Notes of a sermon preached at Holy Trinity, Norwich, on the morning of Sunday 11th August, 2024.  It was part of a short series covering the first four chapters of the Book of Proverbs.

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How would you like to live a long, healthy, and successful life?

You’ve come to the right place!

Long life.  Keep God’s commands, and you will live a long and successful life, v1f

Honour.  Be loving and faithful, and you will win the favour of both God and man, v3f.

Guidance.  Put your trust in God, and you will have a smooth path through life, v5f.

Health.  Fear the Lord, and you will enjoy robust health, v7f.

Wealth.  Give generously to God’s work, and you will be rewarded with abundant prosperity, v9f.

Looks suspiciously like the ‘prosperity gospel’?

This is the teaching that health, wealth and success are always God’s will for believers.  These things can be claimed by faith (‘name it and claim it’).  Its teachers say, in effect: ‘Look at my houses, my cars, my private jets.  Such prosperity can be yours too, if you give generously to my ministry.  Put in $50 worth of faith, and get back £5,000 dollars of reward.’

They write books with titles such as: ‘Prayer That Gets Results’, ‘The Laws of Prosperity’, ‘Claim Your Victory Today’, : ‘8 Steps to Create the Life You Want’, ‘15 Ways to Live Longer and Healthier’.

Here in the UK you can attend the ‘International Gathering of Champions’ – learning how to make the Bible your business plan, with Jesus as your financial adviser-in-chief.

There are many problems with the prosperity gospel.  Let me illustrate just one of them:

I know a Christian lady who has a remarkable gift of friendship.  She will stand by her friends through good times and bad.  She will gently encourage them, even if when doesn’t get very much back in return.  Last year, two such friends each gave her a very generous gift.  Is that why she befriended them?  For what she might get back from the one day?  Of course not!   That wouldn’t be friendship at all: it would be cynical exploitation.  It would be treating them as means to an end.

The prosperity gospel treats God as a means to an end.  It has given us a false start.  It is therefore disqualified.

What then does this passage teach?

Note, first, that this is proverbial teaching.

Here are some examples:

• ‘Fortune favours the brave.’
• ‘Good things come to those who wait’
• ‘If you want something done right, do it yourself’
• ‘Practice makes perfect’
• ‘The early bird gets the worm’

A proverb is a pithy, memorable saying which describes what is sometimes, often, or usually is the case.

Proverbs give us principles, not promises; guidelines, not guarantees.

So our passage this morning teaches the following sorts of things:

• If you are honest and trustworthy, you will often gain the respect of those around you.
• If you look after your body you are more likely to live a longer and healthy life.
• If you are kind to others, they will tend respond with kindness.
• If you keep a clear conscience, you will probably sleep better at night.
• If you set clear boundaries for your children’s behaviour, they will tend to feel secure and loved.

But there will be exceptions.  Some of Psalms ask: ‘Why do the wicked prosper?’.  And the big question hanging over the book of Job is: ‘Why do the righteous suffer?’

But the general principle stands: living wisely brings many rewards.

As with putting together a flat-pack wardrobe, so with life generally: things tend to turn out better when we follow the Maker’s instructions.

But our passage this morning belongs to the OT; to the early years of the people of God.  That’s why it sets out the rewards of wisdom in terms of long life, honour, health and wealth.

The New Testament adds another dimension

The NT has not forgotten the value of material blessings in this present life.

3 Jn v2 – ‘Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.’

But the main spotlight falls elsewhere: not so much on material and this-worldly benefits but on spiritual and eternal blessings.

Mt 6:19f “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”

What might some of these ‘treasures in heaven’ be? –

• The joy of sins forgiven
• The privilege of unrestricted communion with God
• The presence of God’s empowering Spirit
• The thrill of unrestrained worship
• The delight of serving God in the church and in the world
• The satisfaction of seeing souls won for Christ, and of disciples nurtured in the faith
• The support, encouragement and counsel of like-minded believers
• The prospect of being with Christ, which is better by far.
• The further prospect of being inhabitants of the new heaven and the new earth, the home of righteousness.

In the light of this, can you say, with Paul (Phil 4:11) – ‘I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances’?

Me neither!  But I am learning!

Consider Jesus

He was the embodiment of wisdom.

Lk 2:52 – ‘Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.’

What was his reward?  Did he live in a mansion?  No: he had nowhere to lay his head.  Was he a millionaire?  No: he didn’t have a penny to his name.  Was he honoured by the great and the good?  No: he enjoyed only fleeting popularity.  Did he live to a ripe old age?  No: he was brutally executed when he was just 33.

And yet it is said of him: Isa 53:11 – ‘He shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied.’ (RSV)

Bethlehem, Nazareth, Gethsemane, and Calvary left no regrets.  He didn’t grudge the price he paid.  Looking back on all he endured, and forward to all that it was to accomplish, Jesus is satisfied, happy, rewarded.

The risen, ascended Jesus presents himself to his Father in glory with the words:

Heb 2:13 – “Here am I, and the children God has given me.” (Quoting Isaiah 8)

You are his reward!  And he is yours!

Our Saviour’s efforts did not go unrewarded, and neither will your efforts for the Saviour.

So, returning to our passage:

Verse 1 – ‘My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart’ – Young people, astonish your elders by listening to their advice from time to time.  Older people, astonish your youngsters by having some advice that is worth listening to!

Verse 3 – ‘Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.’  We hear of celebrities who live double lives.  Be a person who is the same on the inside as on the outside.  The world is watching.  And the world will notice whether you are a person of integrity or not.

Verse 5 – ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.’  Take life’s decisions to the Lord.  What to study.  Which job to apply for.  Where to live.  Whom to make your life partner.  But the most important question will always be: How can I live a life that is pleasing to God? – for that is my guidance.

Verse 7 – ‘Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.’  The Christian faith does not teach self-hate.  But the current fashion for self-belief amounts to idolatry.  ‘Believe in yourself.’  ‘Follow your dreams’.  The answers to life’s big questions are not to be sought within, but without.  And God has revealed them to us, by his Spirit.

Verse 9 – ‘Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.’  This means giving, not the leftovers, but the first and the best to the work of God’s kingdom.  God loves a cheerful giver and will never be in anyone’s debt.

Verse 11 – ‘My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke.’  Remember: the hardship you are experiencing is not the discipline of the prison, nor even of the school, but of the home: ‘the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.’

Do these things, with God’s help, and you will be treading his path of wisdom.

Do these things, with God’s help, and you will be following Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Do these things, with God’s help, and you will know his richest blessing.  Here, in this present life.  And more, much more, in the life to come.