Proverbs
14:20-21 (KJV)
The
poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.
He
that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy
is he.
Let me
be honest and tell you I stole my outline – rather, I
like how Pastor Knutson described it last Sunday. He said he lifted it. J
I ran
across the material I want to give to you in my personal studies. It seemed
clear enough to use it with only a few tweaks.
I do
not usually do this – but this time it seemed to work for me.
Notice
with me first of all,
I. A FOURFOLD
SIN
Proverbs
14:20-21 (KJV)
The
poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.
He
that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy
is he.
A man who despises or hates his neighbour sins—
A. In the simple exercise of the feeling
Hatred, or even the act of despising another, is in itself a sin.
Matthew 5:22 (KJV)
But
I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall
be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca,
shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be
in danger of hell fire.
The reason he is in danger of hell is found in 1 John 2:9 (KJV)
He
that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even
until now.
Hatred is an evidence that a person is not genuinely saved.
There is a difference between hatred of the person and
hatred of his practices—between despising a man himself and
despising his actions.
God Himself hates sinful character, but he makes a distinction
between a man’s character and the man. To hate or to despise any human creature
is devilish.
B. By hating or despising him for his poverty
Leviticus 19:10 (KJV)
And
thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy
vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the LORD your
God.
God made special provision for the care of the poor.
They are not to be despised but treated with respect.
They are not to be doted over and taken care of without
expectation, but neither are they to be looked down upon for their poverty.
C. Because he hates and despises his
fellow-sufferer
Notice that, the proverb speaks of one poor man hating another.
It’s his neighbor.
· Cases are not uncommon in which men who have
risen from poverty to wealth hate and the class from which they have risen. And
· Sometimes men who have risen are hated by those
whom they have left behind in the race.
The poor man who commits this sin against his neighbour commits a
double sin against himself, for he knows himself the trials of his poor
brother, and, therefore, does not sin through ignorance or inconsiderateness.
D. Against God
Psalms 75:7 (KJV)
But
God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
It is His ordination that, Deuteronomy 15:11 (KJV)
….the
poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou
shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in
thy land.
He will count any addition to their burden as a wrong to Himself.
Psalms 12:5 (KJV)
For
the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise,
saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
*II. A QUESTIONABLE
VIRTUE
Proverbs
14:20-21 (KJV)
The
poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.
He
that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy
is he.
“The rich hath many friends.”
The virtue being questioned is friendship.
Are those who are friends to the rich really their friends or only
friends of their money?
A. Friendship
with a rich man may spring from social equality.
There is a natural tendency in men who are equals in anything to
form friendships with each other.
· Men of the same moral standing do so,
· Men of the same intellectual attainments are
attracted to each other, and
Men who are equals in social rank and in wealth might be
form a real friendship.
But it is a more questionable bond.
It may be only a counterfeit of the genuine article, and it is
nothing more if wealth is the only bond.
Friendships formed upon similarity of intellectual and moral
wealth have a far firmer foundation, because they rest upon what is inseparable
from the man himself, while friendship founded upon riches has for its
foundation what may at any time take to itself wings and fly away.
B. Friendship
with a rich man may be one of social inequality.
A poor man may attach himself to a wealthy man and the friendship
might be real.
The friendship may be built upon something which
both value more than wealth;
but if the friendship of the rich with the rich is regarded with
doubt, and requires adversity to test it, much more does the friendship of the
poor with the rich.
· The proof of the genuineness of the metal is the
fire,
· The proof of the seaworthiness of the vessel is
the storm, and it is an universally recognised truth that
· the proof of friendship is power to come
uninjured through the fire and storm of adverse circumstances.
*III. A PRESENT
BLESSEDNESS
Proverbs
14:20-21 (KJV)
The
poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.
He
that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy
is he.
“He that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.”
A. Happy
because “it is more blessed to give than
to receive”[2] because
gladness always comes to the heart when an effort has been made to lighten
another’s burden.
B. Happy
in possessing the gratitude and confidence of his poor brother.
C. Happy
because he wins the favour of God.
Proverbs 14:31 (KJV)
He
that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath
mercy on the poor.
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