Series in Proverbs - Consequences To Rebellion and Disobedience

 

Consequences To Rebellion and Disobedience

Proverbs 5:7:14 

You can almost hear the words of a parent, “Are you listening to me? I don't want you to go over there!” Now Imagine God as our Father, setting us down and clearly looking into our faces with the same admonition. “Are you listening to me? I don't want you to go over there!” That puts a different emphasis on the importance, hey!

We need only to remember, the discipline of our Lord can be very constraining and painful for the rebellious and disobedient. “Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Heb. 12:9-11 NIV)

The consequences of disobedience can be very costly, and our parents were really trying to protect us from the repercussions and ramifications of our wayward acts.

This is the scene of Solomon’s admonishment to his sons. So let’s read the first portion of the text. “So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house! If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved. Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor. In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body.”

Solomon again sits his sons down and again implores and warns his children of the dangers of immorality. Straying seems to be a problem in his family and home. For the act of curiosity truly will endanger the disobedient, and straying with the mind is just as dangerous as going full in. For it opens the door to temptation and the enemy lurking at the door. This reminds me of the story of Cain and God’s counsel to him. “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Gen 4:6-7 NIV)

Solomon knew the alluring power of temptation and its demise. Death may not seem to have attached itself to temptation at the beginning, but it is the result of sin, and the repercussion to the act of disobedience will bring about the loss of honor, their integrity and innocence; and all that they had will be given over to the wiles of a wicked and merciless person. A complete stranger or strangers will consume their wealth: clothes, money, and other cherished material things. But even worse is the groaning anguish of spiritual death and the disease on their body from their immoral disobedience. For it would consume their strength spiritually, mentally, and physically malign their health forever.

Application - I can remember the “talks”. The exhortations of my parents, and then just as quickly I can remember the consequence to the act I was warned not to do or the place I was banned from going to! The admonition my parents went in one ear and out the other. 

Rebellion isn’t only a young person’s problem, most adults still ignore the sage advice of a wise instructor, or friend and confidant, and God. And the end result is like the domino effect, you can’t stop it and it leads to a tragic end.

The allure of the tempter or temptress is carefully laid out by the enemy of God, and as James wrote on temptation and sin. “The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.” (James 1 :14-15 MSG)

Then the consequences begin to grow exponentially, the act of immorality leads to loss of innocence and the contact with a contagious disease that wreaks havoc on your body, mind, and spirit. 

In the little town I live in, while I was a teacher in the high school. We learned that our county and community was number 1# in venereal diseases for the state. Enough said, you can see where this trail leads. 

As a parent, teacher, pastor, and leader in the community it wasn’t enough to tell them to “just say no!” For the will of rebellion and disobedience don’t listen to mere words, they must be confronted with the facts of consequences, and this is the discipline that is painful, but like the writer of the Book of Hebrews stated, “They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Heb. 12:10-11 NIV)

There is nothing more heart-breaking than to see a loved one or friend entrenched in the deadly consequences of sin’s grip. They have lost most everything: spiritually, physically, mentally, and materially to strangers, or frenemies. Who later drops them, and like the prodigal (son or daughter) they find themselves living in squalor amongst the most wretched and wish they had listened. “Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor. In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body.”

Last, the consequences and cost of disobedience comes with a high price. So let’s read the last portion of the text.

“You will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings! Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors? I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.” (NLT)

Next, Solomon may be expressing his own failure as a child and as a king. For He didn’t grow up in the pastoral lands of Bethlehem, but was raised and reared as a son in the palace of his father, king David. Nevertheless in either venue of life, he had to obey his parents and their discipline. Whether being a shepherd boy, or the privileged son of the king, rebellion knew no age limit. And the enactment of inattentiveness (not listening) was apparent in all people. And the history of the nation of Israel was evidence of that.

Solomon exhorts his sons to the normalcy of a child’s behavior and the nature of the fallenness of mankind. You will say, “why did I say ‘No’ to my parents? or why do I hate it when I’m disciplined? Then the mind is filled with the reasons they ignored the warnings from parents, teachers, and instructors. And the repercussions of those acts of rebellion ended in dishonor, disgrace, loss of innocence and possibly the utter ruin of  their life.

Application - For some people, they will remember their parents’ words, their teacher’s sage advice, or their true friends’ wise advice to follow the Word of the Lord.

 It is this repentance in Jesus’ name and the change of direction in the heart and life of a person that results in the production of a righteous life and the peace and security it provides for those who are now willing to be trainedI by it. As it was for the prodigal, he found himself the product of sin’s deadly grip. The realization hit him like a rock. Loss of everything to wild living, false friends, infected with what unknown disease, and now reduced to living in a pigsty and worse yet he wasn’t allowed to even eat the food given to the pig. In God’s mercy and grace, he gave the boy an illuminated thought from God’s Spirit. “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ (Luke 15:17-19 NLT)

In conclusion to this lesson, I believe that we all need disciplining in some form or manner in our lives, and yet many reject the Word of God and the importance of God’s love for us, for He disciplines those that He loves. “My son, do not make light of the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart and give up when you are corrected by Him; for the Lord disciplines and corrects those whom He loves, and He punishes every son whom He receives and welcomes [to His heart]. You must submit to [correction for the purpose of] discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Heb. 12:5-7 AMP)

Today, as the Word of God clearly states, “Don’t Ignore His Discipline!” “That is why we must listen all the more to the truths we have been told. If we do not, we may slip away from them. God was so good to make a way for us to be saved from the punishment of sin…What makes us think we will not go to hell if we do not take the way to heaven that He has made for us?” (Heb. 2:1, 3 NLV) God loves you, and that is his attribute without equivocation, and He desires that all of His children will listen, obey, trust and live in His perfect peace. As Isaiah wrote, “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” (Isa. 26:3 NIV)

As always, I want to end with presenting the gospel in the form of the ABC’s of salvation for all those who have not yet received Jesus Christ for salvation. For Jesus, God the Son, came to this world to save all who would believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He will answer you if you will truly believe. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

 First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third, 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis

I have revised my webpage on Spiritual warfare. Please give it a look. Thank you. 

http://uss-warfare3.webnode.com