Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20000604.htm

PROVERBS: ALIGNING TO GOD'S FIXED MORAL ORDER
Part III: Displaying God's Fixed Moral Order
A. Viewing Specific Proverbs Of God's Fixed Moral Order
(Proverbs 10:1-32)
  1. Introduction
    1. After motivating a young man to heed an observed fixed moral order, the literary genre of the Egyptian sboyet that the Book of Proverbs uses works to supply actual proverbs to reveal that order, cf. Bruce Waltke, "The Book of Proverbs and Ancient Wisdom Literature," Bibliotheca Sacra, 136:543, p. 221-238.
    2. Solomon reveals that order to be God's order for his son to heed. We now start a study of that order:
  2. Viewing Specific Proverbs Of God's Fixed Moral Order From Proverbs 10:1-32.
    1. Since the degree a son heeds God's fixed moral order directly affects the amount of joy his parents will experience, he should learn to watch his righteousness as it affects more than his own happiness, Pr. 10:1!
    2. A youth needs to learn that to the degree he heeds good ethics in business he will either be rewarded with great leniency when he makes inevitable business mistakes or severe punishment, Proverbs 10:2.
    3. He must learn that God insures his livelihood if he is upright but refused to help out if he is evil, 10:3.
    4. A son should learn that the degree to which he makes the most of clear business opportunities for gain that come his way will he gain not only wealth, but respect in his community and family life, Pr. 10:4-5.
    5. A son must learn that his words are potent, so it is crucial that he keep his heart from which they arise pure. Failure in the heart leads to words that yield violence against both him and his associates, 10:6.
    6. A son needs learn that the degree to which he lives uprightly will leave a good, long aftertaste in others, 7.
    7. A son must learn he will get significantly further in life accepting a superior's orders than backtalking, 8.
    8. A youth should learn that living honestly keeps him secure where being crooked backfires to his harm, 9.
    9. A son must learn that manipulating by his body language is as counterproductive as backtalking, 10:10.
    10. A youth must see that righteous speech is a source of life where evil speech gains violent reprisals, 11.
    11. One's son must seek to replace hating for loving, for the former makes one uncooperative unlike love, 12.
    12. A son must be taught not to share all he knows at once, for prudence demands sharing only certain information at certain times for the most productive results in life's relationships, Proverbs 10:13-14.
    13. A son must learn that since it is advantageous to have wealth in calamity, he should try to get some, 15.
    14. He needs to learn that gaining it righteously is of benefit where doing so sinfully harmfully backfires, 16.
    15. A son must see that the degree he heeds correction affects both him and his associates' welfares, 10:17.
    16. One's son must learn to avoid lying and slandering others, for this exposes his heart to be evil, 10:18.
    17. A son must learn not to talk a lot in sensitive encounters, for doing so leads one eventual sin, 10:19.
    18. Our sons must learn that their hearts and words are so connected that one reveals the quality of the other, leading them to evaluate the quality of what they say as a barometer for what is in their hearts, 10:20.
    19. A son must learn that it is invaluable that his heart be upright: the degree it is so, he will nourish not only his own welfare, but others; to the degree that it is evil, it will destroy eventually himself, Prov. 10:21.
    20. One's son should be told he can detect what blessings are God's, for His blessings add no adverse toil, 22.
    21. A son can learn to discern the ungodly from the godly by how upright are the things they enjoy doing, 23.
    22. A son can be told usually to discern the godly from evil men by theire respective blessings or troubles, 24.
    23. A son can tell ungodly from godly parties by the degree of the respective insecurity or stability of each, 25
    24. A son must see sloth as unsavory to an overseer, so he must strive to be diligent before him, Prov. 10:26.
    25. One's son must see that the degree he respects God will have a direct bearing on how long he lives, 27
    26. One's son must learn that the degree to which he is upright will directly affect his optimism in life, 10:28.
    27. A son must learn the degree to which he heeds God will affect the security of his lifestyle, 10:29-30.
    28. A son must understand that the degree of righteousness in his heart will directly affect how wise are his words, and that in turn will produce blessing; conversely, sin will yield the opposite results long-term, 31f
Lesson: From these proverbs, it is clear that a young man is abundantly better off being taught by his parents that heeding God's ways in the fear of the Lord is to his distinct advantage in the adult world.

Application: (1) We as parents need to have the courage under the Lord's leading to "level" with our maturing children on the VALUE of heeding God's fixed moral order. (2) As maturing children or as adults ourselves, we can apply these truths to our own lives for eventual blessing.