THE YEARS OF THE WICKED

Proverbs 10:27-32 (KJV)

The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.

The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.

The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.

If you will remember last Sunday night I took us through Proverbs 10:24-32.

We had out eye specifically on the righteous.

We looked at:

·   Their foundation

·   Their hope and

·   Their knowledge

At the time I told you that there was too much in the text to give it all in one setting so I chose, if the Lord allowed, to address the same passage again tonight, with our eye, this time, on the wicked.

I preached a message a few weeks ago I called “The Sport of Fools” that addressed the wicked in verses 24-26. That leaves us with just six verses and the subject of the wicked.

I want to reverse the order tonight – no special reason – just to add variety to my preaching, and ask you to notice,

Regarding the wicked,

I. HIS WORDS - STOPPED

Proverbs 10:31-32 (KJV)

The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out.

The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.

I read these verses and immediately the Spirit of God gave me,

Romans 3:19 (KJV)

Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

The war of the world is a war of words.

It is the ability to communicate ideas that changes the world.

I am a fan of Mike Rowe.

He seems like a down to earth guy.

If he has done any entertainment work that is shady, I don’t know of it.[1]

Mike Rowe has a podcast I listen to, while I am on my bicycle, called “The Way I Heard It.”

I love it. It reminds me of Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story.”

He also has a video on Prager University, and some other places, where he advises young people to “follow opportunity and not passion.”

He chastises the higher educational system for charging students an amount of money they will never be able to pay off for an education they will never be able to get a job in.

He says it clear – we ought to be challenging our young people to enter trade schools:

·   Welding

·   Electrical

·   Plumbing

·   Etc

And he is right.

With this one caveat – the tradesmen feed their families, but the people who learned reading, writing and rhetoric (public speaking) are the ones who change the world.

All over America this time of year, students are graduating from High Schools and colleges.

With very few exceptions, the men and women who stand before them to speak at their graduation exercises are people who have to communicate – with words.

No one[2] can survive well without:

·   Plumbing

·   Electricity or

·   Construction

But no one remembers them either.

The history books are filled almost exclusively with those who led with their thoughts, and their abilities to express those thoughts – in words.

Apostle Paul had a trade. He was a tent maker and we know that at least one time he worked his trade with Aquila and Priscilla.

But he could also communicate his thoughts through preaching and writing.

·   Paul influences the world still today

·   Aguila and Priscilla’s influence didn’t last much longer than their tents did.

The war of the world is a war of words

And God promises to stop the mouths of the wicked.

Their influence in this world will be cut off.

Secondly,

II. HIS WEAKNESS - SECURED

Proverbs 10:29-30 (KJV)

The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.

The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.

I am working off the word strength from verse 29,

The way of the Lord is strength to the upright: but…

·   The upright are granted strength

·   The wicked are facing destruction

God says that things are not the way they seem in this world.

·   Man looks at the outside of things

·   God looks at the heart

·   Man sees the things that are temporary

·   God sees things that are timeless

·   Man can only observe that which is natural

·   God observes that which is spiritual

So we look around and our eye tells us that the powerful of this world are:

·   Rulers and

·   Monarchs and

·   Despots and

·   Dictators

At the very least they are:

·   Only compromising Christians

At the same time Christian history will tell us that Christians have been mistreated and abused since the days of Jesus.

And the very Bible we study tonight tells us,

2 Timothy 3:12 (KJV)

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

The Bible teaches us, “The Just shall live by faith.”[3]

Here is a test of your faith.

Will you believe God or not.

One day, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.[4]

Regarding the wicked:

His word is stopped

His weakness is secured

And

III. HIS WARRANT -SHORTENED

Proverbs 10:27-28 (KJV)

The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

What I mean by warrant is

·   His expectation

·   His hope

·   His assurances

God says that the years of the wicked shall be shortened and the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

What he thinks about eternity, what he expects to happen to him after he dies, is wrong.

I know three possible ways a wicked man might look at heaven and hell.

A. He might think there is no eternity

This seems to be increasingly common among unbelievers. As evil men wax worse and worse[5] they become increasingly brazen in their assaults against God.

What at one time the chiefest of sinners would have never thought, for fear of God’s wrath, now the rankest of schoolboys might speak out with impunity.

·   There is no God

·   There is no heaven and hell

·   There is nothing at all after the grave

Secondly

B. He might think there is an eternity but it is not heaven and hell

Just the other day I read of a well known atheist who said that he believed that there must be some sort of afterlife, but that it would not be the Christian idea of heaven and hell.

Every sort of religion has differing ideas of the afterlife:

·   Some believe in reincarnation – you might come back next time as a bug, so don’t squash bugs.

·   Some believe in a cosmic force – like star wars, when you die you become part of it

·   Some believe in nirvana – we’ll have no physical body after death, just a heightened consciousness.

·   Some, who claim to be Christian but are not, believe that there is a heaven, but no hell. Those who are saved go to heaven, those who are not saved are the ones who no longer exist.

And then there is the most common idea about heaven,

C. He might think that he will surely go to heaven and not hell

I know I have told you about Kenny Brown.

We worked together back in the 1980’s.

Kenny had already had a couple of very close calls with death.

·   He fell asleep one night and drove his car into a house.

·   He was on a boat that sunk in the Columbia River just off the shore of Astoria. It was night-time and no one came to rescue him – he made it to shore just before he would have died of hypothermia.

I told Kenny he needed to get saved before he had another close call and didn’t survive.

He laughed and said, “Marvin, when I die, I am sure God will let me slide by.”

Kenny was not 30 years old when he contracted Lyme disease from a tick bite and died of heart failure.

Whatever ideas the wicked might have about eternity, they are wrong.

·   There is a heaven. No man gets there but by faith in Jesus Christ.[6]

·   There is a hell. It’s as terrible as any man has ever imagined and the Bible says the MOST people will go there.

Conclusion

Regarding the wicked:

·   His word is stopped

·   His weakness is secured

·   His warrant is shortened

Let me ask you tonight.

Can you say with certainty that Christ has prepared for you and home in heaven?

Have you come to Christ and trusted Him alone to:

·   Forgive your sins,

·   Make peace between you and God and

·   Make a way for you to the Father

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[1] Which isn’t saying much since I spend little time paying attention to the entertainment world.

[2] In America at least.

[3] Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38

[4] Philippians 2:10-11 (KJV)

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

[5] 2 Timothy 3:13

[6] John 14:6 (KJV)

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.