What is in the balance?
13 “You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a large and a small. 14 You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. 15 You shall have a full and just weight; you shall have a full and just measure, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you. 16 For everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the LORD your God.—Deuteronomy 25
35 ‘You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or capacity. 36 You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin; I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. 37 You shall thus observe all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them; I am the LORD.’”—Leviticus 19
If I were measured and weighed with equipment that put me in the ropes with Mike Tyson; I’d update my will first, because I’m dead! That there would set me up to be cheated and slaughtered for the sake of entertainment if I didn’t understand what a just balance was, and that is what today’s chapter of proverbs is teaching. Check it out!
1 A false balance is an abomination to the LORD,
But a just weight is His delight.
Your soul is…
Our souls are in the balance being weighed and measured by this life of good and evil. The judge that determines our “weight class” is the Holy Spirit of God that restrains evil enough for the preservation of the Word of God proclaimed and lived out on this earth. The apostle Paul teaches about the invisible work of the restrainer in Thess 2:
3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
I pray every soul reads those words of the Holy Spirit in Paul, but the key verses about the restrainer are— 6 …you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
“Hmmm…”
You know what?
Let’s dissect that!
Because it correlates with our chapter of Proverbs today and is the very meaning to the purpose of Wisdom sending out her maidens… You remember? From our Proverbs two days ago?—She has sent out her maidens, she calls From the tops of the heights of the city: (Prov 9:3)
Wisdom is the heart and mind of the Lamb of God that inspires those who believe in Jesus Christ with a truth that slays the wicked one with the breath of God; that is what the Church is doing when living in obedience to the Word of God that guides our souls with knowledge and discernment for uprightness; providence describes that by making the invisible nature of good and evil visible in how we conduct ourselves in light of our reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ.
Those of us who believe in Jesus Christ have the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God through faith by grace because when the time comes for the wicked one to be revealed— 8 …whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; we’re all gonna die!
“Wait!”
“What!?”
Yes, we will all die!
“Why!?”
Because we are all wicked!— “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
The glory of Jesus at His coming will be so magnificent that everything will perish because sin and holiness do not co-exist!
Jesus teaches us about future events and is why we have the promise of the Holy Spirit!
Look! Look!
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; 21 these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip *came and *told Andrew; Andrew and Philip *came and *told Jesus. 23 And Jesus *answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
Jesus in the gospel according to John says—25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
He who loves his soul in this life of wickedness… will lose it.
We must understand this!
It seems contradictory. I mean, after all.
“Who would love a life of wickedness?”
But there-in-lies the deception because no one can not be wicked while in this condition of sin and death. That is why it doesn’t matter how “good” you are. What we think is good means absolutely nothing apart from holiness. Holiness is an objective reality that exists as faith in our reality. (And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Heb 11:6).
At the day of our Lord come, remember what Jesus said…
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.
In the gospel according to Matthew 24, Jesus says—40 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.
We are all going to die; one will be translated into a new body prepared for the Kingdom of God; the other will be translated into a body prepared by their choice of unbelief, possessed by the wicked one…
……………
…….
I needed a second after writing that.
It’s heavy when thinking about what that actually means for at least 2 people—that I have direct contact with—still choosing to question, and 1 more—that I have indirect contact with—that fights for their position of unbelief.
I can spend my life praying for these people, but it doesn’t make it any less grievous or painful as each moment goes by as a witness to their blatant unbelief.
How would you govern your life?
Upright or Wicked?
Jesus is the Upright
2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor,
But with the humble is wisdom.
3 The integrity of the upright will guide them,
But the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.
4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
But righteousness delivers from death.
5 The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way,
But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,
But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.
7 When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish,
And the hope of strong men perishes.
8 The righteous is delivered from trouble,
But the wicked takes his place.
9 With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor,
But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.
10 When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.
I pray you’re not discouraged although, honestly, a pause is necessary.
The balance is just…
And!
The weight is eternal…
I think when we finally accept the reality of our condition of sin will then realize how death is defeated and embrace our judgement with confidence.
However, do not treasure your soul of sin in this life; your soul is wicked and must be judged to death, but don’t lose sight of your hope in Jesus Christ.
Remember, Jesus says in that same chapter—17 Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.
Do not store up what defines your soul in this life as anything more than passing away. Because to do that…
Is wicked!
But to love your neighbor with a willing heart to serve the truth about salvation in Jesus Christ is what it means to…
Love!
Not because it’s your duty to love, or an obligation, but because that’s Who our God is… God is…
Love!
So if you love in the way your faith describes the nature of an invisible God through the Word of God in your soul… that…
Is Upright!
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who is wise wins souls.
31 If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth,
How much more the wicked and the sinner!
"NOT WITH INK" 