Proverbs
9:7-9 KJV
He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that
rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and
he will love thee.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a
just man, and he will increase in learning.
Yesterday I went with my wife,
youngest son and his family to a preacher's meeting in Long Beach , WA
His message, which was a sermonized
version of his testimony of salvation, urged us to try to reach Jews to Jesus
Christ. He was much more balanced than some Jewish ministries in that he
believes that the local church is God's tool for reaching the lost and that he
did not believe we should only reach Jews, but that we should try to reach them
too.
On the way home my son, Caleb,
said that he has knocked on the doors of two Jewish homes (He of course could
not have known that they were Jewish until they answered the door) and said
these people were furious with him, a Gentile, trying to tell them, the chosen
people of God, about God. They inferred, Caleb said, that they should be
telling him about God (to which I remarked, “But they weren't, were they?”)
Caleb and I then spoke about the fact that the only way to reach a Jew, just
like the only way to reach anyone, is to keep speaking to different people
until you find the one who is open to the Gospel. The man we heard last night
was saved as a young person. His parents and siblings have rejected the Gospel
and him since.
- He was not won to Christ by the skilful
witness of a Christian
- He was won to Christ through the
work of the Spirit in His heart and the circumstances of those Christians God placed in his life
My story above is intended to
illustrate what I think is the lesson of this passage of Scripture. I find here
three problems with attempting to rebuke or instruct a wicked man and three
blessings in rebuking and instructing a just man. The Bible goes so far as to
tell us not to rebuke (give instruction) to the scornful, foolish and wicked
man. Our task is to reach out to everyone and love them all. We should attempt
to leave every contact whether with a person who is open to the Gospel or not,
in such a way he may see our work as a planting of spiritual seed. If a person
is in any way hostile to the Gospel the response ought to be to call off the
attempt to instruct them and in as positive a way as possible, move on, looking
for that wise and just man whose heart has been prepared by the Lord.
When we find him both he and we
will be blessed with the results.
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