), where we obtain salvation; where we know the grace, the love, the peace of GOD. He is our Good Shepherd that brings us beside still waters and causes us to lay down in green pastures.
The wicked intend on plundering, that is, to rob, oppress, and destroy our confidence in Jesus, His Atonement and Resurrection and His Word, the Holy Scriptures:
Here are some quotes from liberal, so-called Bible scholars, pastors and Bible teachers:
Professor Marcus Borg on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ:
“To think that the central meaning of Easter (resurrection) depends on something spectacular happening to Jesus' corpse misses the point of the Easter message and risks trivializing the story. To link Easter primarily to an afterlife. as if our post-death existence depends on God having transformed the corpse of Jesus, is to reduce the story to a . . . yearning for our survival beyond death."Rob Bell, who we don’t hear from much these days made a huge, horrible impact on our Christian youth who at the time hung on this man’s every word. This plunderer named “Rob” had every intent on robbing confidence away from the Bible! He had this to say about the Bible:
Scripture clearly teaches that our Christian hope rests solely on the Resurrection of Christ (1 COR 15:1-8, 12-22).
“I let go of the notion that the Bible is a divine product. I learned that it is a human cultural product. As such it contained [people’s] understandings and affirmations, not statements coming directly or [indirectly] from God . . . I realized that whatever ‘divine revelation’ and the ‘inspiration of the Bible’ meant (if they meant anything), that they did not mean that the Bible [has] divine authority. Our words aren't absolutes. Only God is absolute, and God has no intention of sharing this absoluteness with anything, especially words that people have come up with to talk about Him.On the Blood-Atoning Sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick of Riverside Church in NYC had this to say:
"Let's make a group decision to drop once and for all the ‘Bible-as-Owner's-Manual’ metaphor. It's terrible. It really is. This is part of the problem with continually insisting that one of the absolutes of the Christian faith must be a belief that 'scripture alone' is our guide. It sounds nice, but it isn't true. . . When people say that all we need is the Bible, it is simply not true."
Scripture teaches the sufficiency of the Word of GOD, that it’s all we need to live a godly life in Christ Jesus (2 PET 1:3; 2 TIM 3:16).
“‘That Jesus suffered as a substitute for us’ because of our sins ‘is a pre-civilized barbarity’. Too many theories of the atonement assume that by one single high priestly act of self-sacrifice Christ saved the world. These legalistic theories of the atonement are in my judgment a theological disgrace’.”So, these ungodly men would attack, plunder and steal away our hope in the atoning death of Christ on the Cross, our hope in the Resurrection, and faith in the Holy Scripture.
Scripture tells us that it’s by the shed blood of Christ Who Himself was judged for our sin, that all humanity is reconciled to GOD and the way to peace with GOD is available to all (COL 1:20; ROM 8:3).
Most seminaries today subscribe to Theistic Evolution, that is to say, GOD used evolution to make all of creation. The obvious problem with this is that it’s entirely unbiblical. Yet this is being force-fed to young seminarians and Bible students today.
Russ Miller, a Creationist who is an effective apologist and debater for the creation account of the Bible, offers to present his seminars to any church who will have him, and he says more than 90% of them decline the offer or intentionally block him when a member of their congregation wants him to visit their fellowship.
You can check out his stuff at www.creationministries.org
Richard Rohr, a Roman Catholic priest who is embraced by the Progressive (that is, Liberal) Church Movement endorses and practices contemplative prayer, and clearly states that through mystical meditation one can come to know Christ far more powerfully than by reading the Bible. The current Pope Francis met with Rohr and enthusiastically endorsed his work.
These people were once part of the Emergent Church Movement, which was just good ol’ fashioned Liberalism dressed up in new clothes. Now it’s the Progressive Church Movement, which is pretty much the same thing – the names have been changed to protect the guilty.
All of these wicked are intent on robbing the church of the truth of GOD’s Word, of the righteous claims of Christ, of the atonement by His Cross, His resurrection. In effect, they want to rob us of the salvation that we rest in.
Scripture warns these wicked men against ambushing the righteous, steering them away from the way of righteousness found only in Christ
MATTHEW 18:6Who are these “little ones” that are being offended? Certainly, children who are being trafficked. Those who are victims of pedophiles (the incidence of both of these things has skyrocketed since more than 11 million illegal immigrants have flooded into our nation in the past 4 years). But I think children in the sense of those who are spiritual new-born in Christ also applies.
"But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Think of the university professors who have ambushed the faith of young Christians who don’t know how to defend biblical truth and end up either disillusioned with the Bible or walk away from the faith altogether. And they are leaving the faith by the droves, by as much as 80% or higher!
BUT – there is a study that found when both parents were active and faithful in the church, 93% of their children remain faithful. When only one parent is active and faithful, 73% of their children remain faithful.
This is why it’s absolutely crucial!! – I cannot possibly stress this enough! It’s of the greatest importance that parents raise up their children in the faith, teaching them not just what we believe, but also WHY we believe the Bible with verifiable, concrete evidence!
A curriculum that we’ve used in the Sunday School ministry here at SHINE BRIGHT Church is Frank Turek’s LET’s GET REAL – Examining the Evidence For GOD. I would strongly urge any parent of children from around 6-10th grade (or perhaps even higher) to get a copy of the Teacher’s version of this manual ($31.99).
