Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb20001105.htm

PROVERBS: ALIGNING TO GOD'S FIXED MORAL ORDER
Part III: Displaying God's Fixed Moral Order
T. Viewing Specific Proverbs Of God's Fixed Moral Order
(Proverbs 29:1-27)
  1. Introduction
    1. After motivating a young man ot 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 continue that study of that order:
  2. Viewing Specific Proverbs Of God's Fixed Moral Order From Proverbs 29:1-27.
    1. A son must learn to pay attention to corrective rebukes clearly once he becomes a nobleman, for the more rebukes are repeated, the greater the repurcussions of discipline if he does not heed them, Proverbs 29:1.
    2. A son must learn that he must be righteous as a ruler if he would expect to have a happy nation, 29:2.
    3. A son must learn that to the degree he heeds God's fixed moral order will he not only avoid immorality, but bring joy to his father and sustain his wealth, Proverbs 29:3.
    4. A son must learn that to the degree he avoids manipulation by bribes to rule justly will he provide stability for his nation as a king, Proverbs 29:4.
    5. A son must see that flattery is not a loving thing, but an emotionally harful, manipulative ting to avoid, 5.
    6. A son must learn to avoid sinning as a nobleman if he would be emotionally fulfilled in his role, Pr. 29:6.
    7. A son must learn to discern righteous men as those who are fair to those who cannot repay them, 29:7.
    8. A son must learn never to mock, but to honor all men if he would tend to keep the peace with others, 29:8.
    9. A son must learn quietly to give ground before one not aligned to God's moral in order to have peace, 9.
    10. A son must learn to discern evil leaders as those who hate and seek to destroy upright ones, Prov. 29:10.
    11. A son must learn to discern evil men as those who vent their anger unlike the righteous who control it, 11.
    12. A son must learn to resist accepting lies if he would keep his subordinates from becoming wicked, 29:12.
    13. A son must learn not to discern an oppressed party from an evil oppressor by the who is blessed with earthly blessings such as sight: God's grace gives morally opposite peoples certain such blessings, 29:13.
    14. A son must learn to judge vulnerable people fairly if he would enjoy God's help in his rule, 29:14.
    15. A son must learn to discipline his son to teach him God's moral order so he will honor his parent, 29:15.
    16. A son must learn not to be dismayed to live uprightly just because the wicked who make sin to thrive are temporarily in fashion: in the end, only the righteous will be left surviving their downfall, Proverbs 29:16.
    17. A son must learn courageously to discipline his offspring if he would see him bring the father joy, 29:17.
    18. A son must learn always to promote the application of God's Word to his constituents as a leader if he would expect their tendency to be sinfully unrestrained to be held in check, Proverbs 29:18.
    19. A son must learn that rebukes with words are often insufficient to correct some men, Pr. 29:19. If his words of rebuke don't produce a change in a party, he will need painful "hard knocks" in life to repent!
    20. A son must be careful to watch how he speaks as a ruler if he would have stability in that role, Pr. 29:20.
    21. A son must learn that subordinates need to be held accountable and not pampered to be a blessing, 29:21.
    22. A son must learn to hold his anger and its expression in check to avoid strife & committing many sins, 22.
    23. A son must learn to avoid pride, for even to the degree common men seek humility are they honored, 23.
    24. A son must learn to avoid fellowshipping with criminals to keep himself out of trouble even in court, 24.
    25. A son must learn to avoid dreading men and respect God to avoid harmful entrapment and be secure, 25.
    26. A son must learn to look to God and not even a ruler for ultimate justice, Proverbs 29:26.
    27. A son must learn to expect a mutually GREAT intolerance to exist between upright and dishonest men, 29:27. "Detest", the same verb used for both, means "to abhor," Bible Knowledge Com., O.T., p. 969.
Lesson: From these proverbs, we learn that a youth is much better off learning from his parents that heeding God's ways is to his own distinct advantge in the adult world.

Application: (1) We parents must have the courage under God's leading to inform our maturing sons and daughters of 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 blessings.