What’s awesome about this is that parents will get as much out of this as their children! In addition to this, you can go to Frank Turek’s website www.crossexamined.org and learn more. He also has a podcast that you can tune in to and glean even more valuable information. I love watching his YouTube channel where he visits college campuses and answers the questions or protests brought up by students, even faculty!
An apologist I listened to regularly in my early years is Kent Hovind. He isn’t quite as active as he once was, but you can still find him on YouTube (video quality is poor, but audio is still good).
The warning to the wicked against persecution of GOD’s people is a very grave, very serious one!
GOD said this in regard to Israel:
ZECHARIAH 2:8King David petitioned GOD to do this for him, and the LORD did:
For thus says the LORD of hosts: "He sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.
PSALM 17:8
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
The apple of your eye is your pupil. How sensitive is that? How far would you go to protect your eye from being struck? This is how GOD feels about His saints – Old Testament and New.
In ACTS 9:4, the Risen Christ appears in glorious light before Saul of Tarsus who was on the Damascus Road on a mission to arrest Jewish Christians, imprison them and even put them to death.
The LORD Jesus doesn’t ask Saul, Why are you persecuting My church? He says, Why are you persecuting Me?
An attack on the church, the body of Christ, His bride – is an attack on Him! This is why the LORD admonishes us to pray for our enemies, those who persecute us (MATT 5:44). They are completely unaware of the serious danger that they are in!
In ACTS 7 Stephen who bore faithful testimony before the Sanhedrin and gave them a message they did NOT like – and as they were stoning him, Stephen cried out:
“LORD, lay not this sin to their charge!”
We understand that Satan has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy – that’s his mission (JOHN 10:10). We also understand that these wicked, evil men and women are puppets of the devil, and also his victims that he will delight to see burning in hell forever, such is his hatred for humanity.
We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood (people), but against the principalities and powers, the military forces of Satan’s kingdom of darkness (EPH 6:12).
PROVERBS 24:16
For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.
We saints are not perfect by any means in our day to day living; we are perfect in Christ by the position we’ve been granted by grace. The Father sees us already perfected and as righteous as Jesus Christ Himself because we’ve been clothed upon with His robe of righteousness. Once we see the LORD Face to face, then we will be absolutely perfect and sinless in our eternal experience as we are now in our position granted by the grace of GOD through Christ.
Though we are righteous in Christ, in our day to day living, we fall. We get tripped up or lose our balance spiritually speaking. This can be due to our own sin nature, or because we’ve been overcome by the temptations of Satan or another human being. Whatever influences led to our fall into sin, bottom line – we make the ultimate choice. Satan can’t make you sin, no one can – only you, based on your own decision.
But whatever the influences may be – your own sin nature, Satan, the world system, when we fall, we have every hope for restoration.
1 JOHN 1:9We have godly elders and counselors in the church who are spiritually minded and will do all we can in a spirit of meekness to restore the one who has fallen into sin (GAL 6:1).
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Most importantly, we have the LORD Himself Who began a good work in you, the greatest good work in us all who are born again – the work of salvation that started with our justification in Christ.
From that very moment when you repented of your sin and confessed Jesus Christ as your LORD and Savior, the righteousness of Christ was transferred to your account. The Bible says in ROMANS 4 that GOD “imputes”, He “credits or accounts” to us the riches of Christ’s righteousness, His holiness, His sanctity while at the same time He assumes all the debt we owe to GOD because of our own sin!
We have GOD’s promise that what He started, He will finish!
PHILIPPIANS 1:6It was said that when the great classical composer Johann Sebastian Bach was lying on his death bed, he heard his son plucking out one of his Daddy’s tunes on the piano, but the boy didn’t finish playing the melody. Johann roused himself from his bed, ran to the other room and completed the melody. He just couldn’t pass from this world and leave the tune unfinished!
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
Christ is even more committed to seeing His workmanship completed, the crafting of this beautiful work of art, this glorious music that He is developing in and through your life (EPH 2:10).
It says in our text that a righteous man may fall seven times – note that. It doesn’t say six times or nine times, but seven. Does that mean that if you fall eight times, then you’re done? There’s no hope for you? Not at all.
In the Scriptures, the number seven represents completion, perfection. In other words, as many times as we may fall, because of the fact that we are in Christ (and it’s important that we’re sure that we ARE IN Christ) He will continue to raise us up again until we are made complete on that Day, we see Him Face to face!
PSALM 138:6-8Christ will complete what He began in us; now, we have a choice in this – we can go kicking and screaming and resisting (though, if this is a habitual response to Christ, I think examining your spiritual condition requires investigation – are you truly saved?) OR instead of that, we can agree with Christ, work with Him by cooperation in dying to self, yielding to Christ, being made more and more like Him as time goes by.
6 Though the LORD is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. 8 The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
The difference is that while both are saved on that Day when we stand before Christ at the Bema Seat Judgment for rewards, the resistor will keep his salvation, but have nothing to show for it, thus no rewards.
Those who practice righteousness, and yield to Christ will have rewards, and by these they’ll be able to glorify GOD for all He has done in and through their lives. The other will only be able to thank the LORD for his salvation – which is great in itself, but less than what they could have had.
“…but the wicked shall fall by [or into] calamity.”
Once this life is over, the saint has every blessing, every joyous expectation, an eternity of contentment and peace. Once this life is over, the sinner has nothing but deadness, destruction and despair with no hope at all for deliverance.
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